Agreed, I’d rather watch this than a new exotic video

I love it also. He keeps things exciting

I'd rather watch a review of some forgotten economy car that Ford tried to make sporty than the latest most limited edition 1 of -1 $2B Lamboclarenarri.

Hardly 'random' when promoting C&B is part of his deal selling out

I agree. I looked until i found a PT cruiser GT after he reviewed one

Wish Demuro also reviews the 1994 Porsche 959.

And easy, since the European press were already so happy with the regular version's handling. The ST-200 and this were practically twins except for the suspension tune and obvious body parts.

i own a Svt Focus!

I’m just kidding. I’ve never worked in the car industry

@@CarsTechWood well that's just splendid. #windup

Too bad Doug can't get his facts straight on them.

I feel like I noticed that in the video, but I thought it was just sun-fading.

Oh yeah. Midnight blue. I had the only tgreen CSVT with a full midnight blue interior swap on the west coast for a while

@@jerrybalch3912 Oh wow, didn’t know someone did an interior swap on tropic green! Must have looked amazing. Every tropic green CSVT I ever saw was tan interior, which never looked good on the CSVT.

​@jerrybalch3912 I'm getting a tropic green CSVT from my dad here shortly with the midnight blue interior. Is this factory or no?

Surprised he missed the intake manifold was the first mass production application of the extrude hone process. Still miss my CSVT to this day.

You'd think that after years of doing this, Doug would realise when this is the case but alas :D

The module you are talking about was actually removed on all cars in 1998 if I recall correctly, so you couldn't get it even on the highest spec Mondeo. Mondeos were also available with adaptive suspension and 4x4 (2.0) early on. Ford 90s quality was over all not the greatest as you say. The car over all became cheaper and manufacturing quality also got worse as time moved on, but the 1.6/1.8/2.0 Zetec (blacktop) was much improved in 1998.

@@Makedeth These videos are just Cars & Bids commercials at this point. He's not doing any research anymore.

@@vevos_ I think you are correct on the removal of the module, I don't remember seeing a picture of a post-1998 Mondeo (with a blue oval in the steering wheel for a logo) with that equipment. I later on bought a used 1996 pre-FL Mondeo with a silver top 1.8 Zetec, which developed a piston slap so horrendous my neighbour mistook it for a diesel. Not that the quality was too good elsewhere either. The heater fan, which was located above the passenger footwell, once dropped off its mountings and landed in the footwell bouncing all over the place hanging on its power cable before I realised what happened and turned off the fan. My father's diesel estate was a robust car though.

Yeah the silvertop can sound very rough and Ford spent a lot of money fixing issues with the valves and hydraulic tappets which is unfortunate because it's actually a very robust engine. The blacktop is how the engine should've been from the beginning.@@henrimoilanen6714

That would be sick...I was wondering if anyone attempted to further tune these beyond 200hp. Sleepers are fun!

one of these GAPPED my boys 93 prelude back in the fast n furious days..he spent over 6k on an engine swap so that wouldn't happen again. 😂

Hahaha, Doug, you underestimate me…however simultaneously make me feel old. I not only remember the Contour SVT, I remember thinking they were cool 😂

Lost what?

@@RepentandbelieveinJesusChrist0No thanks, I’m good.

I remembered a lot as one of the 12 cars in the original FORD RACING for PS1 man.

The forums were a very good resource, I went to a couple meets too, nice people!

The only sedan that has done well in the U.K. since the early 1980s has been the Tesla Model 3 and I suspect that was despite it being a sedan. The later model Mondeos had exactly the same profile for the sedan and hatchback. For quirks Doug should check out the Skoda Superb which could open as either.

I sure hope someone was fired for that blunder

​@@MrDunclMany saloon cars did well in the UK since the early 80's. Hence Mondeo man. We have never really differentiated between the model with the boot or tailgate. Unless looking at hatchbacks like the Vauxhall Asta and Belmont for example. Zero credit to Tesla

@@robsmall6466 I specifically said Sedan. The most popular Mondeo in the U.K. was definitely the hatchback. I got allocated one of the very first as a lease car back in 1993 after two Rover 216s (also the hatchback model). Before the Model Y launched I saw someone coming out of the local builders merchant in a Model 3 with lengths of wood stuck out of the passenger window. I hadn't seen that since the days of Ford Cortinas.

@@MrDuncl Mondeo was never described as a hatchback in the UK. We have always called it a saloon. As I specifically said. Plenty of vehicles made between the 80's and now in the UK that have had the carrying capacity of a Tesla. Again - zero credit to give

I had one as well. The sound was nice when one could hear it over the unending creaking of the terrible interior plastics, lol.

Str8 pipes make it sound like a mustang gt 😂 they were cool for sure

I sure hope it was better than the Ford Probe with the V6; Those were the "Un-Cars". They did nothing wrong, but nothing well either.....

I love the sound those engines make, but those rod bearings really don't mess around...

I owned both a Contour and Mystique when I was younger and even though both automatics they were still pretty fun to drive with that 24V V6!

I had a black 98 with the bubble style 5 star wheels. I drive a scat pack charger now and this contour was still the most fun car I ever owned.

​@@TheNuckinFoobBlack 1998 Contour?

Same here. I remember it had a very solid stable feel to the ride.

The Contour badge on a badge is the place where Europe put a clock/temperature gage in a narrow digital screen. I'm not sure if it had more functions than the two basic ones, it may have.

@@rubenvanpraagh8791 it was fully functional trip computer. Could show current or average fuel consumption, average speed and other statistics :)

In that era, I have sat in European Mondeos and American Contours. The European Mondeos were obviously better cars, so some changes must have been made. Does anyone know how they were adjusted?

@@robertsanders7060 Adjusted?

@@Timico1000 Yes.. the Mondeos of Europe were obviously much better cars than the Contours of the USA, so some changes must have been made.

Yep, totally agree. Revving it out from second to third and hearing that exhaust note was fantastic!

​@@jontwibell2467Contour still driven better than Audi A4 bro.

Had a co worker who built exhaust for those and the Cougars. He owned a silver Cougar himself. The exhaust wasn't terrible but far from sounding good. Back then he was the only exhaust builder for those cars. Yo Dude which became TruBendz

I had the same one. Had an engine problem so I traded it in for a G35. It was a hoot to drive.

amazing!

I thought that countour emblem wasn’t quite right… and that’s because all 3 of the countours I had were 98s

My 98 had the clock but there wasn't a clock in the radio display. All the ones later with the Contour label had a clock integrated into the radio display along with other Ford vehicles then. I always believed that was the main reason for not including a clock.

I've never been to Europe but I'm pretty sure the Mondeo came as a sedan too, or a saloon as they're called over there. Ford didn't have to engineer the hatchback into a sedan like Doug said because it was designed from the outset as a sedan.

Yeah. I've seen photos of the real hatchback and was kind of shocked at Doug for showing the wagon (estate).

In Europe it is called a liftback what You mentioned about the body.

@@GeeEm1313 He is referring to the rear door, which when encompasses glass is a hatch back. Wagon or estate is body style.

Doug who?? 😂😂

I think Doug has underestimated us....SVT contour was a beloved car but many domestic car fans for years.

Exactly!! Tell me you are clueless without telling me you are clueless. He just did.

I was going to say most enthusiasts knew this car existed. Daddy Doug doesn't understand his audience. Essentially, the grandpa to the Focus RS.

@@PremierAutoMan86 the grandpa of the focus rs was the escort cossie?? the mondeo is a size bigger

It was the little cousin that Terminator and Lightning owners were slightly ashamed of.

Mondeo back then only costed $14.560.

Cop car.

There was also an st version which is basically this i believe

​@@Mr.Marblesyep st200 if I remember correctly

Dude. Same here! I’m 37 so I remember the Contour SVT as a child. I thought the car looked so good so when I saw this pop up, I knew I had to watch it.

Very often the case with these sorts of models. European cars were built better. I had a Mondeo with a 2.0 16v Zetec engine but I would have loved the 2.5 V6 with RS bodykit. I agree, it looked far nicer than this monstrosity and it also seems like this car sat alone in the SVT line-up whereas ours fit in with the UK fast ford lineage.

Well, sort of. The Contour is a Mondeo Mk2, which is merely a facelifted Mk1, which was released in 1993. The Jag was based on the Mk3 Mondeo, which was a complete redesign.

The X-Type was a spiritual successor to the Contour of sorts, but it was actually based on the next generation of the Mondeo, which was a whole new architecture. And somehow the X-Type managed to be ever more of a reliability disaster than the Contour.

I am well aware of this car and the mercury mystique as well. I’m also 43, so I know a lot of the cars from the 90s other may not know about. 🤷‍♂️ 😊

The first car that I brought was a Contour, I loved that car and its V6. In the 90s they were everywhere, in the Northeast United States at least.

​@@watchreportand I daily the third car on that platform, an 8th gen Mercury Cougar lol

If Doug isn't aware of something, he assumes no one is.

Ha, I used to have a 2002 35th. Ann. Edition. @@Karmy.

No, the "coin storage" is an optionnal "Auxiliary Warning System" display, which turns a bulb on when there is a problem on the car :) We have a clock instead of the "Contour" plastic logo in the middle on lower trim levels, and a trip computer on higher trim levels

Do you know what happened to the Contour in 1998 for Ford to designate a 1998.5 model year?

@@alexcoolboy97 There was a clock there on older versions of the Contour as well, but every model year of the Contour had less interior stuff than the previous model year. Ford really cheaped out on this car as time went on and "de-contenting" was the term the enthusiast community used for this practice. The one Doug reviewed was actually not too bad, though, the black plastics actually looked like they mostly matched. That was an issue with my 1997 Contour GL. Adjoining black plastic pieces were made of different plastics and the colors and textures were often mismatched.

The Contour when upgraded can be also sounded amazing.

They are in the junkyard or crushed. Ford cut corners during development especially the early model had wire harnesses with biodegradable insulation. My mom 1997 mystique harness was unsavable within 7 years. Plus, they had bad fuel pumps, power steering pumps, wheel bearings, and corrosion issues. I replaced over 100 blower resistors on those cars when I worked at a ford dealer because they would overheat and start fires under the dash. I must save they were good handling cars though.

I've seen one of each within the past few years lol

90s cars were many things, but they were NOT built to last. That’s clear at car meetups, you see 80s and early 2k models, but there’s a big hole for 90s cars that were both not memorable and not worth keeping alive.

One of the weirdest quirks of this era of cars were the engine displacements. You had 2 and 2.5 liter power plants that were making more power than 5.7 liter and even 7 liter V8 engines, as fuel economy became a big selling point, it was really odd.

The 90s Toyotas and Hondas were built to last 90s American cars weren't with a couple of exceptions like the Caprice Crown Vics and the Chevy and Ford pickups and Buicks

ST220 was the third generation, not second.

The Mk3 Mondeo was available with the 2.5T Volvo 5 pot out of the Focus ST in Titanium trim, although as you say ford never marketed an ST version post the MK2, but it was still a very capable car. You could also get the 2.5T in the Ford S-Max and Kuga - a strange engine choice for either but I love that they gave consumers the option! Oddly enough if you look at the Mk1 Ford Galaxy you could get it with a VW VR6 lump as it was on the same platform as the VW Sharan. I really think Doug should have a European trip because there's a hell of a lot of weird and wonderful in Europe that Americans would never have a clue about otherwise.

@@flavioc5389 Depends on what you consider the first and the second generation. In some markets, the first facelift of the Mk1 Mondeo (which is the model Doug shows in the video) is considered the Mk2 model, but in other countries it's just a facelifted Mk1 and the Mk2 was the one that entered production in 2001.

@@flavioc5389 Oh come on, the Mk2 Mondeo was a very obvious facelift. Half the body panels are the same as the Mk1, even the tail lights for the wagon etc etc

@@shroomyescyep, it was. Yet is is still referred to as the Mk2 within the Mondeo community. Yes, there is such a thing. It was the Mk4 that got the Volvo 5-pot.

I had a Taurus with the Duratec 3.0. Great engine, terrible AX4N automatic. I would have loved to manual-swap it and put in a limited-slip diff.

You still have? wowzer

I am trying to work out if the Mondeo was Ford's top of the range European car back in 1999. The Scorpio had been discontinued by then so I think it might have been.

Cougar perhaps (edit: or i suppose Mondeo ST200)@@MrDuncl

There was an S/R version of the ZX2 with 10% more power, lowered suspension, sport seats, etc. I found one at Pull a Part and pulled most of the special components off it and put them on my ZX2. Enjoyed the improvements and new tires for 2 weeks until an F150 hit me and totaled it 😢

@@jamesengland7461 No! that's a huge bummer! My best friend growing up liked my ZX2 so much (we didn't know much about cars back then, lol) went and found himself an S/R so we had two black ZX2s for a while. Lots of dumb teenage fun, taking it to the dragstrip, abusing the transmission and so on.

@@jamesengland7461 My friend had an Escort ZX2 he really liked. It attracted a UPS truck into its physical space while my friend was off at college. It seems like ZX2s have a habit of attracting unwanted vehicles to hit them.

Fun, I had an Escort ZX2 and then later the Contour SVT. The difference felt pretty enormous at the time. While implied by bigger, I would also include "older" in the brotherly relationship, even if it wasn't. It definitely felt less rambunctious and more collected.

Always throws me off that the Escort was a different car in the US vs Europe despite being the same sort of size. There were factory Cosworth versions of the European cars; e.g. the Escort RS Cosworth. They took it rallying... The Sierra (Merkur), then the Mondeo (Contour) did touring car racing, e.g. BTCC with a fair bit of success.

Adulthood officially began when you got that company car 😂

Funny- a car you absolutely obsess with through delivery- and go to a company car. Maybe everything but love.

Because it was basically a European car. They always handle better

@@Mac10Daddy And in Europe it was the fourth model up their range above the Ka, Fiesta, and Focus. In fact it might have been Ford's largest European car (as opposed to MPV) as the Scorpio got discontinued in 1998.

As the 1995 introduction video said “it has a European suspension born and bred on (those) roads.”

Same here, except I learned how to drive in a base-model, taupe-on-taupe Mystique. Was the first and only car that my mom was able to buy/lease new from a dealership in her lifetime.

If doug had a chevy corsica or dodge stratus to drive next to the contour he’d be singing another tune. Even in the 4 cylinder se you got good seats, a great ride and driving feel thanks the European heritage mentioned above.

I still own a 2000 and the engine note is what I love best. It breathes like it is alive. It always reminds me of the 360 sprint cars the way it exhales between shifts.

​@@Oscarphone360 Sprint Cars? Thats nice.

Its the best sounding V-6 engine I've ever heard! The 2.5 Duratec is incredibly smooth and even the standard 165 hp version sounded great.

yes we had a similar version in australia

American versions had that same console up until 1998. What was the pen holder in other markets was an extremely flimsy cupholder. Oddly enough, the consoles were different between the Contour and Mystique. While both cars had 2 single-DIN slots for the radio (and CD player, if equipped, the Mystique had both DIN slots built into the dash, while the Contour had one slot in the dash, one slot in the console. The Contour and Mystique also had different dashboards until 1998, with the Mystique sweeping back towards the windshield and center vents angled towards the passenger. When the 1998 facelift models came out, they shared the same dashboard. 1998 was also the only year the facelift models had a separate clock in the space where later models have the nameplate panel by the vents. Later models shoved the clock in with the radio (and turning the 6th preset button into a "CLOCK" button and slapped the plastic nameplate on the dash. The Contour/Mystique were steadily decontented as the years went on, with 1996 being the sweet spot. OBDII, all-speed traction control, illuminated everything on the inside, 10-way power seats, full center console with upholstered arm rest...and by 1999, you couldn't even get a light in the glovebox.

I love the pen holder in my mk1 Focus

mid 2000's EU fords were beasts love on the Fiesta, us fords are just entirely different and plain stupid vehicles ..

@@karel_de_lille British/euro fords are some of the best, the new generation of Mustang is better because it became an official seller in England and thus needed some handling tweaks...the ford focus rs can easily keep up with a 5.0 Mustang and take it on the corners too...but my favourite fast ford is the ST220, it had 200hp to the tyres where as the ST200 had about 180 to the tyres

Contour SVT imo is as reliable as Tommykaira ZZ-S Coupe 1999.

A lot of CSVT owners were more than happy to snatch up the stock wheels from FSVT owners when they decided to upgrade. IIRC, the FSVT wheels were 17" (with a very similar 5-spoke pattern) as opposed to the stock 16" on the CSVT.

He did mention the Focus SVT, in fact he claimed it was better

Focus SVT debuted in 02' 2 years later... @@80s_Boombox_Collector

@@80s_Boombox_Collector he mentioned the focus st, not the svt

I used to spend so much time on that forum! Allegedly, it had design input from Cosworth. I think they were supposed to be involved with the dual stage intake runners. Rad little car! My first car was a Mystique V6, and I got go fast bits from England, desperately hoping it would transfer my car into an SVT. It most certainly did not, hahaha.

​@@80s_Boombox_CollectorCadillac Deville imo also handled a little better than 1999 Contour SVT.

There was an st24 as well as the st200 as well. Though 30hp down on the st200 and the st200 had the same setup on the front suspension as the Ford Cougar iirc.

@@TheBadBunny87yes, the st24 had 170 hp

@GreatLakesBadDrivers Same here my mom bought a new 1995 regular Contour and had it for over 20 years when she traded it in

The Hatch and Wagon were distinct models, while the Focus was also available as Sedan, Hatch, or Wagon. I think the Focus sedan sold about as well in Europe as the SVT Contour did in the USA.

I'd love a Ford Tempo GLS V6 - The factory ground effects kit they had really transformed the look of them and the V6 made them surprisingly quick.

The Tempo though....we got one growing up brand new cause it was the cheapest thing we could get...was well under $10,000 brand spanking new. And...we ran it into the ground, single owners, eventually retired because brakes eventually were worth more than the whole car. Never had any issues at all with it. It was cheap and handled the snow well compared to some other cars, which made it work for us. It wasnt even a bad looking car...mag wheels and a spoiler with black paint. Interior was awful grey cloth but it held up.

Or imagine the 3.5L Cycole 24V DOHC from the last gen Taurus and first gen Fusion SPORT

At my dealership we called the Contours the Crackwhores and the Mystiques the Mistakes😆

I did too..😅😁

Also I have to mention a large part of the interior in his car is this wooden looking material, which you NEVER see in a Mondeo or a Contour. Pretty sure there are like 10 left in the entire world of this car with that exact trim.

They also encourage rust... When they fall off on the Taurus it exposes the extensive rocker panel rust that has gone on and finally got bad enough to lose the plastic.

@@volvo09 yeah that was one of a couple ‘wtfs’ of this car. The other was when you turn the key and there’s no response and ford can’t fix it. Other than that the car drove fantastic

rust out you mean and legit detach with the sill!

@@throttleblip1 lucky for me I ditched it before the rust started. Traded it in for a 2001 Isuzu vehicross

It was good for low 15's in the 1/4. Wouldn't hang with most sports cars but it was quick.

That generation SHO Taurus with the Ford/Yamaha/Cosworth 3.4L V8 definitely was, it was nowhere near as cool or as good as the as the Yamaha V6 SHO, but it was definitely a sleeper with a 150 shot of nitrous 😅 My friend's mom had a 98 SHO, he pretty much forced her to buy it when she was buying a Taurus, and literally the first week she had it, we snuck it over across the street to our friends home garage where we were always working on our quick Fox body Mustangs, Lightnings, Turbo Birds ECT (our group had a bunch of fast Fords in my late teens/early 20s) and we pulled out my other buddies nitrous kit from his Cobra and we bolted it up to the SHO and immediately took it to the Philly street racing scene lol....there were always a bunch of weirdos there thinking they had fast Civics and crap with just a cat back and a cold air intake (there were actual fast cars there too, but we knew what was fast), and we won a bunch of money with that nitrous SHO because most people didn't know what it was 😅 (it didn't have a ton of power stock, like 240hp, but with almost 400 with nitrous and it being an all aluminum 3.4 V8 and effectively a mid size car, it was sneaky quick when you sprayed it after you hit 2nd...if you sprayed it off the line it would fry the front tires down the street all the way through 2nd, so you had to wait until after it hit second to spray it and it would start to spin just a hair and then pull pretty hard 🤣) Edit: I just looked it up, yeah that V8 SHO only weighed 3300lbs.... I remember it feeling pretty light and knew it's size, so yeah, definitely a sleeper with the right stuff, it wasn't bad stock either with that 240hp which for 1998 at the time, was actually pretty good, I mean, the 98 Mustang GT with 4.6L only made 225hp at just above 4k RPM, and the 3.4L all aluminum V8 SHO made more power and at 6100rpm...so it was technically a screamer for Ford at that time 😅

Mine was also blue with the Vee Zix

Same!