Discovered an unexpectedly fun to drive car..
 

A couple weeks ago, I totalled my Lincoln. I swerved to the left to avoid a deer, the deer followed me, so I swerved back to the right. The car began spinning out and went into a shallow ditch. I was in the process of recovering from the spin and getting it back on the road when I hit a tree stump that was hidden under some brush, at about 35-40 mph. Needless to say the car was pretty much destroyed. Thankfully I got nothing more than a scrape on my neck from the seatbelt.

It was my only car, I didn't have comprehensive insurance, and I wanted to buy my next car outright rather than go into more debt. Which means I was in the market for a used car for around $2500-4000, and in a big hurry.

I drove all over town, and everything sucked. Pretty much all the used cars in town were boring 2 year old family haulers for $10k+, or old pieces of junk that barely ran. Finally out of sheer desperation I test-drove a '99 Ford Contour because I was running out of ideas. I had driven a '96 Mystique (same thing, basically) before with the 4-banger and automatic, and I didn't like it at all. However this model had a V6, 5 speed, and sport suspension, so I thought it might be semi-bearable.

I sure was in for a surprise. That little bloated Escort-looking sedan is one of the most fun-to-drive cars I've ever encountered. It felt amazingly similar to my friend's 2000 BMW 325i, which is a hell of a feat for a cheap front-wheel drive Ford. I knew it was pretty much designed from the ground up by Ford of Europe, but I didn't know it would feel so much like a good European car.

So if anybody is looking for something cheap and fun to drive, I highly recommend the V6-equipped Contour/Mystique.

Was that the SVT model you drove? Ford did quite a bit of fun stuff to the SVT models, off the top of my head I can only think of the extrude honed intake manifold.

No it's not an SVT, but aside from the engine improvements, slightly tweaked suspension, and cosmetic/interior upgrades, it's pretty similar.

I've only ever seen one Contour SVT for sale (about 5 years ago), and maybe 5 driving around.. Pretty rare cars!

Sad how so many people avoided the car because they wouldn't believe that old Detroit could have such a well-rounded vehicle built. I'm surprised that I don't see any more contours/mystiques on the road either. I'm going to guess that because the car was the replacement to the Tempo/Topaz line, consumers saw it as a car they could beat up and abuse. I think because of that mentality the cars didn't last very long. You buy an affordable car, you miss a few check ups, oil changes, tune-ups, hit too many potholes, pass on the wheel alignments etc. and the car becomes a heap of junk and the cost to repair outweighs the value of the car.

Now for the what if’s. If Ford acquired Volvo earlier and marketed the same Mondeo/Contour/Mystique under the Volvo badge, I bet you’d see more of them on the road, because the consumers would treat the cars better. Just my two cents.

It's just too bad you totalled the Lincoln. Especially like that. Next time...hit the animal. You stand a better chance, by far.

That said, I've driven six cylinder automatic Countours, and didn't like 'em. Not enough low end grunt for me, really, and it's a small car. When Ford redesigned the Escort in 1997, it had 10% more interior room than the Contour.

You could get one hell of a car for 2500-4000 man. E30 BMWs, Miatas, MR2s, ect.

All you need is a car with decent power and a manual transmission and it will feel fun. I had a Grand Am with the quad-4...felt really great, even though the suspension was terrible.

Contour! My dad is a contour fanatic... he has an SVT and babies it like you wouldn't believe, always washing it inside and out, tinkering with engine etc. Good, reliable car. I think they've taken a lot of people by suprise.
Unfortunately, Contour didn't last long because Ford gave up on it. One of their few cars with European engineering. Within a few years, they moved into more Asian engineering and gave up on their European team nearly completely in the American market. Bummer they never gave the Contour much of a chance.

If your into Ford go for a older couger, or just do what I did buy a muscle car....I love it when you can stomp on the gas and beat anyone of them punk ass kidd with a rice rocket!

My brother just got a '94 Jeep Wangler for four grand. Runs pretty good, and it's fun to drive. Although, I suppose if you live someplace with unreliable weather, it wouldn't work out well.

Contours are cool cars. It was raced as a Ford Mondeo on the European Touring Car circtuit, I think. And as people have noted, the SVT is a real sleeper. I believe it came in second only the Bimmer in a Car and Driver shootout of sport sedans one year.

Hey what is the average cost of a mean amarican muscle machine in the states...

Depends on what type of mean american muschle machine, and the shape...
You mean like 60's-early 70's?

Contours were always fun cars to drive. They're death traps, though. Part of the reason Ford stopped production was because they were incredibly unsafe. Escorts faired better on crash tests than Contours.

Have fun, but just don't get into another accident.

My 81 Malibu was 5200 dollars, but she needs a little work...If you want a mint one they are going to cost mayby 15,000+

A mint Malibu? 15 grand? No, maybe a perfect Buick Grand National...which is the ultimate 80's car.
If you want a powerful 80's car, the Buick Turbo Regal is the way to go. You could probably get an '87 Turbo Regal for 5K. With about $1,000 in mods it can run an 11 second quarter mile (might even be cheaper and easier now-a-days.)

I didn't mean a mint Malibu, I mean most muscle cars that are mint will cost over 15K, there is a 70 Chevelle in town here with the 396 and he is asking 25K.