The 10 Most Embarrassing Award Winners in Automotive History

1995 Ford Contour/Mercury Mystique: Car and Driver 10Best Cars

These cars were launched in 1992. They were available as a four door, a five door hatchback and a five door station wagon. These cars were intended as a competitor to the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, the Mazda 626 and Nissan Altima. A major competitor to the Contour and Mystique was Ford’s own Taurus. The Taurus was the largest of these cars and outsold the Contour and Mystique by a wide margin. The Taurus also, due to its size, was more ideal for fleet use such as rental and taxi cabs. The Contour and Mystique were advertised as midsize cars but, in fact had compact dimensions. Thusly, people in search of a midsize car would have been disapointed by both the interior and exterior size. North Americans tend to be larger than the Europeans that these cars were originally designed for. They were considered to cramped and too tight for their class. Mainly their demise was due to the inability to compete with the Taurus and Japanese imports.