I've had both, at the same time so let me chime in
I purchased the Contour in June '98 after getting rid of my 12 second '84 Capri. Contour was all that I wanted in a car at the time. A friend of mine purchased a '99 Cobra in April '99 and sold me his '95 Cobra for $10K with 42K mile on it. Car was pretty sweet, in good condition and was probably a 14.0 second car at the time.
Now, I was paying rent ($600/mo) and 2 car loans at the time so one of the SVTs had to go. I tried in vain to sell the SVT Contour but I could not get near my asking price. I went to the dealer Ford dealer one day for some parts and he noticed the 4-sale sign in the Cobra (which I had to sell at this point). He offered to buy the car and I sold it for $11.5K.
All in all the SVT Contour was a better total package than the Cobra was. The Cobra was down on power (No breathing above 5000RPM) and the suspension was floaty at best. It would have needed a nice investment to handle and breathe as well as the SVT Contour. (** I am not saying the Contour was faster, just that the 302 was very bottled up at the factory. Exhaust/Throttle Body/K&N would have done A LOT for that car!)
If I could have kept both I would have, but I felt I made the correct choice by keeping the Contour.
Later,
