I have to disagree on the "no clock in the dash" 98.5 distinction. I have a 98 SE that has the clock in the dash, but it also has alot of the 98.5 improvements as well. It has the indented back seats, it's a Zetec and an SE instead of a GL (which they started changing around for the 98.5's), and the build date is 11/97, which is around when they started doing the 98.5's
Just my .02; I'm not trying to say you're absolutely wrong, but there are a few weird 'Tours that were built during the 98 and 98.5 models
