In Ireland Mondeos are reasonably well respected. The police use them, for marked and unmarked ones. One of my friends is a cop, and when he tells his buddies about my modded V6, they are quite intersted. People who know, know, as they say.
I got pulled by a cop on a motorbike one day because he heard the noise off my car, and wanted to know 'what engine is it?' 'What have you done to it?'
They are generally seen as big cars, as in Europe, vehicle sizes tend to be smaller.
I think haters of Tours are people cant tell the different between a Tampaz or Tempo and a Tour. Just tell them Ford spent $6 billion developing the car, and its more than Boeing spend developing the new 777....
. They are even more amazed by its handling. So now the Contour has more respect around my school. 
