Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Trim abbreviations

My contour is a gl. What does GL stand for? Ground Level? Grandly lame ? I know se=special editon and LX=luxury. Anyone have an idea?

None of them really stand for anything on the Contour. They used to mean something on older Ford cars, and the badges just sort of carried over into the Contour (and subsequent newer vehicels .. e.g. Taurus SE and SES). If you notice, the pre98 SE is often more well equipped than any GL/LX. Some around here call the GL the "Good Luck!" Contour if they've had problems with theirs, otherwise there's no real designation

I always thought it was Good Lookin'. lol. But the Grandly Lame also fits in the case of my Zetec GL.

As far as I know,for '95-97 Contours,there were several trim levels,consisting of GL,LX and SE.

GL was the base model,LX being the more upscale model and the SE was the sporty model with the factory skirt & spoiler package,better bolstered seats etc.

In 1998,it changed. The GL model was dropped,being replaced by the SE & SE Sport models. The previously high end pre98 SE name gave way to becoming a spartan base model as the GL of previous years was. LX stayed the same,being the more upscale model with more options,and in 1998 the SVT was indtroduced with 195hp,later bumped up to 200 in the 1998.5 model year. Differences with the SVT are numerous,and too many to list.

For Mystiques,they came in GS,GS Sport and LS (possibly LS sport too,but I'm not 100& sure) trims. GS is like a GL,GS Sport is like a post98 SE Sport and LS is like an LX. There are no high performance Mystique models.

However,options vastly varied between 4 and 6 cylinder models.

My 1995 GL V6 has power windows,power locks,power mirrors,cruise,AC,block heater and lacks such ammentities as tilt steering,power seats,60/40 folding rear seats,premium sound system,traction control,ABS and alloy rims.

My 1995 GL 4 cyl has manual windows and locks,power mirrors,AC and cruise. It is truly a spartan base model compared to my V6. Both cars are identical in colour (body and interior,and both have the same steel wheels and same hubcaps),and the 4 cyl was built in September 1994,and the V6 was built in June 1995.

That's as much as I know about the trims. I think there's a little write up somewhere on the site about decontenting and whatnot,I think there's a link on the main page. Otherwise,I'm sure someone else can fill in any blanks I missed.

There's a little bit of info here.

http://www.contour.org/FAQ/FAQ.php?s=models

ah ok,that must be a US market thing,I've never heard of the GS Spree in Canada.

Basically the Mystique version of the GL Sport. Came around and met its demise the same years (I think 1996 and 1997, not sure), has similar badging and stuff. To be honest I don't know what exactly the "Sport/Spree" badge denoted, but you know the myriad of options and standard features that were mixed and matched on our cars.

The 98+ SE Sport was the top-of-the-line Contour (not including SVT) and not to be confused with the pre98 GL Sport and its lack of features.

I thought the LX was the top of the line for pre and post 98?

But yeah,our cars are just a mish mash of options thrown together with a random badge thrown on the trunk.

Quoted from the above posted link:

"1998 -> 1998.5

* GL is no more. Now only the LX, SE, and SVT. Basically, now LX=GL, SE=LX, SE + sport package=old SE"

You are correct about the LX & SE thing. I must have misread that after re-reading it several times.

The guys in Kuwait were saying SVT stood for "Super Very Thingy."

Heh...

I'd say SE was supposed to be "Sport Edition" or something. LX "Luxury Edition" and GL could mean "grand luxury..." but I doubt it.