1996 Mercury Mystique

By Steven D. Gatt, Automotive Editor

The Mercury Mystique GS I tested would make a wonderful traveling sales represtenatives' car; with good fuel mileage and not a lot of frills. On the other hand, the Mystique can become much more luxurious when optioned up.

Since its introduction last year, the backs of the front seats have been scooped out. Further, the early design problems with the tilt steering have been worked out and it is now available. Unfortunately, the scooped out seats still only make rear seat legroom marginal for adults. The back seat also lacks headroom for taller adults; Ford is considering lowering the bottom of the rear seat to improve this.

Ford has yet to redesign the worthless pop-up cupholders that fit almost nothing. The rest of the interior is thoughtfully laid out with many convenient features. The glovebox is ample in size; the front seats have pockets and so do the doors. The trunk has a low lift-over and is large. The dashboard sweeps across the interior with a nice contour. The rear seats are split 60/40 for carrying long items. A convenient storage bin just for junk is just to the left of the steering wheel about 5" deep by 4" wide.

The exterior is classic Mercury styling with a chrome grill between the headlights and a full across reflector bar in the back; conservative but classy.

The Mystique afforded me few stops at the gas pump with 29 mpg: EPA ratings are 23 city and 32 highway. Standard equipment in all Mercury Mystiques are dual airbags, safety cage construction and side impact door beams. Anti-lock brakes are optional. The heated exterior mirrors are a bit small but do the job.

Option package 371A was on the tested Mystique GS. The package includes air conditioning, rear defroster, power antenna, AM/FM stereo cassette, power windows and locks and cruise control. The other option was the automatic overdrive transmission. Base price is $14,330 price as tested was $17,160, including destination.