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You gotta love Jackie Stewart. Describing his role in For Motor Co.'s CDW-27 "global" car project, the diminutive Scotsman with the famous high-pitched burr puts it this way:

"I was a wee gear in a big transmission, but I was happy to be in that gearbox."

The three-time Formula One race driver has been associated with Ford's product-development and public relations programs for more than 30 years.

In 1987 he joined what was to become an army of teams with a total cast of thousands that eventually would put the first of the new CDW-27 breed -- the European Mondeo version -- into production at Genk, Belgium. Since that launch in March 1993, Mondeo has become a winner in a moribund market: Dealers have booked more than a half-million orders.

This month two U.S. CDW-27 versions, which share 90% of Mondeo's components, move into production at Ford's Kansas City, MO, assembly plant: Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique. First-year production is targeted at 260,000, with 80,000 for the Lincoln-Mercury Div. and 180,000 for Ford Div. The cars arrive in dealer showrooms on Sept. 29.

Late this summer assembly will begin at Ford's Cuautitlan, Mexico, assembly plant where first-year output is scheduled at 75,000, with 50,000 exported to the U.S. Mexican production the following year will rise to 90,000.

The Mexican start-up puts the cap on a $6-billion international program aimed at building essentially the same cars in three different countries at the rate of 800,000 annually for markets around the world. Right-hand-drive Mondeos built in Europe for the U.K. market, for example, will be exported to Japan, where drivers also sit on the right.

Ford has been heavily criticized for overspending on the grandiose global scheme, but that's based mainly on Chrysler Corp.'s seemingly meager-by-comparison outlays for new-product programs.

Such talk clearly irks Chairman Alexander J. Trotman, who naturally is convinced CDW-27 will pay off in numerous ways. For one thing, he argues, no one else -- and certainly not Chrysler -- has attempted to engineer, develop, source and manufacture what's basically a single car line for world markets using resources on two continents. Ford's spending included two new high-technology engines, two new transmissions and new suspensions, he emphasizes.

Moreover, the compact Contour and Mystique fill a gap between Escort/Tracer and Taurus/Sable, in effect creating a new and higher-price --probably starting around $13,000 -- and potentially more profitable niche. The aging and relatively plain-vanilla Tempo and Topaz, introduced in 1984, were priced only a tad above Escort/Tracer. They have been dropped. The newcomers face off against Nissan Altima, Mazda 626, Honda Accord, Pontiac Grand Am, and the upcoming Chrysler JA models, Stratus and Cirrus, to name a few.

With buyer tastes and government mandates coming closer into alignment worldwide, CDW-27 provides Ford with a blueprint to develop additional global cars and trucks. The idea is to reduce redundant efforts and to capitalize on the economies of scale created by high-volume component production both in Ford's and suppliers' plants. Advanced communications techniques such as international teleconferencing and super-computer technology contributed importantly in the CDW-27 project, and will in future global product programs.

Although Ford has ambitious export plans for new models like Mustang and the revamped Taurus/Sable coming in the '96 model year, the next Ford "global" cars won't arrive until 1999; its product-cycle plans already are locked in through the '98 model year.

Ford has attempted elements of international product development before with limited success -- if not outright failure. The 1981 Escort was to have been what CDW-27 has become, but it wound up as two quite different cars with the same name developed separately in the U.S. and Europe.

Buoyed by results of the CDW-27 project, in May the No.2 automaker combined its North American Automotive Operations (NAAO) and Ford of Europe Automotive Operations (EAO) into, simply, Ford Automotive Operations (FAO), giving key executives global responsibilities (see WAW -- May'94, p.59). Latin and South America and Asia/Pacific remain separate for the time being. By the late '90s the No.2 automaker projects annual savings of $2 billion to $3 billion through the reorganization.

FAO already is taking shape, and is targeted to be fully operational by year's end. FAO's chief focus are its five vehicle program centers (VPCs) charged with specific car and truck segments worldwide. Each VPC team includes specialists from design, manufacturing, sales and marketing, purchasing, labor relations, technical affairs and finance.

The VPCs formalize many elements of the CDW-27 project, which has had its share of glitches. For one thing, the U.S. versions follow Mondeo by an embarrassingly long 16 months. Under FAO, such gaps will be slashed to a month or less, Ford officials vow. A nine-week lag resulted when timing at Kansas City was changed to meet NAAO's cycle plans, sources tell Ward's.

Problems also cropped up in developing some 700 prototypes, causing costly delays. Europeans who led the engineering effort, it was discovered, lacked sufficient familiarity with U.S. federal safety standards, which caused delays to change specifications. And Ford has had to cope with different supplier processes in Europe and North America, which makes it tougher when a cornerstone of international sourcing is maximum component commonality and quality.

The U.S. and European versions share most major components, but local conditions and mandates forced Ford to make numerous distinctions. U.S. emission standards call for engine oxygen sensors; in Europe, oil coolers are used to meet smog laws. U.S. bumper standards also are different, calling for unique engineering in that area. Ford and other automakers long have used crash dummies for safety testing, but not so in Europe. All-season radial tires use used in North American versions, but Europeans still use tire chains in snowy climes. The front-suspension geometry also differs, mainly because pothole-filled U.S. roads are tougher on suspensions than European roads.

Sorting out and solving these problems, then proving out the cars and moving them into production, has required the combined efforts of American, British and German Ford teams located on both sides of the Atlantic.

Jackie Stewart's involvement began seven years ago when EAO began development work on the new 4-cyl. Zeta engine that powers CDW-27. The aluminum Duratec V-6 was developed at NAAO, with input by Britain' Cosworth Engineering.

He recalls testing the early Zeta prototypes mounted on a Ford Sierra chassis sans body at Ford Werke AG in Cologne. He's been on the team ever since, working with Ford engineers on ride, handling, steering, braking and suspensions.

At the advance Contour/Mystique over-the-road press test north of San Francisco last month, the cars received high marks from reporters for their overall solid performance and road feel. Both the European-developed manual gear-shifter and the U.S.-developed electronic automatic gear-box were icy smooth. There was practically zero wind or tire noise, visibility was outstanding, and the interior layout, gauges, knobs, stalks and seats all are well thought-out.

David Price, now segment director-large car for EAO, pushed for the Zeta engine while he was in powertrain engineering at Ford of Europe in the mid-1980s and has been with the project ever since. "We had a peculiar start," he recalls. "At the time NAAO was looking for a Tempo/Topaz replacement with Mazda, and Europe was looking to replace Sierra. Initially it was a three-way program: NAAO, EAO and Mazda. The corporate decision that three-way was a bridge too far was a good one," he says.

Ford did "some very serious benchmarking" against automakers in Europe, Japan and North America, he says. "We looked at 720 elements, and in many cases we converted the information to measurable data. If a Camry heater knob is the easiest to operate with a gloved hand, then you can determine the minimum depth and diameter, and translate that into engineering signoff," says Mr. Price.

He moved to Genk in September 1991 and remained until the Mondeo launch. Like many of the 140 folks on the Genk product development team, Mr. Price transferred to Kansas City in mid-1993 to prepare for the Contour/Mystique start-up.

He linked up there with several Americans who also, for the first time, had moved to Europe to work alongside their EAO colleagues on the project.

Raymond P. Nicosia, manager-Contour/ Mystique vehicle development engineering at NAAO Car Product Development, spent 16 months in Germany starting in September 1992.