Car of the century? All I can say is that, all things considered, the new Mondeo is without doubt the finest car I have driven since the dawn of the new millenium.
There is something reassuring about a motor industry with Ford at its head and the Mondeo will undoubtedly restore that status quo.
This is more than a step forward, it is a stride. Somehow, word must have got round because already there is a three-month waiting list. The hatch, saloon and estate are being built in Belgium and were due for launch next month. But production has gone so well that Ford is considering bringing it forward and they could hit the showrooms any time now.
Pedigree Walk around it and, dependent on the angle, you will get hints of Volvo, Toyota, Renault, Honda, and Renault – and very little of Ford. But do not think, for a moment, that this is a mongrel of a car. It is a pedigree champion. The old Mondeo, always well regarded as a driver’s car, sold 1.2bn since it was launched in 1993. After the Sierra, of which I owned three, it was a back-to-basics kind of style and before the first Focus, which was a spectacular design, it looked a little dull. This one resumes the maker’s pioneering role of changing the shape of each class. I tried three variants on the sweeping bends and empty roads of Sardinia which has a pot-hole problem the size of Salford’s. All made mincemeat of the degrading road surface and all appeared impossible to dislodge from a perfect driving line at whatever speed. And speed from the 2.0 TDCI and 2.5 petrol engines is brilliant. The former – which Ford expects to acount for 75 per cent of sales – reaches 62 in 9.5 seconds and on to 130 mph. The latter feels much bigger than its actual capacity and uses 7.5 seconds to 62 and will not run out of puff until 150 mph.
Of course, those top speeds will take you nowhwere but prison over here but I can tell you that, where it is legal, the car will feel more assured in three figures than many do at 70mph.
Ford is determined to rid itself of its reputation as the king of depreciation by limiting production to 450,000 units a year and ending the practice of chasing sales targets with heavy discounts. But who needs discounts. My favourite, the diesel Ghia estate gets on the road at just £20,900 – a lot of money in one sense, but a ridiculously small amount for motoring bliss.
What do you think? Have your say.
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