European Car of the Year 1994 - The Ford Mondeo

Welcome to the start of my series where I challenge myself to buy, fix and review every European car of the year winner from the year of my birth (1974 - cough), to the end of the noughties.
I want to see if these, 30 odd cars are all worthy recipients of Europe's most coveted automotive award or if there were a few clangers along the way.

[@idriveaclassic]

Ahhh this is brilliant!!! I’m so excited to get into this properly Steve! Xxx

[@16ValverYTChannel]

Wow Steph, thank you so much. I hope I can be half as good as you at vid making ❤

[@Sarah-CrabbersCrabtree]

Bloody brilliant!

[@16ValverYTChannel]

Thank you love ❤

[@CasualGearheads]

This should be a fun series :) Looking forward to it! None on the list seem like unobtainium, though you might wanna get a move on with the Citroen XM before working ones start going for silly money ;)

[@MrRetro-]

Fab video, had loads and loads of Mondeos , what a great car, love em

[@ChrisPatrick-q6k]

Sadly most have gone :(

[@OhioPeteS2k]

Well done video. These always remind me of my 3 years working the lot jobs at rental car companies during the end of the 90s. Contours were the bread and butter or the midsize Budget fleet. They were solid like a Camry but handled better, but not as smooth as an Accord. Ours were all base spec with automatics and all power accessories. Fun fact; if the fuse block became unhinged from its mount, the odometer would stop counting.

[@leebyatt8124]

Steve !!! Amazing video !!!!! Good luck on your journey !!!!! Looking forward to seeing more !!!!

[@16ValverYTChannel]

Brutal Lee! Good to see ya bro 🤗 Glad you enjoyed it...bit of a departure from Battlefield vids eh 😉

[@Tom-cj9vv]

Have absolutely destroyed that subscribe button. Nice one Steve!

[@alasdairboyd7299]

Looking forward to this series, waiting for the 1977 car of the year as my dad had one, albeit about 8 years later! (and it was the year I was born)

[@16ValverYTChannel]

Thank you Alasdair. So you like your Rovers eh 😊 Me too...hope it doesn't take too long to get one.

[@jimdennant8042]

I had the same spec mk1 Mondeo 2.0Si, absolutely loved it. Handled and pulled brilliantly. The Si had stiffer suspension and handled better than the standard models.

[@16ValverYTChannel]

As I said on the video, it's like a grown up hot hatch with the way it handled. Absolutely loved driving that thing!

[@brystonecowboy]

Wishing you every success, the bit with the swing made me laugh out loud. Looking forward to more!

[@UPnDOWN]

I love the hazard light crossover things!

[@16ValverYTChannel]

Cheers Rich, I've always loved how Ford did it during the 80s and 90s...like a mini rock concert at night.

[@lucythemoggy1970]

my mate had a 1996 ex police 1.8TD mk1 Mondeo, used to love driving that.

[@ChrisPatrick-q6k]

Was it nippy? Is it true the cop versions were fitted with S200 front arms?

[@classicwheelswales4491]

Top stuff

[@philip250505]

Thumbs up for the Smash reference.

[@truckingwithMarkS]

Great start…looking forward to the rest

[@TK42138]

Best wishes for the channel 👏👍

[@matthewfrankcook]

Looking good, I can lend you a Alfa romeo 147, as ECOTY, catch is that I'm in NZ 😂

[@steve_o379]

MK1 Mondeo Si’s are stupidly rare now not seen one let alone one for sale in years worth a pretty penny in mint condition I’d definitely keep it. Reminds me of the MK1 GLX Mondeo my dad had M829WSX we went to Cornwall in it so many times I loved it better than the mk2 my dad got after it

[@johngarland6782]

Amazing car Steve! The MK1 Mondeo will always hold a special place in my heart as it was the family car when I was born, we had a 1996 red LX estate. If you don’t mind me asking, how did you find your Mondeo? I’ve been looking on eBay and autotrader for years, and I’ve never seen one this good, and especially not an SI. I really look forward to the rest of the ECotY series, good luck! Also, can you confirm if there is little lights to illuminate the interior door handles? I think I remember them, but my parents can’t remember to confirm. If yours does, if you could share a photo that would be amazing 🤩

[@16ValverYTChannel]

Thank you John that's very kind of you. These cars have a special place in people's hearts for reasons just like yours John so I'm glad you enjoyed it. I was really lucky tbh, as the seller had THE worst eBay ad I've ever seen but I took a bit of a flyer on it as it was silly cheap for an Si and thankfully it wasn't terrible. There are no illuminated door release handles on the Si John, think it was just the Ghia that got those.

[@johngarland6782]

@@16ValverYTChannel I’ll just have to keep a keen eye out on eBay then! Thanks for checking about the door release lights. Ours was an LX, but in my mind it had little green lights for the releases. I think I also remember that I was disappointed when the one on my door (NSR) burnt out! Maybe it was a later addition, or an odd optional extra 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@gmf62v84]

That's a nice car

[@ChrisPatrick-q6k]

That's still got it's original starter motor, it won't be long for this world. They replaced then with a more modern sounding powerful unit. The originals have their roots in the CVH engines and aren't really stong enough. They tend to last about 70k. Not being critical, it's a lovely car, wish I had one! 😊

[@ChrisPatrick-q6k]

Actually, it's a good indication of how genuine it is. Starter, rear brake cylinders, Airbag clock spring. Whip the rear drums off and check the boots. When bleeding keep pressures low. I'd avoid pressing the brake pedal all the way down during, it's tempting to do, but can knacker the Master. The unswept area can become coated in debris, when your past the piston through it, the seals can be damaged.

[@TheSeankelly17]

Steve follow you on Twitter. My dad had a burgundy one in ‘95 to replace his Sierra. He was a rep up and down the country!

[@16ValverYTChannel]

Ah cool, thank you for subscribing. My old man was in sales all his working life so all I ever knew was company cars growing up.

[@UPnDOWN]

12:11 - please be the right font, please be the right font, please be the right font, please be the right font, please be the right font, please be the right font, please be the right font, please be the right font, please be the right font, please be the right font, please be the right font, please be the right font, please be the right font...

[@UPnDOWN]

12:14 - YAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!!!

[@lucythemoggy1970]

i noticed the right hand side of the number plate was slightly lower, not a big thing, for me personally i hate seeing skewwhiff number plates, even see it on new cars, and think you spent sometimes 30k on a new car u think they would sit the plates straight!

[@16ValverYTChannel]

Ha, I only really noticed it once I looked back at the footage. Rest assured its completely level now.

[@lucythemoggy1970]

@@16ValverYTChannel awesome top work the Mondeo looks lovely

[@DougsCars]

Those are some Jaguar keys!!

[@DougsCars]

Wow I guess I never realized that they’re hatchbacks!

[@16ValverYTChannel]

Only the finest for Dagenhams best!

[@DougsCars]

@@16ValverYTChannel Hehe, the Contour/Mystique certainly never offered that! Sedan only.

[@16ValverYTChannel]

What! Not even the wagon version?

[@DougsCars]

@@16ValverYTChannel Nope, no wagon! That would’ve taken sales from the Taurus/Sable wagons and by the late 90s wagon sales were down the drain anyway.

[@rogerdickinson6944]

Found you on twitter

[@16ValverYTChannel]

I am very glad you did. Hope you enjoy some of the vids on here 😊

[@ChrisPatrick-q6k]

You look about 40, sorry dude.

[@16ValverYTChannel]

Don't be sorry Chris, I'm 50 this year so I'll take that as a compliment.

[@ChrisPatrick-q6k]

​@@16ValverYTChannel Oh, Cool. Nice review, you know the 2.0 gearing was an oddity, lower than the 1.6/1.8. Definitely more sound insulation than the LX, GLX. It's lovely actually, you could do a rear disc conversion very easily