Few cars do unexceptional quite like the humble Ford Mondeo.  For many it's the automotive equivalent of blancmange, the go-to option when all you want is four wheels and somewhere to stay warm and dry on the way to work.  

Which is a shame because stripped of its ubiquity the Mondeo is a seriously capable car.  After the Cortina and Sierra, Ford knew it needed a car that delivered not just in the showroom but on the road too.  And the Mondeo did.  Thanks to a sprinkling of magic chassis dust by Ford engineer Richard Parry-Jones, the original Mondeo handled well and rode superbly.  Much better, in fact, than the cars from Audi and BMW that eventually stole its thunder.

I ran a succession of Mondeos in the 1990s as company cars, running the gamut of 1.8 diesel LX to heady 2 litre Ghia.  And I loved them.  Flicking through Car & Classic one evening in winter 2017 I spotted this unloved 1994 V6 Ghia.  I'd like to say it popped up, but of course I only found it because I was looking.  I'm still not quite sure why I was looking. 

The Mondeo languished on the website for weeks and then months, the price drifting ever lower and its MOT becoming an increasingly distant memory. Eventually I pressed send and, a few weeks later, became the owner for £50. it cost more to tow it back.

What I'd got was an early 2.5 V6 Ghia, ordered before V6 production began in September 1994 and delivered in October of that year.  It was bought alongside an identical blue one by two brothers in Essex, who kept it until 109,000 miles and 2005 when they sold it to a neighbour.  i bought it from him, 20,000 miles later.  He'd enjoyed it but never seen the need to service it.  So the oil was 13 years old. 

The car was very solid and the interior immaculate.  The bodywork less so, bearing the signs of 25 years with scratched and dented panels and lacquer peel on the roof.  

The first job was to put it through a MOT, which it inevitably failed.  The main problems were emissions and the brakes, typical issues for a car that had been off the road for some time.  These were fixed through my own workshop in Redditch, Classic Fixers, and the car soon on the road.

Since getting it roadworthy I've used it locally and for one 200 mile day trip.  It is a lovely smooth drive - quick, comfortable and quiet.  All the refinements I remember from the 1990s. 

Inevitably, there are a few things to sort.  A Lambda sensor needs changing to sort the erratic idle and the rev counter has a mind of its own.  But I can live with those problems for now.  

My day job, alongside the workshop, is running a classic car hire business called Great Escape Cars. Our fleet includes supercharged Jaguars, Porsches, Triumphs and E Types.  All lovely cars and yet the Mondeo is easily the rarest.  And, for me, the most useable - it's got a lot of modern car refinements without the nannying electronics.  And it's a car that was a real part of people's lives in the 1990s - almost everyone has a Mondeo story. 

I'm not sure whether to restore the car back to its showroom condition with a respray and tart up or to keep it as it is, showing the signs of its life.  Either way, I do plan to keep and enjoy it.