Goodbye ST200

A day of mixed feelings: after almost 132,000 miles, I had to take the ST200 in to the dealers, Nunns of Grimsby, who will be scrapping it as part of the Government’s scrappage scheme.

So it averaged 25.8mpg over the last few years of my ownership and – other than the little issue of the under-bonnet fire – it’s been … emotional. Worse then that, though, is that in a couple of days’ time, someone will wind down the front windows, run some chains through and then use them to hoist it onto either a skip wagon or on top of another car and away to grave.

Ford Mondeo ST200

So, who or what is 2000RM?

Well, for now it’s a 1999 Ford Mondeo ST200 five door hatchback and not a bad car at all. I bought it at very short notice from my local Ford dealer when my well-thrashed Ford Scorpio 24VCosworth finally gave up the ghost (engine was fine, but the auto box was knackered and with 120,000 very hard miles down, I’m not surprised it went).

I’d just about bought a Volvo C70-T5 Coupe until my wife spotted that it was only two doors and had a beige interior: not good with two kids… This was after she’d ruled out a Jaguar XJR on the grounds that it was a “look at me” car.

My Scorpio was in the workshop with the dodgy box and the dealer lent me their ST200 – “it’s only a Mundane-oh”, I said – for a couple of days just to see how I got on. No complaints from my first wife, Amy was unruffled although she liked the colour and Jack was chuffed as it sounded like the baddies’ car from “Bullitt”.

So I bought it, slapped on the vanity plate and here we are.