Category: ST200

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.

N-N-N-N-Nineteenth

I had the delivery date confirmed to me today: the car is available for collection on Wednesday, 17th March but because that would mean me driving up to Grimsby and back the same midweek day to collect it, I’ve postponed collection until the 19th. D-8 days and counting!

In the meantime, however, I’d better get used to being pulled by the police with threats to impound the ST200 as for some reason it isn’t showing up in the MID as being insured even though it’s currently on the dealer’s insurance policy.

The Waiting Game

It’s all getting a tad frustrating: the ST200 is bravely soldiering on having now easily passed the 130,000 mile barrier but it’s now due a service and one of the front tyres is not too far off the wear bars.

Obviously anything I spend now won’t give me any real benefit as – hopefully – I’ll be collecting the R3 on 15 March.

Let’s hope so, eh? My sister’s new Seat was promised to her by her dealer in March a few years back and she didn’t actually get delivery until the end of June!

So in the meantime, I’ll just have to keep checking the oil and tyres and see if I can nurse it through the last couple of weeks. The cash is sitting there in my bank account waiting to be spent. I’m willing but it’s on a slow boat from China Japan!

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.