FORD MONDEO

BEST OF THE GREATEST ERA?

The Mondeo earns its place here largely for being the ultimate car of the Super Touring era, though the 1998-99 Nissan Primera could also make a convincing claim to that honour.

The Prodrive-built V6 Mondeo dominated the 2000 season, with Ford reputedly spending £10-12million to finish 1-2-3 thanks to Alain Menu, Anthony Reid and Rickard Rydell. Such excess for a domestic tin-top series helps explain why Super Touring imploded, but the last cars of the era were absolute engineering gems.

In its various forms, the Mondeo was a BTCC regular after it arrived in 1993. The original Andy Rouse Engineering-built cars were winners, Paul Radisich finishing third in the drivers’ table, but there were some also some uncompetitive versions before Prodrive hit the jackpot in 2000.