By Classic Yorkshire correspondent Tony Lofthouse
It seems owners of ageing Ford Mondeos – once unfairly mocked as boring – are seeing prices soar for their favourite saloon.
In the mid-nineties, the car achieved notoriety for the description ‘Mondeo Man’, a phrase coined by Tony Blair in his battle for votes to become our next Prime Minister.
Fast forward to 2023 and analysis by Auto Trader shows this family favourite has taken on a new lease of life with the average value of a 2004 Mondeo jumping nearly 50% in the last four years.
In 2019, a typical Mondeo listed on their car-selling website sold for only £1,544. By 2023, the price shot up to £2,298.
This was a car that certainly ‘earned its strips’ for Ford, selling five million units in Europe over 29 years. A tidy 86,500 were sold in the UK alone in 2001
Unfortunately, over the years sales would drop off. In 2021, only 2,400 left local showrooms and production ended a year later.
It seems the Mondeo is not alone in this price revival as interest peaks again in the older family saloon. Research shows that since 2019 the value of other models from the early-noughties have risen even more.
They include the Vauxhall Astra which has increased in value by 87%, and the Renault Meganes which has shot up by 80%.
Top of the performance table though is the Vauxhall Corsa, going up 93% from £1,136 in 2004 to £2,197 today.
Amazingly, over the same period these returns have outstripped the value of other investments such as gold (21% increase) and UK house prices (24%).
But, it’s about more than being quids in!
Erin Baker from Auto Trader says: “Some nostalgia trends just leave you asking why. But there’s nothing confusing about the appeal of noughties cars. They’re simple, reliable and remind working Brits of when they fell in love with driving.”