'93 Mondy thread - a K reg estate *exists*

[Eyersey1234]

On 10/01/2024 at 14:38, egg said:

Credit to Nick Taylor on Facebook. But what if I want a BASE?

How did £9695 compare to wages back in 1993?

[egg]

6 minutes ago, Eyersey1234 said:

How did £9695 compare to wages back in 1993?

I don't know, but I can tell you the Bank of England inflation calculator suggests it's £19,900 in today's money which would get you...

not a great deal in 2024.

[Eyersey1234]

3 hours ago, egg said:

I don't know, but I can tell you the Bank of England inflation calculator suggests it's £19,900 in today's money which would get you...

not a great deal in 2024.

From asking friends/family that were working in 1993 it appears most people were earning under £10k a year back then, mum told me in 1990 she was getting £5k a year at the insurance office she worked at, so taking wages as a comparison it seems £9695 then equates to between £22k and £25k now, ish, which doesn't even get you a new Ford Puma

[Popsicle]

4 hours ago, egg said:

I don't know, but I can tell you the Bank of England inflation calculator suggests it's £19,900 in today's money which would get you...

not a great deal in 2024.

I'm sure I was on about £250 a week in the early 90's, nothing flash just at a heat treatment foundry.

I had an uncle who always had a new Ford every 3 years on the 1-2-3 options scheme, it was similar to how current PCP's work. As said uncle passed his test in the 60's with the local corporation bus depot he only had a licence for automatics. I remember him trading in an Escort for an L reg Mondeo. He'd always come round to show my dad (his younger brother) his new cars and take us down the local bypass in it - I remember me and dad being very impressed with this new flash Mondeo! My dad always thought it a waste of money 'renting' a car and never owning it but my uncle was an early adopter of leasing and carried on with Fords until he passed away a couple of years ago. He always said he could never afford to buy them but was happy enough spending each month to rent one.

[MantaGTE85]

I am so over the moon that 'Peter' the white 1.6 GLX is being saved. I first noticed it driving around Exeter last year when it was mint. I last saw it around October, the lad ragging the tits off the poor little engine, also completely caked in filth with all its wheel trims missing and the front bumper hanging off. It really brought a tear to my eye.

[egg]

I can't remember when there was the 'scandal' that cars in the UK were priced higher than elsewhere in Europe - was that in the 90's?

[tooSavvy]

1 minute ago, egg said:

I can't remember when there was the 'scandal' that cars in the UK were priced higher than elsewhere in Europe - was that in the 90's?

Would that have kicked off the *lucrative trade, buying UK spec cars in Belgium and discovering lots of detail differences....

🤔

[Eyersey1234]

6 minutes ago, egg said:

I can't remember when there was the 'scandal' that cars in the UK were priced higher than elsewhere in Europe - was that in the 90's?

I remember that too, yes it was the late 90s

[Datsuncog]

1 hour ago, tooSavvy said:

Would that have kicked off the *lucrative trade, buying UK spec cars in Belgium and discovering lots of detail differences....

🤔

That was definitely a thing in the mid-80s - parallel imports.

While going through some old paperwork recently I found a load of stuff my dad had requested back in 1986/87 from a broker in Belgium, quoting for UK spec vehicles.

Even with the price difference between Europe and the UK, we still couldn't afford it!

[stuboy]

@egg

https://autoshite.com/topic/9566-stuboys-spottings-some-exciting-some-not-sothank-you-for-looking/?do=findComment&comment=2955268

[beko1987]

8 hours ago, Eyersey1234 said:

I remember that too, yes it was the late 90s

I remember that, when we lived in Marlow I saw several Opel Astras all from X to 56 plates over several years when they were new. Either driving around or the 55 plate Opel Astra convertible (yep it was a floppy top) lived up Dedmere Road. That stood out as it appeared before the 55 reg had come out, walked past a week before and there it was, looking shiny as fuck 👌 Then it taking a few weeks to see other 55 reg cars floating about

Sure I looked into it at the time and it was 'you choose the car from a spreadsheet in the spec as listed but it's fucking cheap' 

This doesn't count the then-new/sub 3 year old insignias when they were current rep mobiles missing the Vauxhall griffin on the Grille and showing the Opel logo which were also really common to see 😂 I remember one of the sales people loosing theirs and it being something stupid to replace it from overhearing conversation

[MantaGTE85]

39 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

I remember that, when we lived in Marlow I saw several Opel Astras all from X to 56 plates over several years when they were new. Either driving around or the 55 plate Opel Astra convertible (yep it was a floppy top) lived up Dedmere Road. That stood out as it appeared before the 55 reg had come out, walked past a week before and there it was, looking shiny as fuck 👌 Then it taking a few weeks to see other 55 reg cars floating about

Sure I looked into it at the time and it was 'you choose the car from a spreadsheet in the spec as listed but it's fucking cheap' 

This doesn't count the then-new/sub 3 year old insignias when they were current rep mobiles missing the Vauxhall griffin on the Grille and showing the Opel logo which were also really common to see 😂 I remember one of the sales people loosing theirs and it being something stupid to replace it from overhearing conversation

It won't be long before someone starts a 2009 Insignia thread. It's hard to find a nice pre-facelift example these days.

[egg]

Mr Pollit has put this Blaupunkt unit in his Mondeo, looks quite good as these things go.

[AnnoyingPentium]

One from Instagram.

[egg]

19 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

One from Instagram.

Thanks AP, yeah know that one, has been sat for a decade or so I think.

[greengartside]

And whilst we’re on the subject, K2 BDD in that list has a reg date of 2.8.93 - making it an L-Plater.

 

[egg]

8 minutes ago, greengartside said:

And whilst we’re on the subject, K2 BDD in that list has a reg date of 2.8.93 - making it an L-Plater.

Thanks, list updated for the couple of wrong-un's that snuck in.

[egg]

And while were here looks like we've lost K992 NMD (base) from my list - no longer on DVLA. @LightBulbFunor someone else - can see if it has a scrapped marker please?

[LightBulbFun]

2 minutes ago, egg said:

And while were here looks like we've lost K992 NMD (base) from my list - no longer on DVLA. @LightBulbFunor someone else - can see if it has a scrapped marker please?

I am low on credit atm so I have not checked for an exact date, but seeing how it still shows up on the MOT database is sadly generally a sign of a CoD 

(if it vanishes from both then that generally means a plate transfer, but if it only vanishes from the DVLA but not the MOT checker, that means a CoD, or the DVLA have voided the reg mark for some other reason)

[egg]

Thanks. Sweet dreams little solja. Can't afford to lose base models!

[Eyersey1234]

On 02/03/2024 at 15:45, egg said:

Thanks. Sweet dreams little solja. Can't afford to lose base models!

RIP K992NMD. @egg does this mean yours is the only surviving K reg bASe now?

[egg]

14 minutes ago, Eyersey1234 said:

RIP K992NMD. @egg does this mean yours is the only surviving K reg bASe now?

No, there could be as many as 20. But some have long expired MOTs, and some of those may have gone round an oval. 

Known ones on the road other than mine are

K440 LYA and K901 EEW, we also need to find some pics of K688 NHW which is a taxed and MOT'd blue 1.6 base registered in March 93 - so very early - this looks like a base too.

[sierraman]

Very possibly been raced, the values are still low enough for them to be used for Mondeo Meets.

[egg]

So, this estate spotted on Instagram - might be the earliest one left? Registered 31st August 1993. No K reg estates are recorded.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C3tFlhKqMcG/

[MantaGTE85]

Excellent spot, and in lovely condition. I also don't remember seeing any K-reg estates either, apart from press cars. Also, do you know if the 1.8 Turbo Diesel Mondeos became available at launch, or did they come out slightly later, like the estates, and automatic versions did? I understand that the mk5 'smiley-front' Escort buyers were offered the TD option in early 1994, and the Sierra used it since the G-reg 'dark-light' facelift. I don't remember ever seeing a K-reg Mondeo TD, even in the '90s when there were still loads around.

I'm asking this because, just today, I was overtaken by a Nouveau Red LX TD (L129PYD) with all-colour bumpers so it has to be a '94MY. I could tell it was a diesel because it had the TD-only top-vented front grille.

Alright, I know it's not on a 'K' but I thought it worth mentioning here, because it also could be one of the earliest Mondeos remaining with a diesel engine, and all-coloured bumpers.

[egg]

@MantaGTE85 I have a 'beauty with inner strength' Mondeo specific brochure that's actually dated Jan 93, and includes the Turbo dizzle - available on Base, LX and GLX, so yes offered from the start it seems. I do have a list of engine sizes on my K-reg register - but have neglected to differentiate between 1.8 pez and diesel, soz.

However, the diesels are pretty rare, for the obvious fleet and business use reasons.

 

[sierraman]

The diesels will be rare as they inevitably covered huge mileages or got minicabbed to death. Haven’t seen an early purple Mk2 in a while, they used to offer them on the base spec in a really insipid purple colour on the facelift for a few years. Hated that colour! 

[MantaGTE85]

2 hours ago, sierraman said:

The diesels will be rare as they inevitably covered huge mileages or got minicabbed to death. Haven’t seen an early purple Mk2 in a while, they used to offer them on the base spec in a really insipid purple colour on the facelift for a few years. Hated that colour! 

Indeed, very few diesels were taken up by private buyers until, typically, a 120,000-mile 4-year-old one would have been snapped up by a tradesperson who would run it down, until it would meet its maker. Early KA's were available in that purple as well. Ford called it 'Belladonna', would be a bit grim on an Aspen TD saloon. And was especially appalling on a base mk6 Escort like an Encore or a CL.

[egg]

Was it this colour?

Less appealing then the aubergine MK1...🍆

[MantaGTE85]

That's the colour Sierraman was referring to. That estate doesn't really look all that Base with its front fogs, roof bars, rear head restraints and colour coded handles and mirrors. It's still looks flatter than a witch's tits, mind.

Dark Aubergine looked especially nice on the sportier mk1's. A mate's dad had a lovely, immaculate Aubergine mk1, private reg'd M99RJR (nee M770BRV), in fact it was identical to the one you've just pictured here (obviously minus the ST24 alloys and LHD). His car was a hatchback 2.5 V6, but it was not an Si or a Ghia. It just had a 24V badge on the front wings and tailgate. It wasn't a Base as such, it was just an un-named version. It had manual rear windows, 15-inch steels with 6-hole Scorpio Executive trims, and velour bucket seats. Spec-wise, I'm pretty sure it was based around the GLX. How many of those 'Base' mk1 V6's are left now?