1996 Ford Mondeo Touring Car

Ford ran a factory-sponsored team, called Ford Team Mondeo, for eight seasons. As mentioned above, Andy Rouse Engineering, under the expert supervision of head engineer Vic Drake, ran the cars from 1993 to 1995. West Surrey Racing then ran the team from 1996 to 1998, with Prodrive finally taking over at the beginning of 1999. The team continued the domination that was started by Andy Rouse Engineering and went on to finish the 2000 season with a 1-2-3 (Menu-Reid-Rydell) in the drivers' standings and also winning the Manufacturers' Championship by a staggering 104 points.

A complete overhaul of the BTCC following the 2000 season, this saw the Super Touring regulations scrapped as the series moved towards lighter and less expensive race cars that were based on compact car chassis and not family saloons. Ford withdrew from BTCC competition prior to 2001.

Built in 1996 by Andy Rouse Engineering this car was raced in the Czech Republic Touring Car Championship by Josef Kopecký for Ford Rasino Brno. The car proved its worth straight away by finishing 4th in the 1996 Championship and continued its success by finishing 3rd in both the 1997 and 1998 Czech Republic Touring Car Championship. The car was then sold to France where it was very competitive in European hill climbs before eventually finding its way back to the UK.

Presented in great overall condition the car will need some re-commissioning to bring it back to its full potential. Fitted with a 2 litre V6 engine, that has seen only 9 hours of running time, it is mated to an XTRAC 206 six speed sequential gearbox and controlled by a Zytec management system. So this car could be a real weapon in the right hands.

With the recent and much talked about return of the Super Touring Car Championship this Andy Rouse Engineering built car is a fantastic opportunity to rub wheels with the best of them in what is fast becoming one of the most exciting race series there is. You'll be able to see for yourself how exciting it is on the weekend of the Silverstone Classic since it looks like being one of the most popular races, but be careful not to miss the auction!