Testimonials from Ford ownersFord sells somewhere in the region of half a million vehicles on the UK market every year; partly due to its phenomenal brand power, but also on the merits of the award-winning cars themselves. Here, three satisfied customers tell us why they drive a Ford.
Mark Slee, Ford Cortina Mk III
Mark Slee, 46, is a research technician from Banbury in Oxfordshire. He drives a Ford Mondeo day-to-day, but his pride and joy is a Mk III Ford Cortina that has been in his family for over 35 years.
"The Cortina originally belonged to my dad, and occasionally he would pick me and my sister up from school in it. That was in the early 1970's - the car's model year is '71. When it was new, the car was a 1600cc 'XL' model, which puts it about the middle of the range. "I actually got to drive it a few times myself before dad sold it to his brother-in-law in 1979. It stayed with him for most of the 80's, then back in my dad's garage, by this time pretty much worn out, until 1996 when I inherited it. The car was completely un-drivable at that point: everything very rusty and the wheel arches and parts of the floor were rusted through. I even found birds nesting in the car! "It stayed in my garage for another few years until the restoration project really got underway in 2000. Stripping the car revealed even more rust, especially in the boot, so I got to work welding on patches and new panels where needed. The following year I had the car re-painted in sky blue, the same colour as it had been when new, and fitted a new 2.0 litre engine taken from a MK V (the last Cortina produced by Ford, which was replaced in 1982 by the Sierra).
"Once these and various other restoration jobs were all done, the car passed its first MOT in 15 years with flying colours. I now exhibit it at motor shows up and down the country, and drive it every weekend in the summer. "There is always more work to do on the car, however. Next on the long list is a new clutch and gear box, which I hope to get done before the 2008 season. But when it's going well, I enjoy the restoration work itself almost as much as the finished product." Melanie Dyer, Ford Focus C-MAX
Mother of three Melanie Dyer, 33, is new to Ford, having driven Citroen and Toyota models in the past. She bought a Ford Focus C-MAX shortly after the line was introduced in 2003.
"I've been driving this car for three years and it has never once let me down. We got it when my son first started going to school, and now all the children need taking it's a godsend. I can't imagine doing the same thing in my old car. "Most MPV cars have seven seats, which makes them about the size of a minibus. They'd have been harder to park and harder to fit in the garage. So, we chose the C-MAX, which has five seats but still plenty of room. I drove it all the way to Bordeaux last year on holiday, with the family and a fortnight's worth of luggage, and it still wasn't cramped or uncomfortable. "The other thing about this car is it's really good for allergy sufferers. I get really bad hayfever and the girls have asthma, so we all love being in the car in the summer with the air conditioning on." Andrew Reed, Ford Focus
23-year-old Andrew Reed is from St Helens, Merseyside. The IT worker bought his first car, a Ford Focus, in 2005.
"I learnt to drive in a Ford Focus through the AA, and I wanted to get the same again for my first car. It took me about a year to save up, but soon after that I found a good condition secondhand model for sale in my local paper and had enough money to buy it.
"It's a 1999 model, which is the first generation Focus. Compared to the Mk 2 I drove while I was learning it's not much different, if a bit less roomy inside. It's a 1.6, which means car insurance is pretty expensive, but it gets good mileage on a tank of petrol and hasn't broken down yet. "Most of my mates drive cars like a Ford Fiesta or Vauxhall Corsa so next to them my Focus looks pretty good. Now I'm saving up for alloy wheels." Get a quote from Hoot Car Insurance Services
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