Class of ’99: the Fords we drove 25 years ago
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Twenty-five years young
© FordTo borrow a line from a glam metal song of the 1980s, you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. In the first of an occasional series, we recalls a range of vehicles from a different era, starting with the Ford cars you were buying 25 years ago. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the class of 1999.
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Ford Ka
© FordIn 2024, Ford’s smallest and most affordable car is a £25,500 compact SUV. In 1999, it was the entry-level Ford Ka, which cost £7,495 (£14,000 in today’s money). Progress? What progress? Although the Ka’s radical styling continues to divide opinion, this was everything a small car should be: cheap to run, fun to drive and surprisingly practical.
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Ford Ka
© FordWander into a Ford showroom in 1999 and you had a choice of three Ka models: the poverty-spec Ka, the mid-range Ka 2 and the plush Ka 3. Although it was based on the Mk3 Fiesta, chassis guru Richard Parry-Jones worked this magic to ensure the Ka showcased brilliant ride and handling. The original 1.3-litre Endura engine was a weak point, but the 1.3-litre Duratec, introduced in 2002, was a big improvement. What a shame so many have rotted away.
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Ford Fiesta
© FordThe Mk4 Ford Fiesta arrived in 1995 as a reworked version of the Mk3 Fiesta that had debuted in 1989. Despite this, it became Britain’s best-selling car in 1996, shifting 139,522 units, a title it held in 1997 and 1998. Everything changed in 1999, for reasons we’ll return to in a moment, but not before Ford had given the Fiesta another, and extremely well executed, facelift.
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Ford Fiesta
© FordThe star of the Fiesta range was the Zetec-S, which made the best of Ford’s ‘New Edge’ styling. Highlights included unique bumpers, 15-inch alloy wheels, a mesh grille, sports seats and a fizzy 1.6-litre Zetec engine. With the same sharp handling as the Ford Puma, the Fiesta Zetec-S was the small car for those who preferred superminis to small coupes.
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Ford Puma
© FordSpeaking of which, the Ford Puma was the small coupe of the 1990s. In 1999, it was midway through its reign as Britain’s best affordable coupe, cementing a reputation as one of the best front-wheel-drive driver’s cars of the modern era. To quote the CAR magazine new car guide of 1999: ‘The Puma is heart-stoppingly gorgeous as well as quick, agile and sharp. Pinch yourself. A Ford that has it all.’
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Ford Puma
© FordAlthough it was based on the Ford Fiesta, the Puma felt bespoke and worth so much more than its £15,000 price tag in 1999. For context, that’s the equivalent of £28,000 in 2024, which is the price of a mid-range Puma SUV. Back in 1999, the 1.7-litre Zetec, co-developed with Yamaha, was the engine of choice, but you could save a grand by opting for the 1.4-litre. A year later, this smaller engine was phased out in favour of a 1.6-litre unit from the Fiesta Zetec-S.
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Ford Escort
© FordIt’s hard to believe now, but the Escort was sold alongside the Ford Focus for a while. Maybe Ford was wary of upsetting its conservative buyers, having been caught out by the response to the Sierra when it replaced the Cortina in 1982. The Escort was on borrowed time, with production at Ford’s Halewood plant set to end in 2000 to make room for the Jaguar X-Type.
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Ford Escort
© FordOn the plus side, the Ford Escort was significantly cheaper than its successor; the most expensive 1.8-litre diesel estate in Finesse trim cost £12,800 – around £200 less than the basic Focus. The Flight and Finesse, with a choice of 1.6-litre petrol or 1.8 diesel engines, were the run-out models for one of Britain’s most popular family cars.
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Ford Focus
© FordIn 2022, Ford announced that production of the Focus will end in 2025. It’s not just the end of a car, but the end of an era, because ever since its launch in 1998, the Focus has been one of the best – perhaps the very best – family hatchback on the market. It was a revelation and a revolution, showcasing a remarkable blend of styling, handling, price and quality. The Focus caught the car industry napping.
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Ford Focus
© FordIt may have lacked the overall quality and badge appeal of the Mk4 Volkswagen Golf, but the Focus outshone its German rival in both ride and handling. The 1.6-litre Zetec was a highlight of the range and is a car worth seeking out on the secondhand market if you’re after a superb driver’s car on a budget. Like any Ford of this era, make sure you inspect the car carefully for rust.
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Ford Mondeo
© FordEuropean production of the Ford Mondeo ended in 2022, and although the name lives on in China, it’s no longer available in the UK. It’s the end of the Mondeo, man. Like the Focus, the original Mondeo was a landmark car for Ford, showcasing a terrific blend of ride, dynamics, specification and price, even if the styling was a little underwhelming. By 1999, the Mondeo was about to be replaced by the second-generation model, having been facelifted in 1996.
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Ford Mondeo
© FordAll versions of the Mondeo were good, but a V6 engine helped to squeeze the best out of the car’s superb chassis. In 1999, the hottest version was the ST200, which rode on the coattails of Ford’s dominance in the 2000 British Touring Car Championship. Power was sourced from a 2.5-litre V6 engine producing 205hp at 6,500rpm, enough for a 0-60mph time of 7.9 seconds and a top speed of 148mph.
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Ford Cougar
© FordLike the Puma, the Ford Cougar was based on a more humble platform, in this case the Mondeo. Launched in 1998 as an indirect replacement for the Probe, the Cougar failed to capture the imagination quite like the Puma, with UK sales ending in 2001. There were two engines available here: a 2.0-litre four-cylinder and a 2.5-litre Duratec V6.
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Ford Cougar
© FordFor whatever reason, the Cougar is all but forgotten in the UK. Maybe it’s the slightly awkward styling (from some angles) or the fact that its handling lacked the precision and poise of the Puma. Still, just £5,000 should be enough to secure one of the best examples in the country and we reckon it’ll make a fabulous grand tourer.
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Ford Explorer
© FordThe new Ford Explorer is an electric SUV with a starting price of £46,000. It’s one of five Ford SUVs in the current range, the others being the Puma, Kuga, Mustang Mach-E and – shudder – Capri. Things were very different in 1999 when the second-generation Explorer was the only Ford SUV you could buy.
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Ford Explorer
© FordIn many ways, the Explorer shows how quickly the SUV has advanced in 25 years, because this was a crude, unrefined and uneconomical tank, arguably unsuited to UK roads. But, it did a job, was loaded with kit and could tackle green lanes and dirt tracks. Sadly, depreciation wasn’t a strong point, with the Explorer losing 40 percent of its value in the first year.
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Ford Galaxy
© FordAnd finally, another famous name from Ford’s past. The Galaxy was one of the ‘Sharalaxy’ trio of MPVs, the others being the Volkswagen Sharan and Seat Alhambra. The seven-seaters were built at the Autoeuropa plant in Portugal, which began operating in 1995 as a joint venture between Ford and Volkswagen.
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Ford Galaxy
© FordLike the other two, the Galaxy was available with the VR6 engine also seen in the Golf and Corrado. It was the motor to choose if you wanted some fun behind the wheel (preferably after you’d dropped the kids at the school gate). Many buyers chose the 1.9-litre diesel, but the Ford was the only one of the trio also available with a 2.3-litre petrol.
