New Ford Mondeo Mk5

With the new Ford Fusion due to be released in the U.S later this year, you should get a good impression on whether the 2013 Mondeo will be the next car for you. There will be a few tweaks here and there, but on the whole, it will be the same machine.

It's not just a simple face lift either, it's a whole new car. They will be keeping the EcoBoost engines, but adding  a Hybrid and an Energi Plug in. It will also have all the latest gadgets that we have seen in the new Focus.

As you can see from the picture, the new design has a certain sense of Aston Martin about it and it's certainly a challenge for the XK in style as well.

Which leaves the question; if you're looking for a new family car, will you be waiting till next year for this one?

If you are, we have all the Mondeo parts to keep yours running till then!

Do you need Near Side or Off Side?

Here at Mondeo Spares we get quite a few customers who haven't come across parts that are either for the Near or Off Side of the car. These are terms that you may not be familiar with if you don't work in the motoring industry. You may be more familiar with passenger and driver's side. Below is a quick guide to which is which;

Passenger Side is your Near Side or N/S

and

Driver Side is your Off Side or O/S

The best way to try and remember it, that the Near Side is closest to the curb, where the passenger sits.

Ford Fair 2011

For those that attended the Ford Fair this weekend (Sunday 7th August 2011) will know what an exciting day it was to have thousands upon thousands of Ford enthusiasts in one place at one time. I think it is fair to say that we were in our element on Sunday. Hosted at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, the event was our very first ever exhibition and it will certainly not be our last. For those that couldn't make it to the Ford Fair here is what you missed:

• All day track action on the brand new F1 grand prix circuit.
• Over 3,500 cars on display from Europe's finest Ford clubs.
• Top retailers in the Retail Area such as Maxxis, Adrian Flux, Mountune, STP, Meguiars and many more.
• Crazy stunt driving from Paul Swift in the Ford Live Action Arena.
• The very best standard and performance Ford's in the Concours competition.
• The Power & Style Awards in association with Yokohama. 
• The Blue Oval Saloon series battling it out on the F1 circuit.
• The Mountune GT passenger ride competition where the lucky winner was driven around the Grand Prix Circuit by Alex Mortimer in a GT.
• 0-60 Car Sprint test.
• A chance to ogle at Europe's fastest Fords on the Fast Ford stand.
• Classic Ford's.
• Any and every Ford part you could possibly need or want in the Ford Fair AutoJumble and retail area.
• South Hants Model Auto Club had every minature Ford possible to view in the Pit garages.
• Old school Ford's driving sideways in the Drifting demo on track.
• Many visitors had the option of taking their car for a spin on the track with e-parts.co.uk Track Time and getting a photograph to keep.

Here are some of the photos we took on the day:

We were also exhibiting and were located in Gate B12 trade area H5. If you managed to get yourself one of our free promotional bags we hope that you enjoyed them, they were all gone within 2 hours! So we think they went down very well with you all! we will remember to bring more with us next time! We were offering free next day delivery on all items ordered with us on the day so we are glad most of you took advantage of this! Hope to see you all again there next year for round 2!

 Let us know what you enjoyed about the Ford Fair below.

Crazy Cars

We've had a look at MSN's list of crazy cars from around the world and picked out the 20 best ones from their list of 75. These are the ones we have selected for their uniqueness, creativity and inspiring/crazy images.

This car was built in 1966 and is supposed to give a brick effect, why? because that was what all the cool kids in the 60's were doing back then didn't you know?...

Two vehicles welded together on opposite ends... because that's a practical idea.

Car constructor Edd China literally takes work home with him - in his office car, named "The Hot Desk". In 2003, he actually drove it 900 miles from London to Cannes for charity.

Who needs good old-fashioned 4x4 wheels when you've got these bad boys to carry you through deep snow? This is a Subaru Impreza STI rally car with caterpillar tracks. Thumbs up from us!

Only in America would a limousine and a all-wheel-drive pick-up be a combination worth thinking about, which is exactly what Paul Emery from Massachusetts thought to do. This particular combination was based on a 1981 Cadillac DeVille Limousine. Why not drive in style?!

It's like a lounge in a car! How awesome is that! This is one of Jay Ohrberg's creations.

This three-seater three-wheeler was built in 1954 by Egon Bruetsch, he obviously needed room for more than two people on his travels! He certainly looks very happy in this picture! The lightweight plastic that the car was made from is actually starting to come into use for today's cars.

This Hairy Car was photographed in Stuttgart, Germany. Unfortunately the hairy car look didn't catch on, I imagine it must be quite expensive to shampoo not to mention how long that would take to blow dry... 

Forget caravans, imagine being stuck behind this!!! a 17th century thatched cottage!!!

Another creation from Jay Ohrberg.

I imagine this is quite hard to drive...and see.

Perry Watkins designed this car - dining table...we're not quite sure why, but it certainly gives a lasting impression. Pictured in August 2010, Perry would later attempt the record for the world's fastest furniture at Santa Pod raceway in Northamptonshire. The 'Stig' pictured here is actually a dummy and neither Perry or the original Stig from BBC's Top Gear.

This car was created and designed by William Burge of Houston, Texas. The machine was built from a 1968 Volkswagen beetle and is all different kinds of crazy, just look at those gargoyles! Not sure we'd be too happy driving with that on our tail on a cold dark night! The vehicle is aptly named "Phantoms" and could have been inspired by the gargoyle-spotted façade of a Gothic cathedral.

Crazy creation by Jay Ohrberg again...

Why have we never thought about doing this before? A shoe.. that drives! Genius. Actually, I think crazy is probably the better word in this instance. This car was created in China and is an electrically powered one-off that when pushing pedal to the metal can do up to 30 kilometres an hour and travel 400 kilometres on a single charge.

And to top off this list we have another creation from Jay Ohrberg which was been created for The King himself, Elvis. Shame he would never get to witness this beaut created just for him. I'm sure he'd be impressed! 

For the whole list of Crazy Cars featured by MSN, you can view them all here.

July's Photo Competition Winner - MondeoSTOC.com

Mondeo Spares Ltd are club sponsors of Mondeo ST Owners Club forum and have been helping to choose winners for the photo competition that the forum runs on a monthly basis.

In July, the competition was to send in a photograph of your Mondeo with the theme 'Car Parks' in mind.

Thanks to everyone who entered this month!

We'd like to congratulate Gareth Kidman (Burbojack) who won this months competition. 

Here is the winning photo:

The picture was taken in the pay and display carpark under the Magdalen Street flyover, Norwich.

Some details about Gareth's Mondeo:

Ford Mondeo ST220 (03 Reg);

Miltex Exhaust;

Dreamscience Remap.

Good with a camera???

Don't forget to enter next month's competition for August. 

Go to www.mondeostoc.com to find out what the theme is for this month and you could win yourself some free Mondeo Spares goodies!!!