Company Star – Five Classic Rep Cars

Company cars used to be something to get excited about, they used to be a source of pride and something that employees up and down the country strived to be seen in. And more than being a ‘free’ car (they weren’t, of course) were also a status symbol. The badges, and the trim levels mattered. You can blame Ford for that. The company that made a Cortina L undesirable, but a Cortina Ghia the stuff of dreams. Known as the ‘grade strategy’ Ford’s approach to splitting models by trim levels was somewhat genius. And so, every other manufacturer sought to replicate it. This made company car selection a giddy thrill for the travelling rep, especially in the ’90s, when cars were cars and no silly SUMPVs or whatever they’re called this week?

And the thrill didn’t end there, because here in the UK, we also had the influence of the British Touring Car Championship. The mantra of ‘race on Sunday, sell on Monday’ was still strong in the ’90s, and the travelling rep wanted to be seen in the ‘winning’ car. It made the battles on track more exciting, too – manufacturers were involved heavily back then, and a win meant sales. It was a heady time. We all remember the 1992 championship final, don’t we?

And these cars, that were soon sadly forgotten for newer models (company cars were the embodiment of the ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ mentality), are now coming back into fashion. They’re legitimate modern classics, and the market is getting increasingly strong for them. The only thing you have to do is find a good one, and a massive mobile phone and Filofax to go with it! Here are five of our dream ’90s rep chariots.

1) Ford Mondeo Mk1

Nigel ‘The Tash’ Mansell drove one, Rouse drove one, Bob the minicab driver, um, drove one. The Mk1 Ford Mondeo was hot stuff, and it was a winner on the track, meaning it was a winner in the office car park, too. Lightyears ahead of the ageing Sierra it replaced, the Mondeo was a well-built, safe, refined machine. Available as a saloon, a hatch and an estate, it was all things to all reps. It was the car the top salespeople wanted. Rock up to your Barratt house in one of these in 1993 and the curtains would twitch. It was and still is a sharp-looker, it’s still a lovely thing to drive, and it’s cheap as chips to run.

And of course, Ford being Ford, it meant some Mondeos were more desirable than others. The 1.6i Aspen? Nice enough, but the leather and faux wood-lined Ghia V6 with cruise control, air-conditioning and alloy wheels? Hello there. Or how about a sport 2.0Si with RS body kit and bucket seats – what a car. Finding a good one is tough though, so if you do, pounce on it. Prices for solid, well cared for cars are only going one way: up!

2) Vauxhall Cavalier Mk3

We can’t start with a Ford and then not leap to its long-term sparring partner, Vauxhall. A bit of brand competition is a good thing, of course, and while the tensions may have lessened over the years, the fact remains that for many, it’s either the Griffin or the Blue Oval. And never the twain shall meet on one owner’s driveway. We might, of course, be reading into that a little bit too much, but hey, just go with it. What would you have? The Mondeo, or its contemporary, the Mk3 Vauxhall Cavalier? The name might have been long in the tooth by the ’90s, but the Mk3 Cavalier was an all new car. Again, it was well built, and again, it was available in a vast range of specifications. Though curiously, never as an estate. Saloon or hatch, that was your lot.

For the rep about town, the CD would turn heads, while the CDX would make colleagues jealous. The Diplomat, however, especially with a V6, would make people think you were the boss. Leather, wood, electric everything – bliss. But where the Cavalier really shone was in the performance arena. The SRi was good, but the GSi2000 was on another level. It was nothing, however, compared to the mighty 4×4 Turbo version. Though you’d have to do some serious selling to get the fleet manager to justify ordering one of those!

3) BMW E36 3 Series

If you did really well with your monthly targets, you might well have found yourself in the running for a BMW E36 3 Series. A handsome, rear wheel-drive machine built with a real sense of quality, it was and still is a fine way to get about. However, BMW ‘ownership’ could be a fickle affair. You might have been gifted one on the company car scheme, but if it was a 1.6 base model on hubcaps, Dave from Business Development would be laughing at you all the way to his Mondeo Ghia. However, you’d get the last laugh, as even a base BMW is more special than a Mondeo.

Of course, an E36 didn’t have to be base specification. Get an SE, or a Sport for example and you would have been sitting in the lap of luxury. Of course, unlike the others, BMW was more flexible in its grade strategy and instead opted to win your desires via the options list. Air-conditioning, CD multi-changer, cruise control, alloy wheels, body coloured bumpers – all were just a box tick away. Subject to meeting that quarter’s bonus threshold, of course.

4) Mercedes-Benz 190E

If you wanted something German, and something that would last – mechanically at least – forever, there was only really one option in the ’90s, and that was the Mercedes-Benz 190E. Yes, we know, the W202 C Class was  just around the corner, but that was a terrible, unreliable, poorly built car. Merc’s ‘we don’t talk about that’ era, so we’re looking at the 190E instead. You could have it in any body style you liked, as long as it was a saloon. You could have it sedate with a 1.8 four-cylinder engine, or mad with a 2.6. Auto or manual, though auto was and still is the only choice for a Merc. You could have a Sportline version, or of course there was the legendary 2.3 and 2.5 Cosworth.

While the 190E might not have been seen on the circuits of the British Touring Car Championship, it was still a racer. Hop over the channel, and you would have found it in the European equivalent, looking far more beastly than anything in the UK thanks the 190E being homologated into Evolution I and II specification. Boxy, rugged, well-made and reliable to a fault, the 190E is one of those rare classics that you could easily use every day in 2023. Or you could cherish it and keep it as a sunny day treat. Whatever you do, you’ll be glad you took the plunge.

5) Alfa Romeo 155

If you were the office wildcard, the ‘mad’ one, the crazy sales rep with all the banter and bluster, and an insatiable need to be on first name terms with the fleet recovery operator, you needed an Alfa Romeo 155, then. An angular chiselled brute of a car with a high tail, slab sides, step arches (in the case of the wide body) and a thin, sneering face. It was and still is a stunner. Fearsome on track it was also fearsome on the road, especially with the soulful howl of a Busso V6 as an audible backdrop. It was a car dripping with class, with style and with substance. It was not, nor ever would be, likened to a Mondeo. Non c’è modo. 

Of course, for all it had in terms of style and panache, it also had significant downfalls to contend with. The electricity seldom stayed in a 155, though conversely water was quite willing to hang about. Rust was a major, major killer of these cars. Eating through floors, through structural sections and through panels, it would kill off a young 155 with ease. However, if you find one today, the chances are it’s not made it without being repaired in the past. If it’s been done to a good standard, you should be laughing. Especially if you track down a V6 version. Thank us later.