Mayo man clocking up the mileage on his 2003 Ford Mondeo

Launched in 1992, the Ford Mondeo chalks up its 25th anniversary this year.

One owner who is over the Moon with his model is Liam O’Connell, of Co Mayo.

His 2003 Mondeo estate 2ltr diesel recently passed the remarkable milestone of half a million miles — equivalent to driving to the Moon and back!

“I bought the car new from Griffiths motor group in Claremorris, Co Mayo, and it is still on its original manufacturer’s engine,” says Liam. “I changed the clutch once.

“The car is a bit of a talking point among a wide circle of friends and colleagues.”

It is one of the highest mileaged cars in Ireland for its age bracket.

Liam admits he kept an eye on the odometer as it crept closer to the milestone number, and when he spotted that it was about to hit 500,000 he had to stop the car to capture a picture!

He was driving down the motorway from Dublin, and just outside Kinnegad when he pulled in. “I’ll be honest with you, it was so important for me,” he laughs. “I had to pull in off the motorway!

“I’m the original owner so I bought it myself and it’s on its original engine. A lot of cars with high mileage have gone through a couple of engines. There might be higher mileage cars on the road but this is only a 2003 model. You might find cars with higher mileage but they’d be a lot older.”

Liam’s Ford has not just its original engine but also its original exhaust, “which is just staggering,” he says.

Read more: Corkman remembers Henry Ford II’s visit to Cork in 1977

“Another thing to get your head around is that this car has travelled 20 times around the equator,” he added.

Not surprisingly, Liam, 47, is on the road a lot with work: “I average about a thousand miles a week,” he says. “I’ve always driven Fords, I had a Focus Estate before that. I would have had another Mondeo before that.”

“I’ve driven a lot of Fords over the years. My father would have driven them, so I would be a Ford fan and Griffiths would be quite a large Ford dealership in Mayo and they are in our local town. I’d be loyal to Ford.

Liam has taken his Mondeo to his local mechanic, Gary McDonagh, since he bought it 14 years ago.

“I would have wanted to change it several times, but Gary said no, you can’t because it’s perfect, it’s going so well. It doesn’t owe me a red cent, and I don’t owe it a red cent, or anybody for it.”

The car is “driving perfect” he says, adding that regular services are the secret to the car’s longevity.

“I change its oil and filters every 5,000 miles, so it gets regular services. She’s not overly expensive to keep on the road, she’s just a good car.”

Liam has some way to go before his Mondeo becomes the highest mileaged car in the world. That title belongs to a 1966 Volvo in America, which has three million miles on its clock!