Showroom Ford's ready to roll

As you can see from the pictures - taken inside the factory - the Mondeo looks just like the star of the lat­est Bond epic. The differences between the hand-built screen version and the production car are minimal. Gone are the silver front bumper surrounds, replaced by a simpler lower grille with a lattice upper air intake, while neat one-piece spotlights finish off the front end.

Unlike the sporty Bond model, the showroom version doesn't get side sills, but with neat alloys and the same pert rear, with S-MAX-style tail-lamps, the Mondeo still looks much more racy than its predecessor.

Our eagle-eyed photographer also managed to get a shot of the new interior, revealing the classy centre con­sole. Derived from the S-MAX, it features a stylish digital read-out showing entertainment information. A smaller screen displaying sat-nav instructions is located in the instrument binnacle. This hatch debuts alongside saloon and estate variants at March's Geneva Motor Show.