There’s a TV ad for a car where the driver leaves a cheap pen in an office, and then does a very long drive back to collect it.

I know the feeling. I did such a journey yesterday morning, in atrocious conditions, to pick up something I’d left at home. But I wouldn’t have bothered doing it in a VW Bora.

I was driving a Mondeo ST220. Probably the best car Ford has ever built. And if Ford ‘did’ beers, they would probably ...

You get my drift.

I drove this one before, at the international launch in April. But these events usually are not the occasions to get a true value of a car. Though I liked it then, and said so.

Now I’ve had the chance to truly appreciate it. In a variety of driving situations. Most importantly, in IRISH driving situations.

And the only real fly in the ointment is the the Irish driving situation. Because we have too many roads that devalue the ST220 driving experience.

So, it’s just a Ford, I hear mutterings. A BMW is a ‘real’ driving experience, they raise a chorus. Or maybe a Merc E-Class. But a Ford ...?

I tell you, this is the kind of car where, without breaking any speed limits, you can turn a journey of an hour and twenty minutes into one of an hour. The kind of thing I did twice yesterday before breakfast.

I suppose we should go back to basics first, though. Looks. Well, it is clearly a Mondeo. It has some significant differences to the front, giving it a stronger, more purposeful look than the standard car. It has some side-skirt additions, and it looks lower on the road, not least because of the massive low-profile tyres, and also because it IS around 15mm closer to the ground. And then, if you’re one of these people who like to lift a bonnet instead of kicking tyres, the words ‘Dura Tec ST’ on the engine cover will tickle some embedded motorhead emotion.

Particularly because there hasn’t ever been a 3-litre production Mondeo in the nameplate’s history.

The engine, as I’ve written before, is a 60deg quad-cam V6. It is the kind of short stroke format that has proved itself in motorsport for several generations of Ford engine design. The unit also fits perfectly under the Mondeo hood.

A fair bit of sophisticated intake and exhaust tuning has also been involved, part of the exhaust design related to systems developed for the AJ6 engine used in the X-Type Jaguar.

Then there’s an intriguing oil/water heat exchange system which has the two fluids taking turns keeping each other at the optimum running temperature.

Like the smaller stablemate Focus, the Mondeo already had class-leading driving dynamics. It is arguable that they could have just stuffed the extra power in and let the car deal with it. But Ford’s passionate Special Vehicle people wanted as best as was possible, and they beefed up the suspension, tweaked the steering, tidied up the gearbox, and generally super-refined an already refined automobile.

It’s clear I’m taken with it, right? Right. Let’s take it on the road, and I’ll try to give you a feel why.

It is first of all a very comfortable car, and it is easy for me to get a good driving position. I like the fact that the fore-and-aft movement of the seat is manual, not slow-slow electric. The steering adjustment is in both planes, again good for gaining an optimum position.

First crib: there is no left foot-rest worth talking about, and the value of this was made clear because there was also a Mazda 6 in the offing this week, and the rest in that is excellent. I’ve mentioned this before, and perhaps we’ll have to wait for the next-generation Mondeo for an improvement.

Crib number 2: despite years of me complaining, the demisting wires embedded in the windscreen of high-end Fords still appear, and the ‘star-burst’ effect they give to oncoming headlights, particularly in wet weather, is very annoying.

The last crib: when driving in daylight with headlights on, the instruments’ green-lit figures are almost indecipherable. And even in normal use, the speedometer is a bit of a clutter.

I’m glad I’ve got those out of the way. Now we can get on with it.

Light up the engine, and it murmurs. Purrs. Just barely lets you know it is there. But there’s a real sense of the 220 well-mannered horses waiting to gallop. Or even just walk or canter.

Push in the clutch, nicely balanced to my leg though perhaps a little heavy for those with lighter muscles, and snick into gear. And that’s what it is - a smooth snick. As neat as it is ever going to get. A veritable joy to use.

But here’s the amazing thing. If you don’t want to, you need hardly ever use it in an average trip’s driving. The extraordinary range of torque in this engine means that you can let it go as low as 500rpm in top gear and it will still pull smoothly away. On a typical twisting Irish backroad to anywhere, it will doddle along without you ever having to downshift unless you’re stopped by traffic, lights, or a garda who wants to have closer look.

The engine is never other than well-bred in use, but start to play with it and it will sing an almost Alfaesque aria. Try to force it beyond its best and it will politely ask you, so to speak, to be more civilised. But nobody in their right senses would abuse it. Anybody of that boorish ilk is undeserving of experiencing excellence.

The driving experience itself is a, well, ‘wish I could do this every day’ one.

But not that much on Irish back roads, as I mentioned. Why? Because the ST220 is shod with massive 225 40R 18 wide profile tyres, and while they’re absolutely brilliant at keeping rubber on the tarmac on good surfaces, they can be a bit fidgety on more indifferent surfaces, while an altercation with a standard Kildare pothole could be very expensive indeed in a new tyre and wheel.

Thankfully, most of my most interesting driving was done in Carlow and Kilkenny, counties with much better roads than my home area.

So there we are. At E47,000, you’ll be shelling out dosh that would get you into a Mercedes-Benz or a Beemer. For me, it would be the Ford.

And I’d get very much more absent minded.