By rights the Ford Puma shouldn’t have been anywhere near as good as it turned out to be. Small, Fiesta running gear, a little bit too pretty? Yes all are true but anyone with half a brain knew that the Fiesta on which it was based was instrumental, along with the Mondeo and Focus, in rebuilding the Blue Oval’s reputation for making great handling cars.
Oh yeah, and some bloke called Jackie Stewart was apparently involved at some point in tweaking the already finely balanced Fiesta chassis to make it even better. The car was cheap and as a package hard to beat.
There was a good driving position too and if you could see past the slightly effeminate feline-esque styling you had a great little coupe. The car originally came with its own 1.7-litre Zetec unit with variable valve timing.
This gave it 123bhp and in a lightweight package this translated to a decent 126mph and 0-60mph time of 8.6 seconds. Roadtesters at the time went mad for the Puma and there were said to be waiting lists of up to six months when it was new.
Later in the Puma’s life came a 1.4-litre unit from the Fiesta but the pick of the bunch has to be the 1.7, not including of course the limited edition Racing Puma that arrived towards the end. Top Gear made the Puma Car of the Year 1997 and there is a classic video of Tiff Needell drifting one around a circuit. Watch the video here and tell us the Puma doesn’t look like fun.
Prices have held up pretty well for the Puma but a few have started dipping under the magic £1,000, although most are 1.4s. However we’ve managed to find this 1.7 for £950 on a P-plate.
It even comes with some toys – air con, parking sensors, metallic paint – and has some tax and MOT. Add to that just 85,000 miles and it’s hard to imagine much more sensible fun for less than a grand. You’ll no doubt be ‘feline’ pretty pleased with yourself. I’ll get my coat…
Autotrader ad says: '1997 FORD PUMA 1.7i 16V 3dr Coupe. Manual, 85,000 miles, P reg, 85,000 miles, extras include reverse sensors, air con, EW, traction cotntol, metallic green, Tax & Mot until Oct 08, recent battery, brakes and exhaust, service Oct 07, good condition. £950.'