Tuesday 17th January 2017

Ford Puma: Catch It While You Can

Ford's cute coupe is exceptionally good fun, plus it's ubiquitous and cheap - for now

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Why wouldn't you want a Ford Puma? For years the tiny coupe has been the doyen of buyers on a shoestring looking to inject a little fun into their daily drive.

Sub-£1,000 prices, a zingy, rev-hungry 1.7-litre engine developed in conjunction with Yamaha, a chassis that beautifully balanced ride and handling and near-perfect steering have made it a diamond in the rough of bargain bangers.

Thing is, that isn't going to last forever. As with all old Fords, rust is the Puma's biggest killer, and it's already claimed quite a few. From a peak of 38,000 on the road at any one time, Puma 1.7 numbers are now down to around 8,500. Granted, that doesn't exactly make them exclusive, but we still think now could be a good time to buy if you still want to take advantage of a cheap one.

Original is certainly best when it comes to Pumas

Moving on up
You see, there was once a time when you could slide behind the wheel of Ford's feline fancy for well under a grand. Even a fully historied example with reasonable mileage could be had for £900 or so, while a slightly tattier example with no history was yours for a pittance - £500, perhaps even less.

But a browse through the classifieds today reveals that that's no longer the case. Prices have nudged up in recent months so that £1,200-£1,500 is the going rate for a Puma you'd actually want to own.

Oh, sure, there's still all manner of rusting, leggy, crash-damaged, modified or otherwise undesirable tat about for below £1,000. But a Puma worth buying will today cost you just a little more than it did - and while that doesn't mean values are about to shoot skywards, it might be an idea to scratch that itch sooner rather than later if you fancy one.

Racing lovely, but not really worth the premium

Which one to buy?
Don't bother with the 1.4- or 1.6-litre engines unless you really need the insurance saving; you still get the Puma's excellent chassis, but nowhere near enough power to exploit it. At the other end of the scale, the Racing Puma is exquisite, but prices have soared - think just shy of £10,000 for the very best, and that's if you can find one.

All of which makes the stock 1.7 - the original, in other words - the one to buy for now. Early cars were pretty basic, but then the Puma was never really about standard equipment. The chassis and engine were all, and never mind that the interior was shared with a Fiesta and all you got to play with was a pair of electric windows, central locking and power steering.

As time went on, though, the Puma began to spawn special editions - the Millennium with its Zinc Yellow paint and Recaro seats; the Black, with (can you guess?) black paintwork, a black leather interior and split-spoke alloy wheels; and the Thunder, finished in metallic grey with leather seats, a six-disc CD changer and multi-spoke alloys.

Get one before they've all rusted away!

All command a very small premium over the standard car, but don't go crazy - we're talking a couple of hundred quid, at the most. That said, if you are planning for a long-term investment (and be under no illusion; it's certainly long-term with the Puma at this point), the Thunder or Millennium editions are likely to be worth the most in future.

This isn't one of those 'buy it now or you'll miss out' calls to arms, then. Think of it more as a gentle prod; a reminder that time moves swiftly when you're not paying attention. The Puma is a surefire classic in the making; and while it's a little way off attaining that status, it won't be too long before you're looking at the classifieds, wondering where they all went - and when they ever got so pricey.

[trickywoo]

Its a fun car to drive but having owned one there are too many niggles for me to want one again.

In no particular order:

- Seats are hard and uncomfortable
- Torque limiter in first and the 'traction control' (up to 6mph or whatever) are a joke
- Brakes are weak
- Can't open the boot with the engine running, if its raining the boot will fill with water pretty much no matter how you open it
- Rust
- Leaks. There is a rubber grommet engine side of the bulkhead which brings in a lot of electrics. Its mounted on the horizontal! Leaks unsurprisingly.

[trickywoo]

robsco said:

brilliant steering feel

The steering is accurate and well weighted but drive a Puma back to back with a 205 GTI and you'll think someone replaced the Puma wheel with a bog roll the difference is that stark.

[trickywoo]

GezG said:

EBC Discs & Yellowstuff pads along with fresh fluid has improved the pedal feel no end

My biggest issue with the brakes was that they felt over servoed. The first few degrees of pedal travel seemed to give 95% of the braking available. When you needed more the effort on the pedal needed to be much, much stronger and even then not a lot happened.