Shed of the Week: Ford Puma 1.7
An early Puma with only a little rust? Yes, they really do exist!
While discussing his own unique appeal, Bob was quoted as saying that he was "a Marmite sort of guy". You either loved him or you hated him. As a result he regularly topped both popularity and unpopularity polls at the same time.
Even the rear light clusters aren't that murky
In 2016, a Puma is a definitive example of a love/hate Ford. You'd love it because, in traction-controlled 125hp 1.7 form at least, it handles and goes brilliantly. You'd hate it because the metal gearknob is damnably cold on a winter's morn, but mainly because the car would be disintegrating underneath you with each new crinkly, crunchy mile.
This built-in self-scrapping process is perhaps the main reason why more Pumas haven't featured in SOTW. The last one appeared nearly three years ago.
Our Shed is different. It's from the first year of production, which is nice, but what makes it really special is the apparent absence of rear arch rust. For the Puma, that's almost a miracle.
Looking fairly presentable inside too
Anything else you need to be aware of? Well, the linerless 1.7 demands good quality oil. Hot or cold running could be something as simple as a crotchety thermostat but you might also want to check that coolant isn't leaking out from the core plugs.
The 1.7 has an appetite for exhaust oxy sensors, a problem indicated by lumpy idling or hesitant acceleration. Water can get through perished wiring grommets in the bulkhead: that, plus loose air-con drain pipes, will dampen both front carpets. Watch out also for rusty earth straps, fritzed coil packs and malfunctioning heater control valves.
There's a lot of background guff from the vendor in the ad, some of it about the car and some about him. From this we can establish that he is 55 or 56 years old and well steeped in the automotive trade, mainly on the sales side. Whether that's a good thing or a bad one is up to you, but the sight of a car for sale with more than a spoonful of fuel showing on the gauge has got to be cause for some optimism at least.
Finally, if you are one of the young folk mentioned in para one, have a look at this. It will give you a clue as to why folk who were young when you were nothing bought the Puma.
Welcome to the sale of my special Ford Puma.
The Puma range was launched in the summer of 1997, the first cars available to customers on the 'R' registration. Launched with a choice of 1.4, 1.6 and the range topping 1.7 Variable Cam Timing engine, the car was an instant success, with initially a 6 month wait for one, and with demonstration cars being sold for more than list price of a new car to save the 6 month wait. The car gives great performance and handling, and proves to be great fun to drive.
Car History
My car was first registered on 19th June 1997 at Chatfield Ford in Hanley, Stoke on Trent to a Mr Williams from Newcastle under Lyme. He kept the car for 7 years until September 2005, and covered 47682 miles in his ownership.
The car then went to live at the sea side in Hayle, Cornwall, and was bought by a middle aged couple Mr and Mrs Smith.
The car was for Mrs Smith, who initially used the car to go to work in Truro for a few years, until she took early retirement due to ill health. The car was then used sparingly and owned by them for a total of 10 years. I have recently aquired the car for stock for my start up Classic Car Business.
Puma's are already rising in value and have reached Classic Car status and values can only go up from this point. In my view this car will be an investment over the coming years.
Mr Smith is a retired garage propriotor, and has personally maintained his wifes car during this time, changing the oil every 5000 miles.
He had the timing belt changed recently by his local garage who had the tools to do the job, and at that time had a new clutch fitted.
The car also has air horns fitted, which were a present to his wife, and a Kenwwod CD player is fitted with the original Ford radio available.
Rcent Pirelli tyres all round and Ford mud flaps front and rear finish the car off, and the care of maintenance and it always being garaged, it is clear to see the great condition of this car. The car was waxoiled underneath every year, and the paintwork regulally waxed to keep that lovely red shine. The Puma has now been professionally valeted.
Bodywork
The body work is in very good order, not showing signs of rusting on the rear arches, only a few specs. There are the minor stone chips and small marks, but all in all very very good order for a 1997 car.
Mechanical
As mentioned earlier, there is a stamped Ford service book fully stamped up to2/9/2005 at 47682 miles, then professionally maintained by Mr Smith. The MOT is fresh and expires November 2016. Cam belt and new clutch recently fitted.
MOT Mileage History
02/07/2001 22610 miles
01/07/2002 28984 miles
01/07/2003 35531 miles
21/06/2004 41661 miles
03/09/2005 47682 miles
04/09/2006 57722 miles
24/08/2007 70713 miles
28/08/2008 81159 miles
21/08/2009 88015 miles
27/08/2010 91551 miles
30/08/2011 95259 miles
08/08/2012 97824 miles
24/10/2013 99978 miles
31/10/2014 101992 miles
05/11/2015 103863 miles
Mileage as at 12/01/2016 is 103992 miles
I have recently started a Classic Car Business and have 39 years experience in the Motor Trade, starting off in 1976 aged 16 as an apprentice panel beater at a British Leyland garage, then becoming a car salesman at Vauxall dealerships, Austin Rover for a short time, 25 years with Ford Dealerships as a Salesman, and progressing to Sales Manager for 14 years, and latterly at a BMW dealership.
I hand pick my cars, and find cars with full histories and ones that have been lovingly owned and looked after. I would use any of my cars as my daily driver.
I am confident that this car will give trouble free motoring, and will increase in value if looked after.
The car is HPI clear and available now. It is booked in for a professional full valet on Monday 18th January, so will be gleaming under the bonnet too.
Cash or bank transfer before collection
If you need any further information please call me on 07920 195400 (Jeff)
No time wasters please
Viewing by appointment only
Car located near Dartford, Kent
Thanks for looking
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Steering, handling and gearchange were fantastic. The 1.7 was a great engine and loved being thrashed. The whole thing reminded me very much of a Mini 1275 Cooper S. They are just great fun to drive.
Dashboard was crap Fiesta stuff, the gearknob was silly and the hatch filled the boot with water every time you opened it.
The one I encountered had a huge appetite for oil. Were they not tainted by the Nicosil problem?
But the main problem these days will be rot.
I thought they were a great Ford. Probably the first time that Ford got a FWD car to drive nicely after the ste which was the XR2 and XR3.
Steering, handling and gearchange were fantastic. The 1.7 was a great engine and loved being thrashed. The whole thing reminded me very much of a Mini 1275 Cooper S. They are just great fun to drive.
Dashboard was crap Fiesta stuff, the gearknob was silly and the hatch filled the boot with water every time you opened it.
Very nice. Will wait for more calls for 'double the power' or a turbo etc etc with interest.
We finally settled on a 2002 example in Red, one owner from new, on around 75,000 miles. It drove superb (I test drove it and actually drove it home too), the underside was better than 99% of the Pumas out there and it had an MOT until Jan-17. A couple of signs that rust was on it's way on the rear arches but not much else.
He got it for £550. The only thing that needed doing was a cambelt change which cost him all of £160 the week after.
Such brilliant little cars though, stunning engine & gearbox. One of those cars that proves you don't need to be going crazy fast to have a lot of fun- it manages to feel a lot quicker than the numbers suggest.
It was £174 on eBay 6 months ago. 130k, full service history, short MOT and in need of some TLC, the most serious of which was a clutch and some minor welding on the sills, both of which I did myself with a mate on the driveway.
I put it in for a pre MOT, got a (not too bad) list, and set to work. Owes me as it stands about £450 (plus my time) but it's all done. Not actually got around to getting it re-tested yet through lack of time to even move it off the drive, but I know it's a formality as everything has been done.
They are fabulous cars to drive. When you get in one after a modern car, it feels so connected and direct. Steering feels monumentally heavy compared to modern ePAS setups, but you can feel everything through it. Lovely tail-happy handling, fantastic, short throw gearbox. Engine isn't very gutsy, but so sweet and responsive, and sounds lovely when revved. They have an acoustically tuned inlet manifold, believe it or not. Brilliant little car, and will do 200k with decent servicing.
Biggest issue is rot. The arches are just the start. Sills go (mine needed doing), inner arches and floorpans. In fact everywhere.
£800 is top, top money for one though. Serviceable examples change hands regularly for half that, and "projects" start at the £100 mark. Someone on one of the owners sites recently bought a complete, running car for a tenner.
Was in the market for a sporty hot hatch in the late 90s - had a quick test drive but in the end it came down to the French pair, 106Gti/Saxo VTS.
They can suffer from the Nicasil problem on the 1.7 - a girl I worked with years back had to source another engine because of it - not too expensive as they were just starting to rot away at the time and there were plenty of donors
Unfortunately I had no way of transporting it home, and sure enough it was back relisted by somebody else a week later with a full MOT and up for £700!
ks that really isn't relevant to the sale of the car.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff