"Cars don't fulfill the same function in society today...." Agreed. I am a 23 year owner of a '67 Alfa Romeo Duetto and a 2005 Honda S2000 bought new, so I am no stranger to the joys of driving. However, if I were buying a car today, it would not be a Boxster, but a Macan GTS. Why? Because I need a vehicle to carry my wife, 2 dogs, hiking gear and mountain bikes to go enjoy the great outdoors. The car is a method of transport to get us and our gear to the destination reliably, safely, comfortably. It is no longer so much the drive, but the destination, that I look forward to. So why is that? For one thing, the roads are too congested (especially with oversized pickup trucks, SUVs and RVs) and in poor repair to make motoring fun the way it used to be. The romanticism in the act of driving seems like from a by-gone era, even if I try to relive it in my roadsters with an early morning coastal or canyon run. I suspect younger generations, many of whom begrudgingly got their license, view driving as a burden. That's a pity, but not so difficult to understand.
Love this video. Manufacturers truly have lost the plot. "Let's build a car to save the planet" "OK, here's a 2.5 tonne 16x7x7ft SUV" "Love your work!"
Let's use children to mine the minerals, and lets forcibly introduce them that loads of perfectly good cars, with decades of life left are scraped, and before the batteries are developed. If copper can't be mined quick enough, can tyres be made quick enough?
I agree manufacturers have lost the plot, but for some reason, people keep buying their output. I can't stick modern cars, mostly dull to drive and the most basic of functions are turned into safety hazards by being buried in a touch-screen menu.
I think I heard some 15-20 years ago the reason for SUVs originally was that it was too expensive to build small cars in North America. They created the SUV to create a car that was economically sustainable for American manufacturers. It was sold on security and prestige. It started a trend. More and more manufacturers understood that SUVs were higher profit and the ordinary cars were dropped. So now we've got Chinese EV SUVs with insanely big touch screens. Enormous tyres that cost a fortune to replace. I never had a SUV. It just seems so wasteful. It's all for the manufacturers. Not the consumers.
The plot comes from government. It's demanded from the manufacturers to produce electric cars or else. The cars need to be large so they can fit enough batteries for enough range. Otherwise the consumers won't buy them. There you have it. Very green.
In the 80's even I managed to replace a bumper on an Escort, change light bulbs and -with a little help- a radiator. Nowadays the the computer needs a reset by the garage after you change tires. Often you have to take out the complete headlight unit to change a bulb (Ford) you need torx screwdrivers, flat screwdrivers, 2 extra hands to avoid paint damage and so on.
Lol, what I've been saying for awhile. I refuse to buy any car with vital controls on something that can glitch and needs updates. I refuse to follow the sheep over the cliff edge!
@@jandenijmegen5842 I like my 2008 Corsa, but it's modern enough to make life difficult! Headlight bulb change (Haynes manual) front bumper, front wing, wheel arch liner, air box, fuse box....all off/out, just to change a bloody bulb! I did cheat, replacing the dip beam bulbs, with my nifty hands/near loss of blood, but had it been the high beam bulbs, I would never have reached them! Take it to Halfords for one of their £40 special bulb change deals and they would laugh at me!
That’s the most environmentally friendly you can get: 20+ years on the road, low consumption, low maintenance. I don’t think we’re going to see many current production Pumas (or any other cars of today for that matter) on the road 20 years from now.
My thoughts exactly. I am rolling 23 y/o škoda with lpg. Its light, its cheap to fuel, cheap to repair, it doesnt really has much to break since its very basic. Gets me from a to b and its very fun on curved roads even tho is very underpowered
@@C0ceter many old cars were traded in due to governments’ recycling programs and I think that’s why you don’t see many on the road. Where I’m from there is such a program: the car being recycled has to be more than 10 years old and roadworthy, you trade it in and you get a coupon for some 1000 € discount on a brand new car. It’s happening for years and years, so I think that’s the main reason you don’t see many old cars in use.
90s cars tended to be the first daily driver ones you saw in large numbers reaching 20+years. I had 3 90s cars that went 250k mi and were still pretty good when we tired of them. I still see 90s Camrys, Mazda Miatas, some Ford Taurus, BMW 325i, 90s basic trucks, LTD/Grand Marquis and a few others in the US However there were some models in every line that dissapeared after 15 years. I don't see many very old Corollas and Subaru Outbacks anymore. Maybe the price point was too low. Maybe people tossed their outback/forester after 18yrs maybe the 2nd head gasket or rusted out unibody was a bridge too far. What shocks me is seeing so many 2007 Chevrolet HHRs. I see one every day. That seemed a flimsy novelty car at the time. My daughter has one she bought for $3800 4 years ago and it still runs well with over 200k
I agree 100% with your sentiments! As a nearly 65 year old man, I smile when I see young men "reviewing" modern cars, and liking or disliking them, based on the amount of "tech" they offer. Does everything need a touchscreen and menus, auto-on/off lights and windscreen wipers etc.? I think not. I recently bought a 2019 Honda Jazz Sport, and everything operates off the screen. There are no simple knobs to turn to adjust the volume, aircon or heating, airflow etc. It's distracting and dangerous making such adjustments whilst driving. Yes, I'm a dinosaur, but simplicity works for me! Warm greetings from South Africa.
I promise you 95% and above of production cars have physical buttons and features for important driving functions. Holy shit my guy, human beings are still designing and driving these cars they don't expect people to stare at a screen while driving. Even Tesla as bad as they are incorporate physical buttons and knobs for important operations. So why you lying?
I have owned a Puma 1.4 since 2012. I bought it for a few bucks (1500€) with 95000km. It is now 24 years old and has double the mileage. I love this car, even though it has the smaller 90 horsepower engine it is still a lot of fun with the chassis and gearbox. Every time I drive it, it always manages to give me a smile or a feeling of freedom and happiness. And it has never given me any problems. It is extremely reliable, and sharing the mechanics with the Fiesta, spare parts are easily available. Today I still use it as a daily vehicle. Probably the best purchase of my life.
This was the last generation where engineers and companies were willing to make good cars. Today it seems the smallest car you can buy is a Bradley infantry fighting vehicle
@@natasastanojevic thats whats happening more and more nowadays lately. Check all those professional restomod companies where you can buy a 80s/90s classic but fully rebuild to nowadays tuners standards. Check the Kimera EVO37 crazy lancia 037, Toto Automobili makes crayz Alfa Romeos, Maturo Cars for full carbon lancia delta integrale's, Tolman 205 GTI, Singer Porsches, Prodrive P25 impreza and much much more. The people love their classics. And behold for more in the future.
I review cars based on quantity of gadgets. I like to see remote central locking, electric windows and air conditioning, but obviously none are are essential. The more gadgets it has over and above those three things the worse it is, and if it was made after about 2012 is is definitely utter crap.
My dad had a -03 Focus, it rode like it was on rails with good sport tyres, it didnt like cheap squishy tyres. Super well built and never has any major problems, 15 years in the family (my sister drives it today) and it still just keeps on going.
Actually I think the Tesla is more representive of "the old style", low, sleek design, very much a passenger sedan -albeit of the executive class, and fun to drive (you can actually throw it around quite a bit - and it would leave the Puma for dead if the driver stepped on it on the straight bits). This in contrast to the boxy, tall, ultra-heavy SUVs or Cross-overs with their huge wheels. Funny thing, most of the adverts for those SUVs praise the "beautiful design" as a selling point - so maybe it's just me thinking they are ugly.
My wife had one and it was far and away the best FWD car I ever drove. In the real world, on real roads, performance was more than adequate. I think this era may come to be defined as "Peak Car", where handling, braking and performance had effectively evolved to perfection and cars were fitted with everything you really needed, but not much you didn't. I'm an old git these days, but my kids are really only interested in how much "tech" a car has and the more it does the driving for you the better. We all need to take a moment to thank Richard Parry-Jones for Fords of this era.
Agreed! It's hard to overstate just the transformation that happened at Ford during this period. The dynamics of the cars, even the run-of-the-mill models was perfectly judged. For once the engineers didn't have to defer totally to the bean counters.
100% on point. Most people below the age of 50 don't know what a PROPER car is- ie RWD minus all the nanny state interference driver 'aids.' They are clueless about what makes a good car, and if you put them in an old skool RWD car without all the nanny state aids, most people would make a big mess very quickly. Driver's have been isolated from the driving experience, cars are overly refined to the point of being soulless. Computers are intervening and keeping hamfists out of trouble.....No talent is required at all now. ALL cars now are large and heavy- a modern Fiesta is bigger than an 80's Mk 3 Escort, a VW Polo is bigger than an 80's Gold etc. People will literally buy anything now- so long as they are loaded with tech and gadgets- most modern cars now are hideous corpulent lumps- but sheeple can't get enough of them.
I'm Aussie, but living in Mindanao Philippines. A lot of people here are obsessed with massive dual cab pickup trucks, and large SUV's. There is, however, an interesting subculture of people who love the "Multicab". Think Suzuki Kei vans and pickup trucks. There's a company here that gets knocked down frames, bodies, engines, and other necessary parts from Japan. They employ Filipinos to reassemble, rustproof, paint and refit components. They completely disassemble and reassemble the engines and transmissions, and refurbish the interiors with new seats and upgraded equipment, but without all the high tech stuff. They test and retest to be sure everything is in working order. They produce both 4x2 and 4x4 versions. They use Suzuki's venerable 660cc turbocharged three cylinder 12 valve engine. That engine is so good that Caterham fits it to their entry level vehicle. Yes, the one based on the Lotus Seven. There's a lot of rough roads and terrain here, and these vehicles are ideal for transporting large families and business and farm use. They also cost about a third as much as a very basic pickup truck. As well, they are simply cool. I remember seeing a review on TH-cam of one of the Japanese versions of the same type of vehicle, in the UK. I'm glad to see that simple, practical vehicles that are actually fun to drive are available here.
I live in general Santos and I managed to borrow one of these. It was painted bright yellow with the widowmaker painted down the sides. The little turbo charged engine was absolutely brilliant.
Had one for a couple of years in the late 2000s. Bought it for 600 quid and it is still one of the most fun cars I’ve ever owned. It reminded me of my crx except it had a more torquey engine and the handling felt tuned specifically for twisty, uneven, rough British B roads in a way virtually nothing else is. On a spirited drive with a friend in his integra Type R DC2 he would run away on fast roads but when we turned down the passes I would literally have to pull up and wait for him. Really tempted to pick up another, the parts were all shared with the fiesta/focus range too so were properly cheap to keep on the road and even upgrade.
SE161 aka Puma was my first vehicle program at Ford in 1996 …. It was an aesthetic and engineering gem developed by designers and engineers who - led by Richard Parry Jones and Phil Maquire - were given a clear mandate to deliver excellence. I tuned the gear ratios and had a few brilliant days at Lommel Proving Ground 😊 Heady days and brilliant products.
likewise, was on the Focus Mk1 program from 1997, loved all Ford's products in Europe these days, they were standing out both with their style and their excellent engineering. Worked for Ford for many years, and always think of the mid-late 1990-s as Ford's best days...
You could tell when ringing its neck that the engineers must have been enjoying what they did! And well done the gear ratios matched the torque perfectly for storming British lanes and passes 😂👍
As an engineering apprentice, I helped to make part of the gearbox at a broaching business...I lived in fear of a recall because I wasn't entirely sure that I was doing things correctly 😬 and was given a bit too much freedom! It's good to hear that it is well-regarded and worked!
I had a 1998 Puma 1.7 as my first car (3 years old) - running it from Sept 2001 to January 2010, covering 100k miles. I absolutely loved it - quite quick and great handling !
@@drrobert3696 🤣 The car was 3 years old - I was 22 I paid £8k for it and it was in mint condition. I’ve been looking recently to buy another one - finding one like in this video would be great !
@@m80tmm - The Puma was perfect, no issues what so ever. It was my first car, I was 21, and so I had little money to keep the servicing up regularly. I usually serviced it once every 2-3 years and it never missed a beat.
Marvelous video, it made me so emotional that I started to cry. Not because I had a Puma, although I seriously considered buying one, but because we've lost not just one, but many niche cars we used to have. It's almost 'all SUV' nowadays, which, as an old bloke who loves cars, I find very limiting and sad. The reason for the 'all SUV' movement? Well, in my humble opinion, it's a manufactured demand by car companies so they can charge us more for bigger vehicles-it's as simple as that. And most of us fell for it, even though station wagons (estates, as they’re called in some countries) offered much more convenience with lower drag coefficient, better fuel economy, and less tire wear than SUVs. They are currently trying the same with EVs... but I'll stop here because that’s a different topic.
Go to Brand's Hatch (or Goodwood, or Snetterton, or Oulton Park) on one of their special days and I guarantee your spirits will be lifted :-) Plenty of enthusiasts there, young and old who still celebrate 'proper' cars :-)
My recollection is the car was made to use the Yamaha engine. Ford had signed a deal for the engine and was looking for a project to use it. The project was scoped around the number of engines Yamaha had committed to build. The car was such a hit they needed more engines, so the non Yamaha zetecs were used to increase production. All the silver parts were painted by a special paint process in Ireland, it was very difficult and had low yield leading to high costs. When the volumes exceeded expectations, a lot of Ford people were sent to Cork in Ireland to sort it out. Those parts were moulded at several locations across Europe, sent to Ireland, sprayed and then returned for assembly before being sent to Ford.
Cars used to provide independence but now they create dependence. The cost of gas/petrol, the cost of insurance, parking, traffic, and other things make it very different. I have a fun car but can only enjoy it very rarely. I think the view of the car as an appliance is due to this.
Nah. You're just subliminally nostalgic about the years you where younger. As for the price od gas, what was your salary compared to what it is nowaydays?
The 1.25 was also Yamaha. Drove home from Cornwall on 3 pots 350miles and the engine was rebuilt, only needed 1 burnt out valve, head skim and gasket and 1 piston. Drove for another 70k miles. Fantastic cars all, round.
You nailed it. It must have been Ford strategy to make neutral handling cars. My defining memory of the new Ford Escort I bought in 1998 was the weighting of the controls… I loved driving it! 26 years later it’s still the best car I ever owned. I sold it to my brother 6 years later… the aircon still worked like new having never been re-gassed!
I got a 1998 Fiesta. I live in Portugal and we still have a lot of old cars because a lot of people don't have the money to change it. They are our blessing: they are cheap, their fuel consumption is economical and they are the correct size. I can go everywhere without thinking if I can park my car. When it comes to driving, I quite like it. He goes to 140 km/h and kind of stops there (I didn't expect much more to be honest 😅) but he is very responsive and I got to say, I feel quite safe inside. I love my little fiesta
My last 2 cars have been a alfa GTV and now a Alfa 156 with 40k miles on it ,both great to drive every day . low tech and easy to repair but still great fun to drive
Out of the 75 cars I've owned in 43 years of driving, the two 156 twin spark 2.0 were the best saloons of the lot. Sadly rust attacked the roof in both, but it didn't stop me buying a 2011 Giulietta 140 JTDM four years ago. 150k on that now and it drives like a dream and everything works. It is the youngest of my fleet and it is not going to be sold.
I was gonna buy Alfa GT as my first car fresh out of driving school. Unfortunately everyone discouraged me from buying alfa, saying they break a lot..... So I bought a 2009 Citroen C4 lol... Now there's sometimes a GT parked in the lot by the house. Oh do I envy.
@@dodgywheelsandropeywiring5697 my wife had a red 1.4 for her first car, rusty wheel arches and she destroyed a gearbox, the gearbox oil was like silver paint. but what a car it was.
I have to wonder if the problem is that not enough car enthusiasts are employed by car manufacturers these days. I can imagine, back in the 1990s, a team of enthusiasts working on the Puma, knowing they were making a great driver's car, knowing that journalists would praise it highly enough that their readers would get excited by it, and knowing that word of mouth would spread such that anyone who might be in the market for a small car would seriously consider the Puma, whether they could appreciate a fine car or not. Nowadays, I can imagine people working on new cars are just as tech-obsessed as the majority of young car buyers, and have perhaps never driven a car like the original Puma to appreciate what features a small car can forgo whilst still entertaining the driver. Entertainment, for them, can only come from a screen. And once the screen becomes the focal point of the vehicle, they become lost down a rabbit hole of digital features, rather than focusing on physical features like packaging, centre of mass, suspension setup, etc. Fun new cars appear to no longer exist, only new boring cars with "fun" infotainment systems.
I don't think there are less enthusiasts in the industry, I just think the industry is driven by demand both then and now. That's influenced by supply too, sure... If you offer more and more heavier / higher / bulkier cars, people get used to those and it influences the demand. But basically in my opinion if you put a simple and tiny car like that on the market today it just won't sell very well, and that's why they don't make them, not because of a lack of passion. He's right that cars are more a kind of "appliances" that they used to be. So no matter how entertaining to drive, for 90% of people and 90% of the time, being in traffic when commuting in urban areas doesn't allow you to enjoy the actual driving of the car. Comfort becomes more important then, which comes with more space, larger and higher seats, temp control, connectivity to devices and all that. It really becomes a vicious circle because in traffic being surrounded by vehicles significantly bigger, higher, and heavier feels uncomfortable, and a bit unsafe even. The same car, or a more modern car but of similar dimensions, would feel much more cramped and flimsy and unsafe in today's traffic than in the traffic of 25-30 years ago. And so would be a much harder sale. So it's really difficult for the trend to not always tend toward bigger and heavier over time. In fact cars in the 90s, even the tiny ones, were overall already bigger and heavier than the cars that came before. The trend didn't start then, it was already going on and just kept going. Off the top of my head I don't see many solutions to break this spiral, other than stricter regulations. It's already what's keeping things somewhat in check, as the US market shows. With some category of cars over having close to no regulations at all, they already had bigger cars but since the 2000s it has been out of control. Some SUVs and pick-up trucks are literally the size of medium tanks despite never being driven outside of suburbs, city centers, and shopping mall parking lots. Perhaps a progressive tax, where the heavier and larger a vehicle is, the more and more this extra tax is? To provide a clear incentive to revert to smaller and lighter cars... Can't think of too many solutions that would work.
Boring answer is that small crossovers sell, micro-coupes don't. I wasn't expecting to like the new Puma but honestly great to drive, one of the best current hatchback chassis out there (borrowed from Fiesta of course). You barely notice the extra height, weight is the same as the Fiesta and only about 150kg heavier than the original Puma. Great driving position, functional but basic infotainment screen that doesn't distract. Overall good fun and drives well. And then side by side with a Fiesta the Puma is clearly "more car", more aspirational even though pretty much the same thing and costs the same amount to build. Not really the car for me but I totally get why people buy them and why Ford is focusing on the crossover market. Market is tighter, in a position where manufacturers are dropping 3 door hatchbacks to save costs there isn't much room for a niche 2 door mini-coupe that might only sell 20,000 units per year.
Frankly, I think Ford basically axing Ford of Britain is the reason why Ford is now, what it is. Ford of Germany has zero say in the new designs (not that it would change anything) and everything is decided in Detroit.
It's not because of a lack of enthusiastic designers, it's because marketing divisions decide of everything for the purpose of profit (which is logical, but instead of fun machines they sell big machines)
I owned a 2000 1.7 Puma, and loved diving it. The two main problems were rust, because it appeared to have been made from low quality steel, and parts availability, because there weren’t enough cars to warrant spares being made or stored.
I had a 1.7 puma from 1999-2007 which I imported from Holland with a proper uk certificate of conformity. Enjoyed my 8 years with it tremendously. It took my new borns home from hospital and once whilst pushing it to the ragged edge I spun in 360 and by luck still kept it on the tarmac. The original Puma holds fond memories for me. Fantastic marketing campaign at the time featuring Steve McQueen.
My wife had a Puma (when she was merely my girlfriend). 1.7L engine, lightweight, agile thing. Plenty quick, and lots of fun. Pretty from some angles, cute from others. Love the headlights especially. Whenever we are together & one of us sees one, the 1st to spot it will proclaim "Puma Punch" & punch the other. (Not very hard, I hasten to add) The racing Puma vsriant is a lovely thing, quite pricey now
@@paulriggers1558 she's not as lightweight as she was but the headlamps are bigger now, so I take it. Still as pretty. They run smoother the longer you have them too. The wife, that is. The car is a Z3 now.
I think you are right about people not driving for fun so much, as evidenced by the increasing popularity of automatics. Also people are obsessed with passenger safety, even at the expense of potentially reduced pedestrian safety.
Ironicly SUVs are making it all far more dangerous for everybody on the road and pavements. Bad visibility, danger to pedestrians and needlessly increased mass all at ultimate cost of actual practicality and fun compared to whatvwe used to get. Part of the blame.is on automakwrs lowering normal cars so much. Cara in the 90s and prior had more ground clearence than vast majority of these crossovers now.
@@markiv2942 You are entitled to your own opinion. However I would choose a more engaging and efficient (ie. less 'thirsty') manual car than a car fitted with an automatic transmission - especially the CVT, twin clutch or worse still the BMW SMG autos that were available when the Puma was introduced.
I completely, utterly agree with your comments. It used to be that people wanted crossovers and SUVs for the elevated driving position so they could “see past the car in front of them”… now it’s really difficult to find something that isn’t overly tall, overweight and handle like a pig on stilts. Stuffed with “essential driver aids” that are completely unnecessary and frankly unwanted, buying a new car these days takes far too much time and effort to avoid another soul-less irritation! Incidentally, yes Yamaha were responsible for the small engines too. I had the dubious honour of receiving the first 1.25 litre zeta engine outside of Japan for fuel system research, and I trashed it after an unfortunate camshaft mistiming incident!! Keyless cam wheels and no torque specs… hmmm.
yes! Cars come with a lot of unnecessary and, as you say, frankly unwanted driver assist systems, but oftentimes things you'd really expect and want to see in a car are only available as optional extras. I did a bit of field research on this topic recently by just going to some of the major car manufacturers' websites and, just for fun, going into the configurator on certain models. In my country (Austria), the Audi A7 starts at over 77.000 euros, and for that money - get this! - it doesn't even come with electrically adjustible mirrors. It doesn't include side airbags for driver or passenger as standard either. These are both optional extras, as is a tyre pressure monitoring system. My 2016 Yaris has all 3 of these, and they were included as standard... yet now they're not standard on a 77k German "premium vehicle"? Yikes...
I refuse to believe that modern cars are the way they are because of people's changing tastes. It's been forced upon us. Talk to most people and they will prefer older cars.
Not true. Contemporary state of things is due to several key moments of industry, of them being introduction of crossovers by Mercedes with ML series. It's hard to produce anything else when people feel like they want this: bigger looking, better observation, better crash security, more comfortable mode od transport. If this Puma was introduced today, majority of those who you asked, wouldn't really buy it for today's price.
@@wwlb4970 I do think people's tastes have been changed in the ways you describe by decisions made in the industry. But I don't it is that natural. They learned those justifications from the marketing.
@@Poodz_ But where do you think marketing learned it from? The Moon? They learned it from actual experience of customers. Besides, there is engineering point: simply put, ideal car design has been figured out - body as square as possible, thus left and right wheels are as far away as possible, centre of mass in the centre, chair-style sitting, bigger windows etc etc. And unsurprisingly, this makes a crossover. Same fate for mobile phones. Do you remember the variety of colours, forms and decorations in mid 2000-s? But they were doomed once the ideal, most practical design had been figured out.
And it's not just niche cars that have disappeared: after the Fiesta, we just said goodbye to the POLO. Not to mention the "return" of the Capri!!! What an ugly, ugly world...
I didn't know much about the early Pumas, so thanks for this segment! Most people today want infotainment instead of a proper driving experience: massive screens inside, automatic, one-pedal driving (especially electric cars), tall and big, fat obese-mobiles (just like many people are becoming). I love my 2011 Alfa Giulietta QV BECAUSE it's manual, [relatively] lightweight, fast and agile, great steering feel, good grip and handling without being over the top. I feel like telling people that if they're not really interested in driving, catch the train and leave the roads to proper drivers in proper cars!
My wife has owned these original Pumas since she bought one new in 2001. She's only on her second one, had it 11 years now, the first one rotted really badly!! Other than the rust problem, they are fantastic!
That rust is no joke though - Corsas of the same age are generally still intact, but Ford just hadn't got the process quite right. Amazing-looking car, and a great prospect when solid
Rot was a general issue withall cars of that era TBF, my st24 and younger bros 1.7 with the full leather both had rot in the prone areas, fuel cap, arches etc. but great cars with just what you needed. Very low spec compared to today's standards
@@MrChrissk that's the thing, it wasn't - some cars had servicing issues, sure, where water drains get blocked and it starts rot around the arches and bulkheads, but that's different to 90s Fords that simply all dissolved after 10 years... Irony is a lot of people find modern feature annoying, sure AndroidAuto is great, but do you really need lane departure warnings, stop start, DSG clutches and 35 airbags? £300+ a month feels just too steep for some extra safety and tech
@@jamesmiller113 o yeah I'm aware, cars only as reliable as it's owner, my bro blew engine in his puma, running it low on oil. Iv always preferred older cars, more character to them etc, get stick of older people at work much prefer newer stuff, saying they never go back to say car of 90s era for example, was a bit of a boy racer when younger I'll admit. My current car is the first car iv ever had on TIC, nothing to fancy, just a basic family estate diesel because got family and do to many miles for any sort of even mild performance petrol car, it's a one previous owner, and came with 4yrs remaining KIA warranty so was a no brainer. The only thing that puts me off buying a old school puma etc is the price of road tax on them, and finding a good example and hoping your able to still find parts as I'd imagine there not something dealers still stock or produce.
I bought my wife a 1.4 Puma for 700 quid as her first car. It cost almost nothing to buy, it was cheap to run and fun to drive... Best 700 quid we ever spent.
I think the 1990s reached a peak in the auto industry. There were enough electronics to get the car running, they had small efficient engines, and you can rest assured the older cars are not spying on you. BTW Household appliances also worked better in the 1990s as well. I am still using my parents' washer, dryer, and dishwasher. (And my vacuum from the 90s).
I had a 1.7, T reg and I bought the book about them. The designers had to (metaphorically) fight with Ford for the inclusion of the silver ball gear knob and the engine/ exhaust note was deliberately tuned. I did meal delivery work and was all up and down miles and miles of B roads for about 4 years. I was getting paid for my pleasure. It was amazing to drive. In the end, those rust-prone arches (the car's only design flaw, to my knowledge because they retained wet mud, from the tyres, inside the wheel arches) and just age related stuff, in general, led me to scrap it because there was too much work needed to put it through another MOT. But I kept it, right up to that point, because I loved driving it, so much. The guys I called to come and collect it gladly handed me £200 to take it away because the engine was desirable for Fiestas and was still purring due to regular oil, filter and petrol filter changes. I always miss it whenever I remember it. It was a real step up from 2 of the 3 Sciroccos I'd owned (just maybe not the old B reg 2.0GTX, ha). Lucky me, eh? There's nothing really like them now but I'm getting almost as good a buzz from my Audi A3 saloon. Only 1.4 but fairly quick after turbo lag. Similar pride of ownership to the Puma experience but can't quite be rallied as fast as the Puma could on the quiet, winding, B roads, at night.
I have a 1988 Alfa Sprint 1.7 and it's just a joy to drive. No ABS, no PAS, no traction control, keep fit windows bla bla.... It's a joy to drive, you don't even have to drive it hard to have fun, ultra responsive with planted handling. A totally analogue experience in a digital world - and all the better for it. Even my 20 year old son agrees....I reckon Puma in that guise was the Sprint reincarnated
Worked at a Ford dealership in those days. These were incredible to drive. Puma, Fiesta and Ka and it's variations. Also the Mondeo (3rd gen) holds a special place in my heart, for its great steering and chassis.
15yrs ago I did 50,000over 5yrs in my ‘02 1.7 and it’s still my favourite car I’ve ever driven even post f30 Msport 335d and Focus ST. Apart from the brakes I loved everything about that little car and it went like a cartoon around corners!!
We looked at one to buy as a new car for my wife in 2001 but by that time the Focus was just a better option so a 1.8 Zetec 3 door Focus in silver was her car. She absolutely loved that car. TBH pretty much all ford's of that era drove really well. Thanks to and RIP Richard Parry Jones
I bought a second hand gunmetal 'R' reg 1.7l Puma in 1999 and drive it into the ground travelling all over Europe to watch F1 GPs. I eventually killed it in an accident and replaced it with a dark green one. I had it until the end of 2008 when I replaced it with a Nissan 350Z. I still miss my Puma.
i worked at the tickfords at daventry doing the workshop equipment. they started with a standard production car, they pulled it apart and threw most of it away. they had shit loads of filler in them when they fitted the big wheel arches.
From Ford's best days. My Mum had a 1999 Focus, which she kept until she passed away three years ago. The car never missed a beat in all that time - it was parked up for almost two years during Covid and, when we put a new battery in it, it started first turn of the key. It was always nice to drive, pleasant to be in, used hardly any fuel, cost nothing to service and did everything a car could be expected to do. RIP sensible cars
I had a 1.7 Puma for 5 years - fabulous little car, practical 4 seater, reasonable boot space, the variable cam timing made it great around town, all it needed was more oomph! I've now got a Fiat Coupe 20VT, which has certainly got the oomph, has even more space in the back and the boot, is better looking, but the steering/suspension/driving experience just can't match the Puma........but also, of course, the Puma is a ruster around the rear arches!
I had one too, prior to that all my cars were pretty sedentary. Then I had a Subaru Forester XT and now drive an Impreza WRX STI ...all because of the zing that lovely little Puma had :-)
I love small Fords, after a Focus to start with here in Europe which we drove several times to Germany Spain, and Croatia without a single hitch, we ended up buying a secondhand low Km 4 cylinder Fiesta Titanium with heated leather seats, cruise control etc etc, a veritable dream to drive, with such precise steering and handling. A part from the new Puma this is the only small hatchback the company are now building? When parking at the local supermarket I need to be careful reversing out as so many cars now are towering unnecessarily over it blocking the view, this used to be a problem being beside a van, but now any jacked up SUV.
Fiesta has now been discontinued, apparently the new Puma SUV is supposed to be the replacement?!! Deffo not the same kind of car, but plenty of driving instructors seem to have gone for it.
@@rbeamish6492 I have just seen the new Ford Capri, nothing at all like the original model; shame another VW based jacked up SUV, yes the New Puma has some style, my next car?
It still is :) Quite a different car than the Puma. The size is quite noticeable when parked next to my mk4 Mondeo, it is almost the same size! So it is not a nimble sports coupe, it is a bit large and heavy, but great on long trips. Have driven it to Germany, and it is quite at home on the (no-speed limit) autobahn :)
I wanted one of those. It was beautiful! Couldn’t afford to run it though especially with that 24 valve top of the range 2.5L V6 engine. Was a bit partial to the Ford Probe too! For what it’s worth, I had an R reg Mazda MX-3 1.6i 16v DOHC coupe back then, which I thoroughly enjoyed for 8.5 years. My legs had trouble working the clutch so unfortunately I part exchanged it for a Prius. Lovely car the latter, but no regrets. The Prius suits my needs perfectly and has been ultra reliable over the 11 years of owning it so far. It’s also saved me £11k in fuel costs over that time and has remained ULEZ compliant in London. The Mazda MX-3 sadly, wasn’t ULEZ compliant, so they’ve virtually disappeared from London.
My housemate at university in the late 90s had one of these that I was insured on. It was an awesome little drive. We'd take it up on the moors and wring it out. It handled brilliantly and gripped those bumpy roads like a little pro!
My first car was a Ford Anglia . I polished it every week it shined like a mirror. I was only eighteen at the time . I didn’t know much about mechanical side of it but it looked great.
I had 3 1.7's between 1998 and 2011. Superb little machines. You can really lean on them and they behave so well. I was told that the block was Yamaha and the top end was Ford. The 1.7 came from the 1.25 Zetec block and that 1.7 was as far as they could take it. It did warm up in no time, even on frosty mornings. Really flexible, smooth and if you tickled it, it could do good mpg. I have a lot of memories of driving Puma's. The car I learned to left foot brake in. Not far off half a million miles in those 13 years and apart from things that wear out and the rear arches, the only issue I had was rear wheel bearings. Changed a few of those, more than would be expected. The car always felt best on Goodyears with 31 in the front and 29 in the rear. They had a softer sidewall and they suited the front end far better than Michelins or Continentals that just gave up too easy. Get one if you can and go make the most of your local B roads.
An old GF of mine had a 1.7 123bhp Puma back in the early 2000s. It was light, precise, loved to be revved and such a refreshing change from my beloved Peugeot 405 turbo diesel. I had some great fun driving that car! My next car will probably be a Dacia. They seem to be one of the few manufacturers today offering sensible no-frills cars that forego most of those unnecessary extras.
Ive had one from new for 23 years, fabulous little car, some lower bodywork replaced,a common fault and engine leaks from oil seal , just gets through the MOT with observations, hope it keeps going as there's nothing like it on the road now.
Had one of these as hire car in Ireland for a week in 1999,drove all over West coast on amazing litle roads and never stopped laughing all week. Up there with the most fun cars I have driven including my 1.9 Peugeot GTI which I owned for many years with similar performance and fun. Today the roads and traffic,not to mention cameras have largely ruined the fun factor,I drive a Skoda Yeti in the week and 718 4.0 Cayman at weekends,both fabulous at what they do but cannot replicate the fun from the 80's and 90's .. different gravy.
@@colinscutt5104 It was the bodywork in general, mine rotted everywhere, and I mean everywhere. Arches, sills, floors, boot, even around windshield.. It was an amazing car and I still miss it dearly, never missed a beat, sublime to drive, had it not rotted away I would never part with it.
I've got a car filling a similar niche. Toyota Paseo - it's based on the old Toyota Starlet hatchback, but only came with a 1.5 with 90-100bhp, but it only weighed 900kg (or 100kg lighter than the puma) and had a pretty decent spread of torque. The end result is a brilliant fun little car, easy to park, returns nearly 50mpg and because it rides on 14 inch wheels, it rides better than most new cars. I'm 29 and thoroughly despise modern cars.
I bought a Toyota Sera two years ago (I was 19) - also based on the Starlet. Same 1.5 ltr 5E-FHE engine with 110 PS and weighs 900kg. The manual gearbox is VERY engaging and makes the car intuitive to drive. Everything about it is well-designed and built to last, very similar to how you describe your Paseo. The butterfly doors are cool too, lol I strongly believe that no brand new car could offer anything better
I am 40yo and still buying medium hatch, exactly as I had when I was university because it fit my need precisely. Small cars are cheaper (in all aspects, price, fuel, insurance, maintenance, etc), the are more agile, easier to park in downtown and doens't call unecessary attention. I even would like to drive a smaller car but the need to transport my 2 kid with me everyday doesn't allow it. It annoys me the thinking of moving extra volume and weight of a bulky bodyframe only to carry my ego. For long trips we use my wifes SUV, that became here in Brazil, togheter with large pick ups, the prefereed women cars because they feel more secure and protected inside those large and heavy steel boxes. Long life to small AND well made cars!
Fun fact - if you "open up" the exhaust with less restricted end pipe muffler, you will get loud pops and bangs. Stock muffler is big and heavy. You can even hear them a little here 4:38, little crackles
Had one for 2 years. Probably the best car I've ever owned. I'm 6ft 4 and got a mountain bike in the back with the front wheel removed. 1.7 engine was super reliable and the right amount of power to go flat out everywhere. Part exchanged it for a Saab 93 Aero and regretted it.
That was the key, you could really drive the wheels off it and they lapped it up and begged for more but were so cheap to run and maintain. It’s not much fun only being able to drive at 60% of what it can do and panicking about breaking something if you catch a pothole on the next bend
@someone8476 still make a good run around, 101 bhp is still good for the weight of the car, but it's 20 bhp odd less than the 1.7 and I could easily tell the difference and I'm no Ben Collins or Chris Harris 😂
We have one of those... 1.7 with Sebring sport exhaust, lowered, wider (larger) wheels and full leather Recaro interior. That one looks neat, low mileage is good. Ours has 80k miles, Amparo Bleu, brilliant color. Racing Pumas only had 20HP (camshaft and a remap) more, and no rev limiter. You can easily get lots more power if you'd want to. But it is quite economical 'as is'. We got better than 6 liter per 100 km on a run. Just... mind the rust!
You hit the nail on the head, cars nowadays are just appliances and most people aren't interested in the whole 'driving experience' The other factor is all the electronic additions which have taken away the contact that one had between person, machine and road. Nice cars those Pumas, did consider buying one back in late 90's.
I absolutely loved my Puma, in the same green as this one too! Its one of the best B road cars I've driven. The only downsides being terrible Ford rust protection, rear arches especially, and the mocking from friends for owning a ‘hairdressers’ car.
I have a green 2002 Puma 1.7. Passed the last 3 MOTs with no advisories as well! To bring it up to modern spec (it already has A/C) I've added DRL (daylight running lights), rear view camera, sat nav, LED sidelights and reversing lights and that's about it. Looks good and drives really good.
True to a degree about rust- but then fords and Vauxhall of the time enjoyed rusting as well- just that more people liked them, and conveniently ignored the struts going through the bonnet etc.
I owned one of these for a bit and was impressed with the capabilities of this small Ford. The Fiesta underpinnings were modest but well sorted and the car should be shuffled around quickly and carry a lot of speed in and out of bends.
I remember when it was 1st launched, and the ad on TV showed the famous chase scene from Bullitt. They interspersed clips from the film, where Steve McQueen was driving, with clips of the Puma close up and changing gear, so it was like the Puma was there! Very clever advertising, I really wanted one!
Me and my Dad took one of these for a test drive back in the day, we had such a good time with it, that he bought one as soon as we got back to the dealership. Previous car before it was A MK6 Escort GTI.
I bought a 6 month old Puma in 2000, which I owned for several years before being sucked in to sports bikes - it was an absolute joy, at any speed, and just impossible not to be in a better mood when you park it than when you got in. Also… the Steve McQueen bullitt TV Ad for it is one of the best. I knew I had to have one after the first time seeing it!
I am 68, retired and have 3 cars that are all used for different things: a 2003 1.4 Zetec Fiesta as a ULEZ compliant run around, a 2007 Mercedes CLS 3.2 CDI for family transport and a 1999 Mercedes SL320 for weekends away. All of them are relatively tech light, good to drive in their own ways and I cannot see myself driving anything newer because new cars with their complexity, gadgetry and general modernism for it's own sake leaves me cold.
I keep seeing a rare Ford Racing Puma parked on the street and it always has its driver door nearly half way opened. It doesn't look neglected though it may have mechanical issues. It's the door opened that baffles me and say to myself "Doesn't the owner realise that he/she may have a rare classic??!! " 🤔
Had one for 14 years, such a great machine - fun at legal speeds, incredibly practical with a massive boot if you fold down the seats. Mine died due to rust, but am considering buying another and going nuts with rust-proofing.. Have you heard the theory that the post 2001 models were made with cheap Russian steel, and rusted even more badly? I just wish we still made small, light and nippy hatchbacks like this, they were such a great idea!
Yes, I've heard the russian steel rumor. First when VW exported Golfs to the GDR and Passats had a bad rust problem. The rumor had it, those where made from russian steel VW got in exchange for their Golfs. Later I learned about the older rumor AlfaSuds where made from. russian steel.
@@VolkerHettthe Alfa's weren't, nor were the Lancias and Fiats of the time (Fiat got paid in oil for setting up the lada factory and car). Alfa just had workers who didn't know what they were doing, the Sud factory was new. They left metal outside, and unpainted bodies, so the rust formed and was painted over.
@@paulqueripel3493 I know! We both watch this channel, don’t we? There was one thing VW got from eastern Germany back then, Barum tires. Those where - let’s say - adventures 😀
@@paulqueripel3493 You are correct, the Russian steel used in Alfas is an enduring myth - since the Italian state-owned steel factory (ilva) located in Taranto, Italy had an excessive capacity to produce steel at that time and did so for all Italian car companies. The book written by Danillo Moriero goes into much detail about the unfortunate 'goings on' at the plant that produced the Alfasud (unfortunately there is no English version of the book). The interview with the Alfa engineer Achille Moroni is particularly revealing. Moroni investigated why the rust was prevalent and found: "There were major discrepancies in the electrophoresis baths. Then, when the lines stopped due to the frequent micro-strikes, about 600 in 7 years (the 1970s were besieged with industrial strife), the bodies from the oven produced enormous quantities of condensation, which was deposited on the semi-painted body, and rust was triggered there". In short any other manufacturer producing cars at Pomilgliano d'Arco would have just shut the doors and run. Unfortunately, the aforesaid was not an option for the state-owned Alfa - an organisation that was politically obliged (directed) to remain and keep producing cars at the said plant. Alfa had to deal with the poor skills, poor work culture, and an absenteeism, that on some days was as much as 32%, a work culture that was described by Moroni as appalling. It's an absolute miracle that some 900k Alfa Suds were produced at the Pomilgliano d'Arco plant. When Alfa was again 'politically directed' to open a new plant in Pratola Serra, about 40 km from the Alfasud Pomilgliano d'Arco plant, Alfa adopted the policy that no person that works or had worked at the Pomilgliano d'Arco plant would be engaged to work at the at the Pratola Serra plant. This policy was adopted to avoid a 'cross pollination' of poor work practices and culture that had developed at the Pomilgliano d'Arco plant.
I miss my one, it was the same colour ("Pacific Green") so full of zing and fun, it was my gateway from workaday cars to "drivers' cars" in midlife. I currently drive a Subaru Impreza WRX STI from the early noughties which in recent years has suffered the same cruel blow as the Puma having also been reduced to a boring crossover. When my Puma finally bit the dust a few years ago, you could pick up a decent low(ish) mileage one for less than a grand, I'm shocked but also pleased to see that this number has now tripled. I absolutely "get" your notion that cars have become 'appliances' but there are still kids out there that shout "REV IT!!" when I'm on my way to work in my Impreza and there are plenty of young folk that show up to events like Tunerfest and Go Japan at Brand's Hatch ...twentysomethings displaying their cherished performance cars and kids that are too young to drive but are still knowledgeable about cars that are not EVs or 'appliances'.
My mate had one of those. I can't see one and not remember the trip to Alton Towers in 2004 when he hit a Pheasant on the way home. The thing started off in the opposite lane, but got scared by an oncoming car and jumped into our lane. My mate tried to brake but it was too late. Never forget the sound of the 'Donk' as we went over it and it obviously hit its head on the underneath of the car. He texted me after dropping me home and said there was an awful lot of blood and feathers he had to clean with the jet washer 😂😂
Oh the FRP was divine! Still one of the best looking cars ever. OK not powerful but what a drive. That metal gear knob could burn a hole through you on a sunny day! Also used in the Sport Ka. You've hit the nail on the head tho. Cars are no longer something that people who WANT them buy, they are a commodity. The number of cup holders is more important that the number of horses. Fewer and fewer own their cars, they rent them for 3-5 years, so there's no emotional bond made with them like there use to be. The Puma was era probably peak car. Sure all the mod-cons are amazing and I'd hate to be without them now, but simplicity, low cost, easy to maintain, great to drive... oh how we have come so far from what it once was.
I had a millennium edition puma for a little while, and i absolutely adored the thing. My dad was a ford tech back when these were new and it gave me a wonderful feeling getting into it. Fantastic fun to drive, easy to run and just enough in them to live with. This is the kind of car we need, no stupid cameras, or bings and bongs of this day and age.
They were great. Never had one, but had real trouble keeping up with them (in both Cav GSi and SW20 MR2). For 125bhp, they were rather rapid in the day.
They were all still driving RS Turdbos or Vectra GSI’s these are what their girlfriends drove and they pretended not to like even though it out drove theirs 😂
I owned a 2002 Ford Puma Thunder (leather interior, multispoke wheels etc). Had it about 8 years. Fitted coil overs to slightly lower and stiffen suspension. Fantastic handling, adequate acceleration, good mpg, big boot. Absolutely my favourite car ever. Bought for about £2000 and sold for £1200. Got lots of praise from the new owner
My sister had a 1.7 Puma. It was a little ripper. If only Ford had made them remain metal, instead of dissolving like a soluble aspirin at the first sign of rain.
@@jamesengland7461, yes. I had a Mk2 Fiesta, then a twink Sierra hatch & a Granada Cosworth hatch. They all dissolved. None made it past 16 years old. '70s - '90s Fords, 'Not good in the wet.' Still got a '88 Mustang 5.0GT I've had since 2004. Never been welded (yet). The Septics used better quality steel for their shells. Never going to buy a European Ford again.
I drive a 2008 Honda Fit in my opinion it's one of the last analog Vehicles made...... I love the fact that this car is just simple fun transportation wish we had gotten it in the states.
We daily drive a Subaru legacy 2004. Feels like the sweet spot of technology in cars. We mounted a carplay unit in it to replace the old monochrome display. With that addition the car fits great in todays traffic with maps music and parking etc. it has everything we need in terms of comfort with heated seats, climate control with AC, power everything, cruise control - but it half as wide and tall as all other cars. Makes for a great nifty fit in parking spots where others don’t. And it was cheap!
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Not a fan of your sensationalist click batey thumb nails, we're grown ups not ADHD children
My brother had one too...drove like a kart
Do you think the Honda CR-Z was a more recent version of the same idea? My wife had a 1.7 Puma in the late 90s and I loved driving it.
"Cars don't fulfill the same function in society today...." Agreed. I am a 23 year owner of a '67 Alfa Romeo Duetto and a 2005 Honda S2000 bought new, so I am no stranger to the joys of driving. However, if I were buying a car today, it would not be a Boxster, but a Macan GTS.
Why? Because I need a vehicle to carry my wife, 2 dogs, hiking gear and mountain bikes to go enjoy the great outdoors. The car is a method of transport to get us and our gear to the destination reliably, safely, comfortably. It is no longer so much the drive, but the destination, that I look forward to. So why is that?
For one thing, the roads are too congested (especially with oversized pickup trucks, SUVs and RVs) and in poor repair to make motoring fun the way it used to be. The romanticism in the act of driving seems like from a by-gone era, even if I try to relive it in my roadsters with an early morning coastal or canyon run. I suspect younger generations, many of whom begrudgingly got their license, view driving as a burden. That's a pity, but not so difficult to understand.
I’m curious how the Puma compares to it’s rival, the Opel Tigra
Love this video.
Manufacturers truly have lost the plot.
"Let's build a car to save the planet" "OK, here's a 2.5 tonne 16x7x7ft SUV" "Love your work!"
Let's use children to mine the minerals, and lets forcibly introduce them that loads of perfectly good cars, with decades of life left are scraped, and before the batteries are developed.
If copper can't be mined quick enough, can tyres be made quick enough?
I agree manufacturers have lost the plot, but for some reason, people keep buying their output. I can't stick modern cars, mostly dull to drive and the most basic of functions are turned into safety hazards by being buried in a touch-screen menu.
People keep buying them because they have them shoved down their throats whenever they walk into a showroom.
I think I heard some 15-20 years ago the reason for SUVs originally was that it was too expensive to build small cars in North America. They created the SUV to create a car that was economically sustainable for American manufacturers. It was sold on security and prestige. It started a trend. More and more manufacturers understood that SUVs were higher profit and the ordinary cars were dropped. So now we've got Chinese EV SUVs with insanely big touch screens. Enormous tyres that cost a fortune to replace. I never had a SUV. It just seems so wasteful. It's all for the manufacturers. Not the consumers.
The plot comes from government. It's demanded from the manufacturers to produce electric cars or else. The cars need to be large so they can fit enough batteries for enough range. Otherwise the consumers won't buy them. There you have it. Very green.
when you need to go into a touch screen menu just to change the heater settings you know things have become pretty bad.
In the 80's even I managed to replace a bumper on an Escort, change light bulbs and -with a little help- a radiator. Nowadays the the computer needs a reset by the garage after you change tires. Often you have to take out the complete headlight unit to change a bulb (Ford) you need torx screwdrivers, flat screwdrivers, 2 extra hands to avoid paint damage and so on.
@@jandenijmegen5842think about LED headlamps for a second. You can't change bulbs. New units are often £1000-£1500
Bring back the knobs. ✊
Lol, what I've been saying for awhile.
I refuse to buy any car with vital controls on something that can glitch and needs updates.
I refuse to follow the sheep over the cliff edge!
@@jandenijmegen5842 I like my 2008 Corsa, but it's modern enough to make life difficult!
Headlight bulb change (Haynes manual) front bumper, front wing, wheel arch liner, air box, fuse box....all off/out, just to change a bloody bulb!
I did cheat, replacing the dip beam bulbs, with my nifty hands/near loss of blood, but had it been the high beam bulbs, I would never have reached them!
Take it to Halfords for one of their £40 special bulb change deals and they would laugh at me!
That’s the most environmentally friendly you can get: 20+ years on the road, low consumption, low maintenance. I don’t think we’re going to see many current production Pumas (or any other cars of today for that matter) on the road 20 years from now.
Lets be honest you don’t see many of these Puma’s on the road 20 years later either.
That's at least what I hope.
My thoughts exactly. I am rolling 23 y/o škoda with lpg. Its light, its cheap to fuel, cheap to repair, it doesnt really has much to break since its very basic. Gets me from a to b and its very fun on curved roads even tho is very underpowered
@@C0ceter many old cars were traded in due to governments’ recycling programs and I think that’s why you don’t see many on the road. Where I’m from there is such a program: the car being recycled has to be more than 10 years old and roadworthy, you trade it in and you get a coupon for some 1000 € discount on a brand new car. It’s happening for years and years, so I think that’s the main reason you don’t see many old cars in use.
90s cars tended to be the first daily driver ones you saw in large numbers reaching 20+years. I had 3 90s cars that went 250k mi and were still pretty good when we tired of them.
I still see 90s Camrys, Mazda Miatas, some Ford Taurus, BMW 325i, 90s basic trucks, LTD/Grand Marquis and a few others in the US
However there were some models in every line that dissapeared after 15 years. I don't see many very old Corollas and Subaru Outbacks anymore. Maybe the price point was too low. Maybe people tossed their outback/forester after 18yrs maybe the 2nd head gasket or rusted out unibody was a bridge too far.
What shocks me is seeing so many 2007 Chevrolet HHRs. I see one every day. That seemed a flimsy novelty car at the time. My daughter has one she bought for $3800 4 years ago and it still runs well with over 200k
I agree 100% with your sentiments! As a nearly 65 year old man, I smile when I see young men "reviewing" modern cars, and liking or disliking them, based on the amount of "tech" they offer. Does everything need a touchscreen and menus, auto-on/off lights and windscreen wipers etc.? I think not. I recently bought a 2019 Honda Jazz Sport, and everything operates off the screen. There are no simple knobs to turn to adjust the volume, aircon or heating, airflow etc. It's distracting and dangerous making such adjustments whilst driving. Yes, I'm a dinosaur, but simplicity works for me! Warm greetings from South Africa.
Your not alone mate. It’s tiring. I will never use a new car again if I can help it
I never thought I needed a heated steering wheel until I had one 😅
I promise you 95% and above of production cars have physical buttons and features for important driving functions. Holy shit my guy, human beings are still designing and driving these cars they don't expect people to stare at a screen while driving. Even Tesla as bad as they are incorporate physical buttons and knobs for important operations. So why you lying?
@@dh1380gloves exist
You can only blame yourself for buying such car without thinking
I have owned a Puma 1.4 since 2012. I bought it for a few bucks (1500€) with 95000km. It is now 24 years old and has double the mileage. I love this car, even though it has the smaller 90 horsepower engine it is still a lot of fun with the chassis and gearbox. Every time I drive it, it always manages to give me a smile or a feeling of freedom and happiness. And it has never given me any problems. It is extremely reliable, and sharing the mechanics with the Fiesta, spare parts are easily available.
Today I still use it as a daily vehicle.
Probably the best purchase of my life.
I did like the racing one they had.
And that’s why they don’t make they anymore, you won’t come back for o the dealership if your car is good like that and lasts forever.
This was the last generation where engineers and companies were willing to make good cars. Today it seems the smallest car you can buy is a Bradley infantry fighting vehicle
And usually with a pissy 1.0 engine in it
Maybe it was the last year they were allowed to.
Because 8 always empty seats is just the right amount to haul.
Especially one particular engineer - Richard Parry-Jones, responsible for all great driving Fords of the time.
I saw an Audi military style SUV yesterday and I swear it was like something from a recent Batman movie designed to appeal to 13 year old boys.
In the ‘90s I recognised every car on the road by name, even from a distance.
Now, I hardly recognise any of them … Why is that ?
and the thought: don't you need a permit for that?
They are all so ugly.
Poor eyesight?
They all look like puffed up blobs fitted with tablets.
@@george-florinconstantin4141 No silly Billy. It's because they all look the same. 😁
The cars of today generally are utterly boring eyesores.
The automotive industry peaked in the 90's, I look back on it as a golden age.
It was.
Aesthetics peaked 1935-1965, driving characteristics peaked 1980s and 1990s. I want a car that looks like Karmann Ghia and drives like Mazda Miata.
*80s. 90s was already rapidly declining with the ugliest cars ever made. Hello Fiat Multipla...
it was peak society in general, 2006 -2008 it turned.
@@natasastanojevic thats whats happening more and more nowadays lately. Check all those professional restomod companies where you can buy a 80s/90s classic but fully rebuild to nowadays tuners standards. Check the Kimera EVO37 crazy lancia 037, Toto Automobili makes crayz Alfa Romeos, Maturo Cars for full carbon lancia delta integrale's, Tolman 205 GTI, Singer Porsches, Prodrive P25 impreza and much much more. The people love their classics. And behold for more in the future.
When was the last time a car was reviewed for how it drives, instead of the quantity of gadgets?
I review cars based on quantity of gadgets. I like to see remote central locking, electric windows and air conditioning, but obviously none are are essential. The more gadgets it has over and above those three things the worse it is, and if it was made after about 2012 is is definitely utter crap.
"...Quirk and feature... "
I only sees reviews that see how it drives
My dad had a -03 Focus, it rode like it was on rails with good sport tyres, it didnt like cheap squishy tyres. Super well built and never has any major problems, 15 years in the family (my sister drives it today) and it still just keeps on going.
The striking metaphor: Puma being held up by a big red Tesla on a B road ….
Glad I’m not the only one who noticed that!
Quite intentional editing with the headline flashing, I am sure...
I saw that
Actually I think the Tesla is more representive of "the old style", low, sleek design, very much a passenger sedan -albeit of the executive class, and fun to drive (you can actually throw it around quite a bit - and it would leave the Puma for dead if the driver stepped on it on the straight bits). This in contrast to the boxy, tall, ultra-heavy SUVs or Cross-overs with their huge wheels.
Funny thing, most of the adverts for those SUVs praise the "beautiful design" as a selling point - so maybe it's just me thinking they are ugly.
@8:07
My wife had one and it was far and away the best FWD car I ever drove. In the real world, on real roads, performance was more than adequate. I think this era may come to be defined as "Peak Car", where handling, braking and performance had effectively evolved to perfection and cars were fitted with everything you really needed, but not much you didn't. I'm an old git these days, but my kids are really only interested in how much "tech" a car has and the more it does the driving for you the better. We all need to take a moment to thank Richard Parry-Jones for Fords of this era.
Agreed! It's hard to overstate just the transformation that happened at Ford during this period. The dynamics of the cars, even the run-of-the-mill models was perfectly judged. For once the engineers didn't have to defer totally to the bean counters.
Hear hear, very well said!
100% on point. Most people below the age of 50 don't know what a PROPER car is- ie RWD minus all the nanny state interference driver 'aids.' They are clueless about what makes a good car, and if you put them in an old skool RWD car without all the nanny state aids, most people would make a big mess very quickly. Driver's have been isolated from the driving experience, cars are overly refined to the point of being soulless. Computers are intervening and keeping hamfists out of trouble.....No talent is required at all now. ALL cars now are large and heavy- a modern Fiesta is bigger than an 80's Mk 3 Escort, a VW Polo is bigger than an 80's Gold etc. People will literally buy anything now- so long as they are loaded with tech and gadgets- most modern cars now are hideous corpulent lumps- but sheeple can't get enough of them.
I concur. It's like every car made since comes with a built in primary school teacher.
@@liverpoolscottish6430 Who the fuck wants tiny little cars ?
I'm Aussie, but living in Mindanao Philippines. A lot of people here are obsessed with massive dual cab pickup trucks, and large SUV's. There is, however, an interesting subculture of people who love the "Multicab". Think Suzuki Kei vans and pickup trucks. There's a company here that gets knocked down frames, bodies, engines, and other necessary parts from Japan. They employ Filipinos to reassemble, rustproof, paint and refit components. They completely disassemble and reassemble the engines and transmissions, and refurbish the interiors with new seats and upgraded equipment, but without all the high tech stuff. They test and retest to be sure everything is in working order. They produce both 4x2 and 4x4 versions. They use Suzuki's venerable 660cc turbocharged three cylinder 12 valve engine. That engine is so good that Caterham fits it to their entry level vehicle. Yes, the one based on the Lotus Seven. There's a lot of rough roads and terrain here, and these vehicles are ideal for transporting large families and business and farm use. They also cost about a third as much as a very basic pickup truck. As well, they are simply cool. I remember seeing a review on TH-cam of one of the Japanese versions of the same type of vehicle, in the UK. I'm glad to see that simple, practical vehicles that are actually fun to drive are available here.
That's a dream car. It's often that I see smaller truck carrying way more stuff than the big ones.
I live in general Santos and I managed to borrow one of these. It was painted bright yellow with the widowmaker painted down the sides. The little turbo charged engine was absolutely brilliant.
What is the name of the company?
@@mattzmuda multi-cab, mini tra and various others. There is many companies that convert them to Filipino spec.
@@jonathanthorpe1653 Thanks :)
Had mine for 13 years.
Broke my heart when I traded her in, she had cancer of the wheel archs.
Wait what the fuck
@@joaopaulogalloclaudino9671 ?
@@joaopaulogalloclaudino9671 Rust is commonly referred to as cancer on cars
@@joaopaulogalloclaudino9671 rust, son. he means rust.
Killed off so many Fords of that period unfortuntely
Had one for a couple of years in the late 2000s. Bought it for 600 quid and it is still one of the most fun cars I’ve ever owned. It reminded me of my crx except it had a more torquey engine and the handling felt tuned specifically for twisty, uneven, rough British B roads in a way virtually nothing else is. On a spirited drive with a friend in his integra Type R DC2 he would run away on fast roads but when we turned down the passes I would literally have to pull up and wait for him. Really tempted to pick up another, the parts were all shared with the fiesta/focus range too so were properly cheap to keep on the road and even upgrade.
SE161 aka Puma was my first vehicle program at Ford in 1996 …. It was an aesthetic and engineering gem developed by designers and engineers who - led by Richard Parry Jones and Phil Maquire - were given a clear mandate to deliver excellence. I tuned the gear ratios and had a few brilliant days at Lommel Proving Ground 😊 Heady days and brilliant products.
likewise, was on the Focus Mk1 program from 1997, loved all Ford's products in Europe these days, they were standing out both with their style and their excellent engineering. Worked for Ford for many years, and always think of the mid-late 1990-s as Ford's best days...
You could tell when ringing its neck that the engineers must have been enjoying what they did! And well done the gear ratios matched the torque perfectly for storming British lanes and passes 😂👍
Everyone knew those were UK cars. Great engineering and design work.
As an engineering apprentice, I helped to make part of the gearbox at a broaching business...I lived in fear of a recall because I wasn't entirely sure that I was doing things correctly 😬 and was given a bit too much freedom! It's good to hear that it is well-regarded and worked!
@@thecountsaintgermaine7937 Ford had a solid line-up in Europe at that time
I had a 1998 Puma 1.7 as my first car (3 years old) - running it from Sept 2001 to January 2010, covering 100k miles.
I absolutely loved it - quite quick and great handling !
@@drrobert3696 🤣
The car was 3 years old - I was 22
I paid £8k for it and it was in mint condition. I’ve been looking recently to buy another one - finding one like in this video would be great !
@@SDK2006bdid you scrap it in the scrappage scheme? I'm sure it was going around that time! 😅
@@SDK2006bwas it a reliable car over the time that you owed it?
Love to hear of ppl having long term ownership stories
@@m80tmm - The Puma was perfect, no issues what so ever.
It was my first car, I was 21, and so I had little money to keep the servicing up regularly. I usually serviced it once every 2-3 years and it never missed a beat.
@SDK2006b once every 2/3 years, I'm guessing you didn't do much mileage. You wouldn't get away with that with today's engines.
Technology and laziness has ruined cars
and SUVs
Ruined everything
@@dermoooojj255 Most definitely.
Too many cars on the road has ruined the fun of driving. 😢
@@Andy-co6pn Plus cops, speed cameras and all sorts of other restrictions.
Marvelous video, it made me so emotional that I started to cry. Not because I had a Puma, although I seriously considered buying one, but because we've lost not just one, but many niche cars we used to have. It's almost 'all SUV' nowadays, which, as an old bloke who loves cars, I find very limiting and sad. The reason for the 'all SUV' movement? Well, in my humble opinion, it's a manufactured demand by car companies so they can charge us more for bigger vehicles-it's as simple as that. And most of us fell for it, even though station wagons (estates, as they’re called in some countries) offered much more convenience with lower drag coefficient, better fuel economy, and less tire wear than SUVs. They are currently trying the same with EVs... but I'll stop here because that’s a different topic.
Go to Brand's Hatch (or Goodwood, or Snetterton, or Oulton Park) on one of their special days and I guarantee your spirits will be lifted :-)
Plenty of enthusiasts there, young and old who still celebrate 'proper' cars :-)
My recollection is the car was made to use the Yamaha engine. Ford had signed a deal for the engine and was looking for a project to use it. The project was scoped around the number of engines Yamaha had committed to build. The car was such a hit they needed more engines, so the non Yamaha zetecs were used to increase production. All the silver parts were painted by a special paint process in Ireland, it was very difficult and had low yield leading to high costs. When the volumes exceeded expectations, a lot of Ford people were sent to Cork in Ireland to sort it out. Those parts were moulded at several locations across Europe, sent to Ireland, sprayed and then returned for assembly before being sent to Ford.
Thanks for the info, very interesting 👍
Cars used to provide independence but now they create dependence. The cost of gas/petrol, the cost of insurance, parking, traffic, and other things make it very different. I have a fun car but can only enjoy it very rarely. I think the view of the car as an appliance is due to this.
People take it for granted until they dont have one and need one. But true words.
It's all by design:
"You'll own nothing." - Klaus Schwab
Nah. You're just subliminally nostalgic about the years you where younger. As for the price od gas, what was your salary compared to what it is nowaydays?
The early Pumas were the best plus the Steve McQueen advert.
That colour is a bit Highland Green, can’t remember colour in the advert?
@@78Outlaw Silver
Good call. I had forgotten about the Steve McQueen advert
Yeah it was a bit controversial as it was kinda reanimating a dead celebrity who couldn't say no.
@@johnmunro4952
His Family said yes!
But I don't think Steve would have driven that one😅
The 1.25 was also Yamaha. Drove home from Cornwall on 3 pots 350miles and the engine was rebuilt, only needed 1 burnt out valve, head skim and gasket and 1 piston. Drove for another 70k miles. Fantastic cars all, round.
came to say this
Exactly💯! Try that nowadays with an Ecoboom!
Yeah I was gonna say this. we had one at college in our motor vehicle class!
You nailed it. It must have been Ford strategy to make neutral handling cars. My defining memory of the new Ford Escort I bought in 1998 was the weighting of the controls… I loved driving it! 26 years later it’s still the best car I ever owned. I sold it to my brother 6 years later… the aircon still worked like new having never been re-gassed!
I got a 1998 Fiesta. I live in Portugal and we still have a lot of old cars because a lot of people don't have the money to change it. They are our blessing: they are cheap, their fuel consumption is economical and they are the correct size. I can go everywhere without thinking if I can park my car.
When it comes to driving, I quite like it. He goes to 140 km/h and kind of stops there (I didn't expect much more to be honest 😅) but he is very responsive and I got to say, I feel quite safe inside. I love my little fiesta
My last 2 cars have been a alfa GTV and now a Alfa 156 with 40k miles on it ,both great to drive every day . low tech and easy to repair but still great fun to drive
I love my 156. Modern cars are stacked with too many gimmicks.
My son found a 147 jtdm as his first car, I was initially suspicious…. I have first say when he sells it 😂
Out of the 75 cars I've owned in 43 years of driving, the two 156 twin spark 2.0 were the best saloons of the lot. Sadly rust attacked the roof in both, but it didn't stop me buying a 2011 Giulietta 140 JTDM four years ago. 150k on that now and it drives like a dream and everything works. It is the youngest of my fleet and it is not going to be sold.
I was gonna buy Alfa GT as my first car fresh out of driving school. Unfortunately everyone discouraged me from buying alfa, saying they break a lot..... So I bought a 2009 Citroen C4 lol... Now there's sometimes a GT parked in the lot by the house. Oh do I envy.
i loved my red puma but so did the rust
Rear wheel arch's from the fabric wheel liners at a guess? 🤣🤣
I've had 3 of them, all the same issue.
@@dodgywheelsandropeywiring5697 my wife had a red 1.4 for her first car, rusty wheel arches and she destroyed a gearbox, the gearbox oil was like silver paint. but what a car it was.
I have to wonder if the problem is that not enough car enthusiasts are employed by car manufacturers these days.
I can imagine, back in the 1990s, a team of enthusiasts working on the Puma, knowing they were making a great driver's car, knowing that journalists would praise it highly enough that their readers would get excited by it, and knowing that word of mouth would spread such that anyone who might be in the market for a small car would seriously consider the Puma, whether they could appreciate a fine car or not.
Nowadays, I can imagine people working on new cars are just as tech-obsessed as the majority of young car buyers, and have perhaps never driven a car like the original Puma to appreciate what features a small car can forgo whilst still entertaining the driver. Entertainment, for them, can only come from a screen. And once the screen becomes the focal point of the vehicle, they become lost down a rabbit hole of digital features, rather than focusing on physical features like packaging, centre of mass, suspension setup, etc. Fun new cars appear to no longer exist, only new boring cars with "fun" infotainment systems.
I don't think there are less enthusiasts in the industry, I just think the industry is driven by demand both then and now. That's influenced by supply too, sure... If you offer more and more heavier / higher / bulkier cars, people get used to those and it influences the demand. But basically in my opinion if you put a simple and tiny car like that on the market today it just won't sell very well, and that's why they don't make them, not because of a lack of passion.
He's right that cars are more a kind of "appliances" that they used to be. So no matter how entertaining to drive, for 90% of people and 90% of the time, being in traffic when commuting in urban areas doesn't allow you to enjoy the actual driving of the car. Comfort becomes more important then, which comes with more space, larger and higher seats, temp control, connectivity to devices and all that.
It really becomes a vicious circle because in traffic being surrounded by vehicles significantly bigger, higher, and heavier feels uncomfortable, and a bit unsafe even. The same car, or a more modern car but of similar dimensions, would feel much more cramped and flimsy and unsafe in today's traffic than in the traffic of 25-30 years ago. And so would be a much harder sale.
So it's really difficult for the trend to not always tend toward bigger and heavier over time. In fact cars in the 90s, even the tiny ones, were overall already bigger and heavier than the cars that came before. The trend didn't start then, it was already going on and just kept going.
Off the top of my head I don't see many solutions to break this spiral, other than stricter regulations. It's already what's keeping things somewhat in check, as the US market shows. With some category of cars over having close to no regulations at all, they already had bigger cars but since the 2000s it has been out of control. Some SUVs and pick-up trucks are literally the size of medium tanks despite never being driven outside of suburbs, city centers, and shopping mall parking lots.
Perhaps a progressive tax, where the heavier and larger a vehicle is, the more and more this extra tax is? To provide a clear incentive to revert to smaller and lighter cars... Can't think of too many solutions that would work.
Boring answer is that small crossovers sell, micro-coupes don't. I wasn't expecting to like the new Puma but honestly great to drive, one of the best current hatchback chassis out there (borrowed from Fiesta of course). You barely notice the extra height, weight is the same as the Fiesta and only about 150kg heavier than the original Puma. Great driving position, functional but basic infotainment screen that doesn't distract. Overall good fun and drives well.
And then side by side with a Fiesta the Puma is clearly "more car", more aspirational even though pretty much the same thing and costs the same amount to build. Not really the car for me but I totally get why people buy them and why Ford is focusing on the crossover market.
Market is tighter, in a position where manufacturers are dropping 3 door hatchbacks to save costs there isn't much room for a niche 2 door mini-coupe that might only sell 20,000 units per year.
Manufacturers will make what sells over what truly fits their ethos, that's why companies like Porsche and Lamborghini make SUVs
Frankly, I think Ford basically axing Ford of Britain is the reason why Ford is now, what it is. Ford of Germany has zero say in the new designs (not that it would change anything) and everything is decided in Detroit.
It's not because of a lack of enthusiastic designers, it's because marketing divisions decide of everything for the purpose of profit (which is logical, but instead of fun machines they sell big machines)
I owned a 2000 1.7 Puma, and loved diving it. The two main problems were rust, because it appeared to have been made from low quality steel, and parts availability, because there weren’t enough cars to warrant spares being made or stored.
I had a 1.7 puma from 1999-2007 which I imported from Holland with a proper uk certificate of conformity. Enjoyed my 8 years with it tremendously. It took my new borns home from hospital and once whilst pushing it to the ragged edge I spun in 360 and by luck still kept it on the tarmac. The original Puma holds fond memories for me. Fantastic marketing campaign at the time featuring Steve McQueen.
My wife had a Puma (when she was merely my girlfriend).
1.7L engine, lightweight, agile thing. Plenty quick, and lots of fun.
Pretty from some angles, cute from others. Love the headlights especially.
Whenever we are together & one of us sees one, the 1st to spot it will proclaim "Puma Punch" & punch the other. (Not very hard, I hasten to add)
The racing Puma vsriant is a lovely thing, quite pricey now
lightweight, agile, lots of fun, pretty, cute, not forgetting lovely pair of headlamps, yup, sounds like a good girlfriend...
@@paulriggers1558😂😂😂😂😂😜👍🏾
@@paulriggers1558 she's not as lightweight as she was but the headlamps are bigger now, so I take it. Still as pretty. They run smoother the longer you have them too.
The wife, that is. The car is a Z3 now.
Pretty and cute, God, you sound like a fucking hairdresser.
always best say 'My current wife' - it keeps them guessing and lawyers in Porsche's
I think you are right about people not driving for fun so much, as evidenced by the increasing popularity of automatics. Also people are obsessed with passenger safety, even at the expense of potentially reduced pedestrian safety.
True. The size of A pillors these days!
Ironicly SUVs are making it all far more dangerous for everybody on the road and pavements. Bad visibility, danger to pedestrians and needlessly increased mass all at ultimate cost of actual practicality and fun compared to whatvwe used to get. Part of the blame.is on automakwrs lowering normal cars so much. Cara in the 90s and prior had more ground clearence than vast majority of these crossovers now.
Well, less people die in cabins so why I wouldn't buy such car? Why the f I would drive go manual if I go automatic for my daily drive?
@@Kacpa2 This is just f nonsense.
@@markiv2942 You are entitled to your own opinion. However I would choose a more engaging and efficient (ie. less 'thirsty') manual car than a car fitted with an automatic transmission - especially the CVT, twin clutch or worse still the BMW SMG autos that were available when the Puma was introduced.
I completely, utterly agree with your comments. It used to be that people wanted crossovers and SUVs for the elevated driving position so they could “see past the car in front of them”… now it’s really difficult to find something that isn’t overly tall, overweight and handle like a pig on stilts. Stuffed with “essential driver aids” that are completely unnecessary and frankly unwanted, buying a new car these days takes far too much time and effort to avoid another soul-less irritation!
Incidentally, yes Yamaha were responsible for the small engines too. I had the dubious honour of receiving the first 1.25 litre zeta engine outside of Japan for fuel system research, and I trashed it after an unfortunate camshaft mistiming incident!! Keyless cam wheels and no torque specs… hmmm.
yes! Cars come with a lot of unnecessary and, as you say, frankly unwanted driver assist systems, but oftentimes things you'd really expect and want to see in a car are only available as optional extras. I did a bit of field research on this topic recently by just going to some of the major car manufacturers' websites and, just for fun, going into the configurator on certain models. In my country (Austria), the Audi A7 starts at over 77.000 euros, and for that money - get this! - it doesn't even come with electrically adjustible mirrors. It doesn't include side airbags for driver or passenger as standard either. These are both optional extras, as is a tyre pressure monitoring system. My 2016 Yaris has all 3 of these, and they were included as standard... yet now they're not standard on a 77k German "premium vehicle"? Yikes...
I refuse to believe that modern cars are the way they are because of people's changing tastes. It's been forced upon us. Talk to most people and they will prefer older cars.
Not true. Contemporary state of things is due to several key moments of industry, of them being introduction of crossovers by Mercedes with ML series. It's hard to produce anything else when people feel like they want this: bigger looking, better observation, better crash security, more comfortable mode od transport. If this Puma was introduced today, majority of those who you asked, wouldn't really buy it for today's price.
@@wwlb4970 I do think people's tastes have been changed in the ways you describe by decisions made in the industry. But I don't it is that natural. They learned those justifications from the marketing.
@@Poodz_ But where do you think marketing learned it from? The Moon? They learned it from actual experience of customers. Besides, there is engineering point: simply put, ideal car design has been figured out - body as square as possible, thus left and right wheels are as far away as possible, centre of mass in the centre, chair-style sitting, bigger windows etc etc. And unsurprisingly, this makes a crossover. Same fate for mobile phones. Do you remember the variety of colours, forms and decorations in mid 2000-s? But they were doomed once the ideal, most practical design had been figured out.
@@Poodz_Most people haven’t really considered what they truly want in a car, they just want what everybody else has.
And it's not just niche cars that have disappeared: after the Fiesta, we just said goodbye to the POLO. Not to mention the "return" of the Capri!!! What an ugly, ugly world...
I didn't know much about the early Pumas, so thanks for this segment!
Most people today want infotainment instead of a proper driving experience: massive screens inside, automatic, one-pedal driving (especially electric cars), tall and big, fat obese-mobiles (just like many people are becoming). I love my 2011 Alfa Giulietta QV BECAUSE it's manual, [relatively] lightweight, fast and agile, great steering feel, good grip and handling without being over the top. I feel like telling people that if they're not really interested in driving, catch the train and leave the roads to proper drivers in proper cars!
My wife has owned these original Pumas since she bought one new in 2001. She's only on her second one, had it 11 years now, the first one rotted really badly!!
Other than the rust problem, they are fantastic!
That rust is no joke though - Corsas of the same age are generally still intact, but Ford just hadn't got the process quite right. Amazing-looking car, and a great prospect when solid
Rot was a general issue withall cars of that era TBF, my st24 and younger bros 1.7 with the full leather both had rot in the prone areas, fuel cap, arches etc. but great cars with just what you needed. Very low spec compared to today's standards
@@MrChrissk that's the thing, it wasn't - some cars had servicing issues, sure, where water drains get blocked and it starts rot around the arches and bulkheads, but that's different to 90s Fords that simply all dissolved after 10 years...
Irony is a lot of people find modern feature annoying, sure AndroidAuto is great, but do you really need lane departure warnings, stop start, DSG clutches and 35 airbags? £300+ a month feels just too steep for some extra safety and tech
@@jamesmiller113 o yeah I'm aware, cars only as reliable as it's owner, my bro blew engine in his puma, running it low on oil. Iv always preferred older cars, more character to them etc, get stick of older people at work much prefer newer stuff, saying they never go back to say car of 90s era for example, was a bit of a boy racer when younger I'll admit. My current car is the first car iv ever had on TIC, nothing to fancy, just a basic family estate diesel because got family and do to many miles for any sort of even mild performance petrol car, it's a one previous owner, and came with 4yrs remaining KIA warranty so was a no brainer. The only thing that puts me off buying a old school puma etc is the price of road tax on them, and finding a good example and hoping your able to still find parts as I'd imagine there not something dealers still stock or produce.
I bought my wife a 1.4 Puma for 700 quid as her first car. It cost almost nothing to buy, it was cheap to run and fun to drive... Best 700 quid we ever spent.
I bought a 99 Matiz for 1.1M Won in 2012. I still have it :D
I think the 1990s reached a peak in the auto industry. There were enough electronics to get the car running, they had small efficient engines, and you can rest assured the older cars are not spying on you. BTW Household appliances also worked better in the 1990s as well. I am still using my parents' washer, dryer, and dishwasher. (And my vacuum from the 90s).
I had a 1.7, T reg and I bought the book about them. The designers had to (metaphorically) fight with Ford for the inclusion of the silver ball gear knob and the engine/ exhaust note was deliberately tuned.
I did meal delivery work and was all up and down miles and miles of B roads for about 4 years. I was getting paid for my pleasure. It was amazing to drive.
In the end, those rust-prone arches (the car's only design flaw, to my knowledge because they retained wet mud, from the tyres, inside the wheel arches) and just age related stuff, in general, led me to scrap it because there was too much work needed to put it through another MOT. But I kept it, right up to that point, because I loved driving it, so much.
The guys I called to come and collect it gladly handed me £200 to take it away because the engine was desirable for Fiestas and was still purring due to regular oil, filter and petrol filter changes.
I always miss it whenever I remember it. It was a real step up from 2 of the 3 Sciroccos I'd owned (just maybe not the old B reg 2.0GTX, ha). Lucky me, eh?
There's nothing really like them now but I'm getting almost as good a buzz from my Audi A3 saloon. Only 1.4 but fairly quick after turbo lag. Similar pride of ownership to the Puma experience but can't quite be rallied as fast as the Puma could on the quiet, winding, B roads, at night.
I have a 1988 Alfa Sprint 1.7 and it's just a joy to drive. No ABS, no PAS, no traction control, keep fit windows bla bla....
It's a joy to drive, you don't even have to drive it hard to have fun, ultra responsive with planted handling. A totally analogue experience in a digital world - and all the better for it. Even my 20 year old son agrees....I reckon Puma in that guise was the Sprint reincarnated
Old Alfa Romeo were great cars. I had 164 Super with 3.0 V6 24v, so much fun to drive. ❤
Very nice. My first car was a 1983 Sprint Green Cloverleaf 1.5 - such a revvy engine.
My absolute favourite though was my Puma 1.7❤
I bought in 2019 a 1.4 silver Puma from 1999 as my first car. I still own it and I still love it!
Worked at a Ford dealership in those days. These were incredible to drive. Puma, Fiesta and Ka and it's variations. Also the Mondeo (3rd gen) holds a special place in my heart, for its great steering and chassis.
Fiesta and Ka were great, all they needed was power steering (it was a quicker rack) and the dynamics were brilliant.
@@zm321
And rust remover
@@pyeltd.5457 Very true!
15yrs ago I did 50,000over 5yrs in my ‘02 1.7 and it’s still my favourite car I’ve ever driven even post f30 Msport 335d and Focus ST. Apart from the brakes I loved everything about that little car and it went like a cartoon around corners!!
I had that exact Puma in the green too. So much fun on the country roads! But that gear knob was like an ice cube in the winter!
Me too, same colour ...and in summer the gear knob was like a hot coal!
We looked at one to buy as a new car for my wife in 2001 but by that time the Focus was just a better option so a 1.8 Zetec 3 door Focus in silver was her car. She absolutely loved that car.
TBH pretty much all ford's of that era drove really well. Thanks to and RIP Richard Parry Jones
I bought a second hand gunmetal 'R' reg 1.7l Puma in 1999 and drive it into the ground travelling all over Europe to watch F1 GPs. I eventually killed it in an accident and replaced it with a dark green one. I had it until the end of 2008 when I replaced it with a Nissan 350Z. I still miss my Puma.
i worked at the tickfords at daventry doing the workshop equipment. they started with a standard production car, they pulled it apart and threw most of it away. they had shit loads of filler in them when they fitted the big wheel arches.
From Ford's best days. My Mum had a 1999 Focus, which she kept until she passed away three years ago. The car never missed a beat in all that time - it was parked up for almost two years during Covid and, when we put a new battery in it, it started first turn of the key. It was always nice to drive, pleasant to be in, used hardly any fuel, cost nothing to service and did everything a car could be expected to do. RIP sensible cars
I had a 1.7 Puma for 5 years - fabulous little car, practical 4 seater, reasonable boot space, the variable cam timing made it great around town, all it needed was more oomph! I've now got a Fiat Coupe 20VT, which has certainly got the oomph, has even more space in the back and the boot, is better looking, but the steering/suspension/driving experience just can't match the Puma........but also, of course, the Puma is a ruster around the rear arches!
I had one too, prior to that all my cars were pretty sedentary. Then I had a Subaru Forester XT and now drive an Impreza WRX STI ...all because of the zing that lovely little Puma had :-)
I love small Fords, after a Focus to start with here in Europe which we drove several times to Germany Spain, and Croatia without a single hitch, we ended up buying a secondhand low Km 4 cylinder Fiesta Titanium with heated leather seats, cruise control etc etc, a veritable dream to drive, with such precise steering and handling.
A part from the new Puma this is the only small hatchback the company are now building?
When parking at the local supermarket I need to be careful reversing out as so many cars now are towering unnecessarily over it blocking the view, this used to be a problem being beside a van, but now any jacked up SUV.
Fiesta has now been discontinued, apparently the new Puma SUV is supposed to be the replacement?!! Deffo not the same kind of car, but plenty of driving instructors seem to have gone for it.
@@rbeamish6492 I have just seen the new Ford Capri, nothing at all like the original model; shame another VW based jacked up SUV, yes the New Puma has some style, my next car?
Number 27 is very philosophical today.
I remember the Ford Cougar was also an attractive looking car in the 1990s.
It still is :) Quite a different car than the Puma. The size is quite noticeable when parked next to my mk4 Mondeo, it is almost the same size!
So it is not a nimble sports coupe, it is a bit large and heavy, but great on long trips. Have driven it to Germany, and it is quite at home on the (no-speed limit) autobahn :)
I wanted one of those. It was beautiful! Couldn’t afford to run it though especially with that 24 valve top of the range 2.5L V6 engine. Was a bit partial to the Ford Probe too!
For what it’s worth, I had an R reg Mazda MX-3 1.6i 16v DOHC coupe back then, which I thoroughly enjoyed for 8.5 years. My legs had trouble working the clutch so unfortunately I part exchanged it for a Prius.
Lovely car the latter, but no regrets. The Prius suits my needs perfectly and has been ultra reliable over the 11 years of owning it so far. It’s also saved me £11k in fuel costs over that time and has remained ULEZ compliant in London. The Mazda MX-3 sadly, wasn’t ULEZ compliant, so they’ve virtually disappeared from London.
It was my 2nd car, I got the 1.7 yamaha vct engine, and the reason I fell in love with driving. I've not been able drive a boring box since.
Had one back in 2000 - loved it. Handled so tight.
My housemate at university in the late 90s had one of these that I was insured on. It was an awesome little drive. We'd take it up on the moors and wring it out. It handled brilliantly and gripped those bumpy roads like a little pro!
My first car was a Ford Anglia . I polished it every week it shined like a mirror. I was only eighteen at the time . I didn’t know much about mechanical side of it but it looked great.
Shone...
Shined is the only correct use when you mean polished.
Very simple cars, easy to repair and maintain. The mk 1 and 2 escorts were my favourite.
I had 3 1.7's between 1998 and 2011. Superb little machines. You can really lean on them and they behave so well. I was told that the block was Yamaha and the top end was Ford. The 1.7 came from the 1.25 Zetec block and that 1.7 was as far as they could take it. It did warm up in no time, even on frosty mornings. Really flexible, smooth and if you tickled it, it could do good mpg. I have a lot of memories of driving Puma's. The car I learned to left foot brake in. Not far off half a million miles in those 13 years and apart from things that wear out and the rear arches, the only issue I had was rear wheel bearings. Changed a few of those, more than would be expected. The car always felt best on Goodyears with 31 in the front and 29 in the rear. They had a softer sidewall and they suited the front end far better than Michelins or Continentals that just gave up too easy. Get one if you can and go make the most of your local B roads.
An old GF of mine had a 1.7 123bhp Puma back in the early 2000s. It was light, precise, loved to be revved and such a refreshing change from my beloved Peugeot 405 turbo diesel. I had some great fun driving that car!
My next car will probably be a Dacia. They seem to be one of the few manufacturers today offering sensible no-frills cars that forego most of those unnecessary extras.
Ive had one from new for 23 years, fabulous little car, some lower bodywork replaced,a common fault and engine leaks from oil seal , just gets through the MOT with observations, hope it keeps going as there's nothing like it on the road now.
Had one of these as hire car in Ireland for a week in 1999,drove all over West coast on amazing litle roads and never stopped laughing all week. Up there with the most fun cars I have driven including my 1.9 Peugeot GTI which I owned for many years with similar performance and fun. Today the roads and traffic,not to mention cameras have largely ruined the fun factor,I drive a Skoda Yeti in the week and 718 4.0 Cayman at weekends,both fabulous at what they do but cannot replicate the fun from the 80's and 90's .. different gravy.
A rare sight on the roads today !
yep the moisture absorbent rear arch liners killed alot of em
@@colinscutt5104
It was the bodywork in general, mine rotted everywhere, and I mean everywhere.
Arches, sills, floors, boot, even around windshield..
It was an amazing car and I still miss it dearly, never missed a beat, sublime to drive, had it not rotted away I would never part with it.
Notorious for rusting away
If anyone wants a rusty 99 model I’m your man 😂
I remember seeing a red one in 2013 after picking up my copy of saints row 4
I've got a car filling a similar niche. Toyota Paseo - it's based on the old Toyota Starlet hatchback, but only came with a 1.5 with 90-100bhp, but it only weighed 900kg (or 100kg lighter than the puma) and had a pretty decent spread of torque. The end result is a brilliant fun little car, easy to park, returns nearly 50mpg and because it rides on 14 inch wheels, it rides better than most new cars. I'm 29 and thoroughly despise modern cars.
I bought a Toyota Sera two years ago (I was 19) - also based on the Starlet. Same 1.5 ltr 5E-FHE engine with 110 PS and weighs 900kg. The manual gearbox is VERY engaging and makes the car intuitive to drive. Everything about it is well-designed and built to last, very similar to how you describe your Paseo.
The butterfly doors are cool too, lol
I strongly believe that no brand new car could offer anything better
New daihatsu hatchback is 740kg
85mpg
@@clarksonoceallachain8536 Awesome! Now if only you could convince Europe and America to buy it!
I am 40yo and still buying medium hatch, exactly as I had when I was university because it fit my need precisely. Small cars are cheaper (in all aspects, price, fuel, insurance, maintenance, etc), the are more agile, easier to park in downtown and doens't call unecessary attention.
I even would like to drive a smaller car but the need to transport my 2 kid with me everyday doesn't allow it. It annoys me the thinking of moving extra volume and weight of a bulky bodyframe only to carry my ego.
For long trips we use my wifes SUV, that became here in Brazil, togheter with large pick ups, the prefereed women cars because they feel more secure and protected inside those large and heavy steel boxes.
Long life to small AND well made cars!
Fun fact - if you "open up" the exhaust with less restricted end pipe muffler, you will get loud pops and bangs. Stock muffler is big and heavy. You can even hear them a little here 4:38, little crackles
I've always has soft spot for the old Puma , and the Cougar
I've always been partial to old Cougars too..
@@ChuckFickens1972I’d have thought Cougars were the natural enemy of chickens?
@@ChuckFickens1972 ...are we talking about cars here....😆
@@ChuckFickens1972 Damn you beat me to it haha.
I have a soft spot for cougars too
Had one for 2 years. Probably the best car I've ever owned. I'm 6ft 4 and got a mountain bike in the back with the front wheel removed. 1.7 engine was super reliable and the right amount of power to go flat out everywhere.
Part exchanged it for a Saab 93 Aero and regretted it.
That was the key, you could really drive the wheels off it and they lapped it up and begged for more but were so cheap to run and maintain. It’s not much fun only being able to drive at 60% of what it can do and panicking about breaking something if you catch a pothole on the next bend
I'm upset that the 1.7 can't go into clean air zones but the 1.6 can. I want the higher hp one as its also cheaper.
@someone8476 I had the fiesta with the 1.6 after the Puma, and there was no comparison. The gearbox didn't feel as good either.
@@thebigbowler so we can assume the 1.6 will feel poor by comparison to the 1.7 one
@someone8476 still make a good run around, 101 bhp is still good for the weight of the car, but it's 20 bhp odd less than the 1.7 and I could easily tell the difference and I'm no Ben Collins or Chris Harris 😂
We have one of those... 1.7 with Sebring sport exhaust, lowered, wider (larger) wheels and full leather Recaro interior.
That one looks neat, low mileage is good. Ours has 80k miles, Amparo Bleu, brilliant color. Racing Pumas only had 20HP (camshaft and a remap) more, and no rev limiter.
You can easily get lots more power if you'd want to. But it is quite economical 'as is'. We got better than 6 liter per 100 km on a run. Just... mind the rust!
You hit the nail on the head, cars nowadays are just appliances and most people aren't interested in the whole 'driving experience' The other factor is all the electronic additions which have taken away the contact that one had between person, machine and road. Nice cars those Pumas, did consider buying one back in late 90's.
You've nailed it. Cars are no longer viewed by the vast majority of consumers as something to desire, but simply as a means of transportation.
I had 4 of them including FRP 441 with factory fitted LSD. Awesome cars!
I had one. Drove like it was on rails. Great handling and car.
I absolutely loved my Puma, in the same green as this one too! Its one of the best B road cars I've driven. The only downsides being terrible Ford rust protection, rear arches especially, and the mocking from friends for owning a ‘hairdressers’ car.
I had a 2000 version, also green. 1.7, of course. I adored that car. It was sooo much fun.
I have a green 2002 Puma 1.7. Passed the last 3 MOTs with no advisories as well! To bring it up to modern spec (it already has A/C) I've added DRL (daylight running lights), rear view camera, sat nav, LED sidelights and reversing lights and that's about it.
Looks good and drives really good.
They're the spiritual successor to the Alfasud - great fun, cheap, dissolves in the rain.
True to a degree about rust- but then fords and Vauxhall of the time enjoyed rusting as well- just that more people liked them, and conveniently ignored the struts going through the bonnet etc.
I owned one of these for a bit and was impressed with the capabilities of this small Ford. The Fiesta underpinnings were modest but well sorted and the car should be shuffled around quickly and carry a lot of speed in and out of bends.
I remember when it was 1st launched, and the ad on TV showed the famous chase scene from Bullitt. They interspersed clips from the film, where Steve McQueen was driving, with clips of the Puma close up and changing gear, so it was like the Puma was there! Very clever advertising, I really wanted one!
Me and my Dad took one of these for a test drive back in the day, we had such a good time with it, that he bought one as soon as we got back to the dealership. Previous car before it was A MK6 Escort GTI.
I bought a 6 month old Puma in 2000, which I owned for several years before being sucked in to sports bikes - it was an absolute joy, at any speed, and just impossible not to be in a better mood when you park it than when you got in. Also… the Steve McQueen bullitt TV Ad for it is one of the best. I knew I had to have one after the first time seeing it!
I am 68, retired and have 3 cars that are all used for different things: a 2003 1.4 Zetec Fiesta as a ULEZ compliant run around, a 2007 Mercedes CLS 3.2 CDI for family transport and a 1999 Mercedes SL320 for weekends away. All of them are relatively tech light, good to drive in their own ways and I cannot see myself driving anything newer because new cars with their complexity, gadgetry and general modernism for it's own sake leaves me cold.
I keep seeing a rare Ford Racing Puma parked on the street and it always has its driver door nearly half way opened. It doesn't look neglected though it may have mechanical issues. It's the door opened that baffles me and say to myself "Doesn't the owner realise that he/she may have a rare classic??!! " 🤔
Stolen then dumped most likely.
Had one for 14 years, such a great machine - fun at legal speeds, incredibly practical with a massive boot if you fold down the seats. Mine died due to rust, but am considering buying another and going nuts with rust-proofing..
Have you heard the theory that the post 2001 models were made with cheap Russian steel, and rusted even more badly?
I just wish we still made small, light and nippy hatchbacks like this, they were such a great idea!
Yes, I've heard the russian steel rumor. First when VW exported Golfs to the GDR and Passats had a bad rust problem. The rumor had it, those where made from russian steel VW got in exchange for their Golfs. Later I learned about the older rumor AlfaSuds where made from. russian steel.
@@VolkerHettthe Alfa's weren't, nor were the Lancias and Fiats of the time (Fiat got paid in oil for setting up the lada factory and car). Alfa just had workers who didn't know what they were doing, the Sud factory was new. They left metal outside, and unpainted bodies, so the rust formed and was painted over.
@@paulqueripel3493 I know! We both watch this channel, don’t we? There was one thing VW got from eastern Germany back then, Barum tires. Those where - let’s say - adventures 😀
@@paulqueripel3493 You are correct, the Russian steel used in Alfas is an enduring myth - since the Italian state-owned steel factory (ilva) located in Taranto, Italy had an excessive capacity to produce steel at that time and did so for all Italian car companies. The book written by Danillo Moriero goes into much detail about the unfortunate 'goings on' at the plant that produced the Alfasud (unfortunately there is no English version of the book). The interview with the Alfa engineer Achille Moroni is particularly revealing. Moroni investigated why the rust was prevalent and found: "There were major discrepancies in the electrophoresis baths. Then, when the lines stopped due to the frequent micro-strikes, about 600 in 7 years (the 1970s were besieged with industrial strife), the bodies from the oven produced enormous quantities of condensation, which was deposited on the semi-painted body, and rust was triggered there". In short any other manufacturer producing cars at Pomilgliano d'Arco would have just shut the doors and run. Unfortunately, the aforesaid was not an option for the state-owned Alfa - an organisation that was politically obliged (directed) to remain and keep producing cars at the said plant. Alfa had to deal with the poor skills, poor work culture, and an absenteeism, that on some days was as much as 32%, a work culture that was described by Moroni as appalling. It's an absolute miracle that some 900k Alfa Suds were produced at the Pomilgliano d'Arco plant. When Alfa was again 'politically directed' to open a new plant in Pratola Serra, about 40 km from the Alfasud Pomilgliano d'Arco plant, Alfa adopted the policy that no person that works or had worked at the Pomilgliano d'Arco plant would be engaged to work at the at the Pratola Serra plant. This policy was adopted to avoid a 'cross pollination' of poor work practices and culture that had developed at the Pomilgliano d'Arco plant.
I miss my one, it was the same colour ("Pacific Green") so full of zing and fun, it was my gateway from workaday cars to "drivers' cars" in midlife.
I currently drive a Subaru Impreza WRX STI from the early noughties which in recent years has suffered the same cruel blow as the Puma having also been reduced to a boring crossover.
When my Puma finally bit the dust a few years ago, you could pick up a decent low(ish) mileage one for less than a grand, I'm shocked but also pleased to see that this number has now tripled.
I absolutely "get" your notion that cars have become 'appliances' but there are still kids out there that shout "REV IT!!" when I'm on my way to work in my Impreza and there are plenty of young folk that show up to events like Tunerfest and Go Japan at Brand's Hatch ...twentysomethings displaying their cherished performance cars and kids that are too young to drive but are still knowledgeable about cars that are not EVs or 'appliances'.
PCP deals and Leasing is what changed cars, look at all the boring colours and low spec stuff that flood the second hand market.
My mate had one of those. I can't see one and not remember the trip to Alton Towers in 2004 when he hit a Pheasant on the way home. The thing started off in the opposite lane, but got scared by an oncoming car and jumped into our lane. My mate tried to brake but it was too late. Never forget the sound of the 'Donk' as we went over it and it obviously hit its head on the underneath of the car. He texted me after dropping me home and said there was an awful lot of blood and feathers he had to clean with the jet washer 😂😂
Abstract
So how did he cook it?
Poor Pheasant. I’m sure that wasn’t pleasant.
@@datathunderstorm It was plucking awful 😂😂
@@clasdauskas It was 'Grilled' 😁😁
Oh the FRP was divine! Still one of the best looking cars ever. OK not powerful but what a drive. That metal gear knob could burn a hole through you on a sunny day! Also used in the Sport Ka.
You've hit the nail on the head tho. Cars are no longer something that people who WANT them buy, they are a commodity. The number of cup holders is more important that the number of horses. Fewer and fewer own their cars, they rent them for 3-5 years, so there's no emotional bond made with them like there use to be.
The Puma was era probably peak car. Sure all the mod-cons are amazing and I'd hate to be without them now, but simplicity, low cost, easy to maintain, great to drive... oh how we have come so far from what it once was.
I had one of these , a 1.7 and it’s the best car I ever had
190,000 miles never broke down
Just brilliant
I had a millennium edition puma for a little while, and i absolutely adored the thing.
My dad was a ford tech back when these were new and it gave me a wonderful feeling getting into it. Fantastic fun to drive, easy to run and just enough in them to live with. This is the kind of car we need, no stupid cameras, or bings and bongs of this day and age.
I had a silver 1.7 when they first came out same as the ad on TV, I was living the dream.
They were great. Never had one, but had real trouble keeping up with them (in both Cav GSi and SW20 MR2). For 125bhp, they were rather rapid in the day.
White trackies, fake Burberry baseball cap, half sovereign rings and gold chain image, lush innit.
😁
Loadsa money😅
Would you be Welsh by any chance? It's the "lush innit"😂.
They were all still driving RS Turdbos or Vectra GSI’s these are what their girlfriends drove and they pretended not to like even though it out drove theirs 😂
Hmm not really
Thank you for promoting, light, simple and fun cars that are relatively kind to the environment.
I owned a 2002 Ford Puma Thunder (leather interior, multispoke wheels etc). Had it about 8 years. Fitted coil overs to slightly lower and stiffen suspension. Fantastic handling, adequate acceleration, good mpg, big boot. Absolutely my favourite car ever. Bought for about £2000 and sold for £1200. Got lots of praise from the new owner
You're right, they have become appliances because there's no separation from the car to what we have at home: touch screens and icons everywhere.
Ho yes, ran a 1.7 for a few years. Absolutely brilliant fun, terrible interior build quality but never a dull moment. 👍🏻👍🏻
My sister had a 1.7 Puma. It was a little ripper.
If only Ford had made them remain metal, instead of dissolving like a soluble aspirin at the first sign of rain.
lol were they really that bad?
@@jamesengland7461, yes. I had a Mk2 Fiesta, then a twink Sierra hatch & a Granada Cosworth hatch. They all dissolved. None made it past 16 years old.
'70s - '90s Fords, 'Not good in the wet.'
Still got a '88 Mustang 5.0GT I've had since 2004. Never been welded (yet). The Septics used better quality steel for their shells.
Never going to buy a European Ford again.
I drive a 2008 Honda Fit in my opinion it's one of the last analog Vehicles made...... I love the fact that this car is just simple fun transportation wish we had gotten it in the states.
We call it an Honda Jazz, great car my 80 year old Mother has had her 1.4EX manual for 10 years. Just needs a double din Sat nav.
We daily drive a Subaru legacy 2004. Feels like the sweet spot of technology in cars. We mounted a carplay unit in it to replace the old monochrome display. With that addition the car fits great in todays traffic with maps music and parking etc. it has everything we need in terms of comfort with heated seats, climate control with AC, power everything, cruise control - but it half as wide and tall as all other cars. Makes for a great nifty fit in parking spots where others don’t. And it was cheap!