A Symbol Of Everything Wrong With Cars Today - 1997 Ford Puma

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when you need to go into a touch screen menu just to change the heater settings you know things have become pretty bad.

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!"

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.

The automotive industry peaked in the 90's, I look back on it as a golden age.

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 ?

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

When was the last time a car was reviewed for how it drives, instead of the quantity of gadgets?

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 YouTube 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.

The striking metaphor: Puma being held up by a big red Tesla on a B road ….

Technology and laziness has ruined cars

Had mine for 13 years. Broke my heart when I traded her in, she had cancer of the wheel archs.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The early Pumas were the best plus the Steve McQueen advert.

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 !

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.