Not special cars, not terrible cars. Just solid, reliable cars that did their job. They do cars of all sizes, trucks too. Nothing really spectacular, well - not often. They weren't a company for producing the awesome but then again we've rarely seen anything really bad from them. (Bug Eyed Scorpio is one I can think of)
Cars for everyone.
And then they take the humble Fiesta and make something rather special out of it :
That's my old Puma in the foreground. The Puma started life as a little Fiesta and then got a bit of attention on the oily bits to make it feel like a gokart. It got a bigger engine with Clever Stuff that gave it great power at tickover and at high revs.
(Yeah - with great power comes great responsibility. But that's boring. We want to go round corners at Silly Speeds. Responsibility be damned)
Oh and it also got a futuristic body that had a tendency to make small children go "MOMMY MOMMY IT'S A SPACESHIP". Yes. Remembering that still brings out the Silly Grin. (A semi photographic memory and occasional perfect recall has advantages)
Best car I've had so far. The Focus struggles in comparison. It's a shame that people like Ford aren't making the Puma any more, like it's a shame that my sister's Toyota MR2 isn't made now. To get similar, you need hot versions of normal road cars.
But they're not special.
All the people who I know have had a Puma have something in common. They all want another one. And with cars, that's very rare. You might take a second Focus to replace your current one but that's because it fits a need. It's not a "IWANTIT", it's a "I suppose it'll do". It's a decision made with the head instead of the heart.
Ahh - time to scan rumours and see if a decent version of Honda's CR-Z is on the way. I'm looking at 3 cars at the moment. Lexus are now a distant 3rd because it looks like they botched it with the CT200h. Toyota's Prius is my head's current favourite with its hybrid geek magnet. But I think the heart is hoping for a faster CR-Z to come along.
We shall see. I suspect a Prius would draw out a few "IT'S A SPACESHIP!" of it's own :-).
Spotted this one being popular in the hit counters ...
ReplyDeleteOpinion on my CT - Lexus didn't botch it, the reviewers did. Most of the reviews available at time of writing were on prerelease cars before the CT got tuned from that feedback. After 6 months of ownership, the CT is an awesome car. Not as quick as you'd like but that's the only weak point of an incredibly strong package.