why did you buy a puma? (any weird answers?)

[jacko]

talking to dal t'other weekend & we thought this should go in just cos its a bit daft so if youv got anything similar please post up, or if unlike me your normal please post that reason too!

jacko's reason for buying an frp.....
my fiesta was on its last legs, it had been welded & fillered & hammerited & thrashed (in a good way!) so the chassis had seen better days....
but the running gear was awesome! pretty much a full blown race cvh 1.6 8v, flowed, balanced etc....would happily spit out a head gasket every 1000 miles too until i sorted the compression, the gearbox had been rebuilt god knows how many times by me & also sported a quife diff....this is where it gets silly!
i loved the quife diff, wasnt a huge fan of the cvh....or the fiesta...so time came for me to have a look around....
i saw a puma, always liked them bar the rear end being a bit too high up (on both suspension and styling fronts), had seen the racing puma...and the prices at the time....nope!
so i put the 2 together, looked in the quife parts catalogue & realised the diff in the bc and ib5 gearboxes were identical!
so i hatched a plan for black puma and a pumaspeed kit! sadly that didnt happen cos someone on ebay put up a 'replica' frp with a oil problem for silly money! was 'built' using all genuine parts (bar interior, wheels & dash) so i snapped it up, slapped in a new engine & hey presto, bar the pumabuild new engine co@k up its been perfect!!!

so basically the frp is a pretty new 'casing' for my quaife diff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[benking]

Because it wasnt a saxo, corsa, fiesta, golf, etc etc

 

[crispy1980]

well, i had never even considered a puma until we went with a mate of mine to test one. he had previuosly had a puma and loved it, buit sold it to have a brand new fiesta st. however, he then wanted a focus st and so tried selling the fiesta. for a stop gap, he was looking at cheap pumas until he could get the focus. he wanted me to drive the one we looked atto see what i thought. i did and wanted one stright away! i had always had much bigger cars, mostly with v6 engines , but the puma seemed such a refreshing change. 6 months later i had sold my vectra and the puma was sat on my drive!i do still miss having the extra grunt , but it makes up for it in the handling./

 

[Neil]

I wasn't even looking for a new car when I bought my black 1.7. I was bored stupid with my 03 Fiesta though, and the Puma cropped up at Brize garage. I went to test drive it, without any intention of buying it, but got sucked in.

Haven't looked back since.

 

[expatscot]

i had always had much bigger cars, mostly with v6 engines , but the puma seemed such a refreshing change. 6 months later i had sold my vectra and the puma was sat on my drive!i do still miss having the extra grunt , but it makes up for it in the handling./

I came from a Vauxhall background (still on the Vaux forums at times) and apart from the V6 Vectra (B- at any rate) having a decent engine note, there is no comparison between the two. For a spirited drive would have the Puma any day the V6 Vectra, even in GSi format (standard) was never really all that fast, or that great at handling - for cruising on motorway to Scotland and back, the Vec V6 may win out, just.

Having said that I am the same as the common trend that seems to be developing - in that getting the Puma was more by accident than design.

 

[DradusContact]

Mine was to get over my ex! My Ka reminded of her too much, (yes, we did) so wanted a complete chnage.

 

[expatscot]

(yes, we did)

Been there - with an ex of mine, she was just over 6ft, and it was an old style, original Mini. That took some working out.

 

[XIIVVX]

I wanted one from the moment I first saw the Steve McQueen ad. The car looked to be a beautiful, pure design, so different from the usual run of CAD generated clones we see on the roads. The next time this was to happen was the original TT

Then the tests started coming and everybody said how well they handled. Wanted one even more

By 2000 I could afford one (If I personally imported it) so I test drove. That didn't change my mind either.

So I bought the 1.7, replaced it at about 5 years and 80,000 miles with the late-lamented FRP 296 on which I added about another 50,000 miles in three years.

Never regretted the 1.7 for a moment. The FRP was harder to live with, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world

 

[butch aka james]

because it was different and stylish even though my mates took the p**s cause they said its a hairdressors car lol. shame they got mad when my puma beat there saxo vtr, vts and pug 206. alls i can say is UNLUCKY!!!!!!!!

butch

 

[benking]

Also because girls like it

 

[AndyW]

Had a MKIII Astra for over 2 and a half years and fancied a change...wanted something with a bit more poke and more of a stylish design. Something that was a bit rarer too.

Had no idea what I was going to get, but my mate (Ant) bough a Mégane coupé. I'd never even considered a coupé, but thought it was a bit different and I thought why not? I obviously couldn't get the same as him, that would be copying and he'd never let me live it down, so I began looking at similar coupés on the market at the time. I'd always liked the Puma and I thought the front end looked proper stylish and agressive (like Jacko, never been keen on the back end). So went to test drive one at my local Ford Dealer and that was that. To be honest, I wasn't that particularly keen on it after the drive, but there was something about it...I knew I had to get one.

Funds wouldn't allow, but I was about to depart on my year abroad anyway. I worked hard, and managed to save a lot of money during those 8-9 months, and came back looking for a Puma. But it had to be red There were no red ones on the market for a couple of months, but then all of a sudden, 4 or 5 came up at once. I took this as a sign that now was the time to buy a red Puma. After being disappointed by a few, finally saw one that was a nice example and in my price range.

I'll never forget the day I picked it up

 

[FlashBastd]

Bought my first one new in 1998, having just returned an Escort 1.8 Si because of a misfire. Couldn't afford the HP being at uni, so only kept it from Aug until Christmas.

Fast forward 10 years, I was bored with my IS300 as it was rather dull and incredibly juicy, so when I flogged that I borrowed my mum's Ka for a while. Remembered how much I loved the chassis, but wanted something with more poke, remote locking, a/c and ABS, so the Puma was the automatic choice. Bought the third one I looked at.

Of course I had forgotten about the poor rear visibility and appauling headroom, but I am very fond of it nonetheless!

 

[Zenithus]

Well, after having a 1.2 8v Clio for 7 months and being thoroughly bored of it, it decided to almost set itself on fire, so that was it, had to go.

I did A LOT of research, and figured out after reading around etc. that the best car in terms of performance, style and insurance/running costs was probably going to be something similar to a Puma, Hyundai Coupe, etc.

By sheer chance, I spotted the Puma at a local garage, in the colour I wanted (black of course, the best colour ) and made the mistake of test driving it. Wasn't going to leave there without it after that (didn't let the salesman know that of course!) and 19 months later I've still got it!!

 

[Anonymous]

Ive wanted one since I first saw the Puma when i was only 10 years old.... promised myself there and then id get one...

wanted something abit faster and much nicer than my previour 1.2 corsa and was settled (at the time) with job etc.. so went out and got one.... crashed it.... and got another one lol!

next on the list is FRP 013 in a couple of years of course

 

[Neil]

FRP #013? You don't want that one, it's a right dog

Picking up the FRP was memorable, mainly as it involved a two hour drive down to Devon to pick her up, and also because I couldn't even drive her straight away (my insurance didn't change over until 12:00, and we were about an hour early). My dad had to drive her off the forecourt, and I followed in my 1.7.

 

[Anonymous]

can't be worse than Black lol!! me still wants me does!

 

[Zenithus]

Poor Black, don't give up on her yet! You've had loads of good times!

 

[Cherie]

My old XR3i was getting a bit unreliable, temperamental starts and dodgy electrics mainly. I was going out with a guy who lives near Brighton at the time, and he and my parents weren't keen on me doing the 3 hour drive down there in it.

He lent me the money to buy a newer car.

I wanted something with comparable power and decent handling, it was between a Puma, a Zetec-S and a Saxo VTS. I decided on the Puma as there was a bit more power, and they got better reviews.

I picked up Floosie (as Dal christened my old Curiass) and a week later I was at my first meet!

 

[Mark1]

The only reason I bought my old Puma was because it looked nice and sporty!! lol.

But after a short while it had to go because it was just too small for practical purposes.

 

[Dal]

After getting my own (rented) place after leaving my ex, I felt that I needed a bit of fun after all the stress I'd had. So after 2 diesel Escorts, I wanted something a bit more exciting car wise. I sat down and ploughed through Autotrader. My first thoughts were of a Cougar as I always thought they looked good but when I saw the MPG of the half decent performing V6 one, I had my doubts. I then looked at it's little brother the Puma.

I then compiled my list of half a dozen cars to call from adverts. It wasn't until I got to number 6 that it was still for sale. Went to see it round the corner from the blokes work place (he was a fireman) in the car park at Ikea Milton Keynes. If i'd have known then what I know now about them, I'd never had bought it but you live and learn.

The next week I went to get it with my daughters and drove it home. That was the first time my little girl said "Drive it faster daddy, it makes us giggle" From then on (due to the number plate GGS) it was known as giggles. Now known as "The old banger" more often than not though.