BUYING: Racing Puma

The limited-edition, pumped-up Puma was never a cheap option, but it’s arguably more a ordable than ever. Here’s what you need to know.

What you need to know if you’re in search of early 2000s performance.

Launched in early 2000, the Ford Racing Puma owed its existence more to a pile of parts than the original model it was based on.

With time on their hands after the relocation of the Word Rally Car programme to M-Sport, Boreham’s engineers had developed performance kits for the Puma. To showcase their work, the engineers stitched together a complete car that boasted more power, Sparco seats, rally-type wheels and extended rear quarters and front wings.

Christened the ST160, the pumped-up Puma captured the imagination of Ford’s executives who greenlighted a production run of 1000 cars. Boreham didn’t have the resources to handle the build, so Tickford was enlisted to transform near complete, Imperial Bluepainted 1.7-litre Pumas into examples of what would be known as the Racing Puma.

The conversion saw the Zetec-SE motor tweaked to 153 bhp, courtesy of different cams, a new inlet manifold and tuned exhaust system. The increased power was channelled through a stronger IB5 gearbox, which turned longer driveshafts that were necessitated by the increased track and body width. Braking was provided by 295 mm ventilated discs twinned to Alcon four-pot callipers on the front and 270 mm solid rear discs, while Eibach suspension topped off the mechanical changes.

Tickford also replaced the front wings with wider aluminium items and grafted the steel flares into the rear quarters, before adding different bumpers, a front splitter and 7.5x17 inch Speedline rims. Inside, there was Sparco bucket seats finished in blue alcantara, with the same material also covering parts of the steering wheel and door panels. Air con, a CD player and Quickclear windscreen were all part of the standard specification, as was a manifold cover that featured a car’s individual build number.

As it turned out, those build numbers wouldn’t run anywhere near the proposed production run, with only 500 eventually made. While it was a bit too specialised for many, what really limited the Racing Puma’s popularity was its price. At £22,750, its cost was as chunky as its bodywork and over 50 per cent more than that of a 1.7-litre Puma.

The cost difference is even greater today and with rust and driving incidents having depleted survivors, now’s the time to act if you want to get your own claws into a Racing Puma.

“CODENAMED THE ST160, FORD’S EXECUTIVES GREENLIGHTED A PRODUCTION RUN OF 1000 CARS”

“THE ZETEC SE WAS TWEAKED TO 153 BHP, WITH DIFFERENT CAMS, A NEW INLET MANIFOLD AND A TUNED EXHAUST”