‘We’ve had this car from new, 25 years!’
1998 Ford Puma Martin and Heather Anderson, Stonehaven
Your Puma is part of the family, isn’t it?
‘It very much is, yes! This particular example was built on December 22, 1997 and was bought by my wife Heather brand new. She had seen the car advertised on TV – the famous commercial where they've cleverly computer generated Steve Mcqueen into the driving seat a Puma in San Francisco – part of a tribute to the Mcqueen film, Bullitt. It was all Nineties CGI of course, but it was a really memorable advert and a great way to sell a car. Heather was certainly smitten by it, as she snapped up a 1.7 there and then! She and I met five years later, but it was around 2008 when we became aware of how shabby the car had started to get.’
How bad was it?
‘It didn't take long for Fords of this era to show signs of corrosion. They really weren't very well protected at the factory at all, so there was rust bubbling in the usual places, from the floors to the rear wheel arches. Water was getting into the cabin, so we put it in the shed to prevent any further damage. It ended up there for 13 years!
Bet you're glad it wasn't scrapped then!
Absolutely! I remember that Heather wasn’t too bothered at the time as she just saw the Puma as her rusty old banger, but I had a feeling about it. It made sense to me to keep it as a project for the future, as Fords will always be desirable I think. I’m glad we did keep it as the Puma ended up being my lockdown project. I’d never restored a car before, but I had some knowhow about these things as I work for an engineering firm. I joined the Puma club and got advice about what to look for and how to perform fixes.’
Go on... how much rust did you find?
‘Oh, plenty of rust! It was of course horrendous, made worse by it living here in Scotland its whole life.
The worst bits of the car were the floors, rear wheel arches and sills. I was told by fellow club members that there’s a little flap in the drivers side carpet, which you pull back to reveal the serial number of the car. If it’s not there, you are in quite a lot of trouble… because it means you won’t have much of a floor!
We take it the corrosion didn't stop there?
Sadly not. There are other strange things about the Puma that almost encourages rust to form. For example, the wheel arch linings are made of a horrible felt material that seems to not only soak up water, but it holds moisture. You therefore have soogy wheel arch linings that sit beside the metal, slowly rotting it! Thanks a lot, Ford! The wings themselves were hard to find because they all tend to dissolve over time. I had to buy two spares cars in the end.'
How far did you take things? ‘All the way! I took the engine out to do the belts and ended up doing the head and numerous other mechanical jobs. I removed the axles and subframes, powder coating it all. The hardest bit was the power steering pipes as you can’t get them these days. I ended up going to a company in Dundee that made me a whole new set. Unfortunately, the pipes burst as the bore was too small and pressure too high, so they had to be done all over again.’
Was it all worth the effort? ‘Yes! Modern classics like this are disappearing fast. We decided to keep everything as
original as possible. I suspect that the rest of the car survived well as it was in a garage for so long. The rubbers are all supple and the interior is in great condition. They’re so good to drive – the designers got this car so right. It really is one of the true greats. Reuniting it with Heather was a great feeling, too. As you can see, the car is probably in better condition now than it was when it left the factory!’