When I bought frp330 in November 2015, I did it on a whim. I am that naive fool who expects these things to be a simple. I expected a ford puma to be a mechanically simple machine from a simpler age where parts are plentiful and cheap. After a decade enjoying German cars with little going wrong, this would surely be even more straightforward. And cheap. No. This is not the case.
The car has been a nightmare. The thing with these cars is they all look all shiny and blue. You get lost in their good looks, and beguiled with the styling, but scratch beneath the surface, and you realise it's all lies. All lies. The bloke I bought this off must of known this. After handing over a negotiated 4300 quid, things began to fall apart. The plastic seat handle snapped. The radio didn't work. The noise at speed was biblical. The brakes screamed. It stalled at idle. The parcel shelf collapsed.
In my mind I tried to see this as quirky. I had a part time run around that looked good if nothing else. The problems began as it neared MOT time. Ok, quick trip to Fords for a service, stick it in for the ticket. Perhaps buy a tyre. No. No. This is not how it went.
Fords phoned me to express their concerns that I would be collecting the car and driving it. Alarm bells began to ring and haven't stopped. The list of jobs they said needed fixing ran into two A4 pages. How could something so shiny and blue be so dishonest I pondered.
Fast forward 3 weeks and some internet research and I was in Nottingham. This doesn't sound much. However a drive from Southend in this car to there and staying alive is perhaps my greatest achievement. Enter Chris Allison. A man who needs no introduction here. This man knows what he is doing. I wanted to make this Puma right, and he did. However. I will say this. I really like racing Pumas. When they are sorted (and this cost alot), they are a joy. However, I predict many of these must be in a similar state by now. I don't think Chris will ever again have time to play his clarinet. I won't bore you anymore. I'll just show pictures : if you are scared of rust then perhaps look away. (I will add more.)
The car has been a nightmare. The thing with these cars is they all look all shiny and blue. You get lost in their good looks, and beguiled with the styling, but scratch beneath the surface, and you realise it's all lies. All lies. The bloke I bought this off must of known this. After handing over a negotiated 4300 quid, things began to fall apart. The plastic seat handle snapped. The radio didn't work. The noise at speed was biblical. The brakes screamed. It stalled at idle. The parcel shelf collapsed.
In my mind I tried to see this as quirky. I had a part time run around that looked good if nothing else. The problems began as it neared MOT time. Ok, quick trip to Fords for a service, stick it in for the ticket. Perhaps buy a tyre. No. No. This is not how it went.
Fords phoned me to express their concerns that I would be collecting the car and driving it. Alarm bells began to ring and haven't stopped. The list of jobs they said needed fixing ran into two A4 pages. How could something so shiny and blue be so dishonest I pondered.
Fast forward 3 weeks and some internet research and I was in Nottingham. This doesn't sound much. However a drive from Southend in this car to there and staying alive is perhaps my greatest achievement. Enter Chris Allison. A man who needs no introduction here. This man knows what he is doing. I wanted to make this Puma right, and he did. However. I will say this. I really like racing Pumas. When they are sorted (and this cost alot), they are a joy. However, I predict many of these must be in a similar state by now. I don't think Chris will ever again have time to play his clarinet. I won't bore you anymore. I'll just show pictures : if you are scared of rust then perhaps look away. (I will add more.)
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