RACING PUMA
“CODENAMED THE ST160, FORD’S EXECUTIVES GREENLIGHTED A PRODUCTION RUN OF 1000 CARS”
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 Blue-painted 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
