Ford Puma ST

The 2020 Ford Puma ST arrived in a moment where performance could take a different shape, and its place in a 600-car catalogue makes that clear. Ranked 572nd for power, 573rd for 0-100 km/h acceleration and 572nd for top speed, it sits towards the lower end of outright performance measures, yet that position reveals the point of the car: this is a hot hatch approach expressed through a five-door crossover/SUV body rather than a pursuit of headline numbers.

Its most unusual distinction is the combination of an inline-3 engine, turbocharging and front-wheel drive. Just 6 of the 600 cars in the catalogue use an inline-3 layout, only 5 are turbocharged inline-3 cars, and only 2 combine an inline-3 with FWD. That places the Puma ST in a very small technical group within the collection. The 1.5-litre engine delivers 200 bhp and 320 Nm, figures that explain how a car with this unusual configuration reaches 100 km/h in 6.7 seconds and a top speed of 220 km/h. The numbers do not put it among the fastest cars available, but they show a focused interpretation of performance.

The 2020 model year also places the Puma ST within a specific period of the catalogue, one where the hot hatch category could be represented by a five-door crossover/SUV form. With Ford’s 14 cars in the catalogue and Germany represented by 197 cars, this Ford adds another perspective to the wider collection. Its used price of £22,000 ranks 561st of 600 cars, making it more expensive than 39 cars in the catalogue, while its £110 cost per bhp gives a clear measure of what the buyer is paying for.

The appeal of the Puma ST is found in the details that separate it from more conventional choices. A 200 bhp turbocharged inline-3, FWD layout and crossover/SUV body create a combination shared by very few cars in this garage of 600. It is a reminder that a collection is shaped not only by the fastest entries, but by the different ways manufacturers interpret performance.

With the Puma ST in the garage, the collection gains a car that occupies a distinct technical corner rather than another repeat of familiar formulas. Without it, there is one less example of how a 2020 hot hatch could be packaged, and one less car that connects unusual engineering choices with everyday practicality. It gives the garage a conversation piece built around its own numbers, its own layout and its own place in the catalogue.