LAST DRINKS

FORD’S SMALL SUV EXITS STAGE LEFT, WHILE ITS CUSTODIAN ALSO CALL IT QUITS. WILL THEY MISS EACH OTHER?

- TIM ROBSON

FEELS a bit ironic, actually... As I sign off on my two-decade-long automotive journalistic stint to move into the car industry proper, I’m a little bemused by the fact that the last car I’ll officially drive on the job is Ford’s Puma. It’s a car I had high designs on, too... but personally, despite the relative praise received during our Car of the Year 2021 testing, the little Puma is very much not my cup of tea.

Plopped into the burgeoning small SUV arms race like an unwanted puppy, the turbo three-pot Puma has unfortunately disappointed me at almost every turn – and I’m reminded of that failing every time I pause for the damn door to unlock with a sensor key that won’t actually unlock itself without me having to push a button.

That in itself is perfectly okay – but why oh why can the same key then remotely operate the bloody start button inside the cabin?