So imagine combining all this excitement and ability in a cheap car that'll fit you, the other half, the dog and the shopping in. Something like the Ford Puma, which Stuart Milne says is the greatest Ford of the last decade.

It was 1997 and I was in the middle of my A-Levels. Back then Novas were fairly cool, as were early Fiestas. Someone at my college even had a Renault 19 16v; and that was really cool. How times change.

But the launch of the Ford Puma that year largely passed me by. Another girlie coupe, I thought. After all, we already had the Tigra and the Megane Coupe.

So imagine my surprise when a mate bought one. How we laughed.

Until he let me drive it - and I was instantly converted.

Up until then, the sportiest thing I'd driven was a thrashed XR3i, so getting behind the wheel of the 1.4-litre Puma made me feel like Damon Hill hacking through the country lanes.

But it wasn't the cabin that made me feel special; it was lifted straight from a Fiesta, and I couldn't get comfortable despite a height adjustable driver's seat.

It was the Puma's chassis that set my hair on fire. Every steering input was communicated directly to the wheels, making it more like a go-kart than a grown-up coupe.

The ride was firm, but never uncomfortable and there was a seemingly endless amount of grip. Maybe this didn't seem the case from the passenger seat, where I noticed my Puma-owning mate's knuckles were turning white.

But amazingly for such an sensational driver's car, it is as civilised as tea at The Ritz when tootling around town.

In fact, it's an easy car to live with, whatever the occasion, unless you've got more than one passenger as the rear seats are tiny. So for most it's treated like a two seater with a well-endowed boot.

Given my mate was 18, he was already paying a couple of pounds of flesh to his insurers, so the more powerful 1.7-litre was out of the question; which was a shame because it's even better.

It could keep up with most hot hatches of the day, with an 8.8 second 0-60mph sprint. Top speed was a license-bothering 126mph.

Despite its sporting pretensions, the Puma is pretty light on fuel. Both the 1.4 and 1.7 versions could muster 38 miles to the gallon.

But if you had the cash, there was really only one Puma to go for: the Racing Puma.

Packing a rorty 155bhp version of the 1.7-litre engine, each one of the 500 Racings wore a 'don't call me babe' rally-style bodykit and some swanky race seats. But at a massive £22,295, they didn't come cheap.

And when the basic models were so good, that was too high a price to pay.