HIDDEN FUNCTIONALITY
From the first glance, the clean and artfully muscular lines wink at those who love the crossover transposition of that pleasant dynamism once reserved for the Coupé. “While we were drawing, the moodboards on the walls were telling the story of a positive customer, full of energy, but also a perfectionist and refined.
Because of this, we sketched out optimistic shapes, full of character, without, however, slipping into aggressivity”, Thomas Morel, head of external design, begins. It is no coincidence, therefore, that the name evokes the light sporty note of the end of the 1990s. At the time, it was an expression of accessible and captivating hedonism: “When it was proposed, everyone was enthusiastic because it perfectly reflected the spirit of the project!”
As strange as it might seem, the designer promises that the sensuality of the expressive register actually envelops a practical nature of authentic excellence. It is more practical, for example, than its sister Ecosport, next to which the Puma sits a little higher, without replacing it. As long as the eye lingers on the bodywork, however, it is the car’s other characteristics that capture our attention.
Beginning with an almost magnetic detail: the vertical front light units which precisely redeploy the Ford GT’s luminous signature. The lights’ perfect comparison with this supercar seems even more obvious in the full LED version. “We were looking for a distinctive, personal idea, not one that was excessively ‘strange’: the lights shaped like this emerged in the very first sketches and they already seemed perfect. Then we performed several clinic tests, every one of which returned very positive results: the final decision seemed obvious.”
Around the headlights, the sheet metal is modelled with care to avoid unwanted bumps and other problems in managing volumes that the chosen solution might have entailed, especially compared to a more traditional, horizontal light unit. The insert in black rubber at the base of the A pillar, which renders the bonnet visibly longer and, at the same time, makes the roof’s silhouette more fluid, completes the development of the nose.
And the functionality? It’s hidden in a boot with Machiavellian intelligence: as well as providing the greatest capacity in its category (456 litres), it is equipped with a triple layer MegaBox that can contain a child seat or a standard size trolley. It is even provided with an incredible drain that allows you to wash it with running water. Moreover, in the passenger compartment, the seats have covers that can easily be substituted, or the cushions can be sheathed in a way that is both innovative and well integrated.
(Full article in A&D no. 238)
