The Ford Puma Gold Edition was designed by 275,000 people, but it’s still the same great family SUV

WOULDn’t life be better if we chose our own gifts?

Instead of letting others buy us what we don’t want.

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I don’t know about you, but I have a drawer full of new socks, toiletry bags, and Old Spice aftershave that I’ll never use.

But if we were honest and told people what we want, we could avoid all of that.

We might end up with Lacoste instead of Lonsdale, or a Kelly Brook calendar instead of an RSPB handbook on endangered birds.

It looks like Ford agrees with me.

This is the first car to be designed through “crowd sourcing,” meaning the public was free to say whatever they wanted.

You have chosen the gray color. They went for the gold and white stripes. You have chosen the golden wheels.

You have chosen the golden stitching on the inside. They even called it “Gold Edition”.

Ford says it had almost 275,000 votes on social media to create this limited-edition Puma, based on the full-featured ST-Line X.

So aside from the ST, which is a whole different beast, this is the king of the Puma range.

Well done everyone, I think you made a good choice – everything but the stripes. It’s not a Mustang Shelby. Or an Opel Corsa Sting. So what about Puma itself?

It’s a crossover

Excellent car. I once described Puma as a big fiesta in a down jacket with big pockets – and it’s true.

Much like Fiesta, it’s got a peachy chassis, nice steering and a 1-litre mild hybrid that’s ready and making good numbers.

Our test car averaged 47mpg, a bit under the official WLTP figure of 49mpg – and that’s not often to be said. Unlike Fiesta, it’s a crossover.

That’s the shape everyone wants these days, and it means Ford can charge more for it. A purely electric Puma is coming in 2024.

The ST-Line part of the name refers to the sporty styling, sport suspension and selectable riding modes – including Slippery and Trail.

The X-Bit adds luxuries like heated front seats and steering wheel, in addition to the slick 8-inch touchscreen, B&O sound system, adaptive cruise control, rear view camera and so on.

Other things that I like: Manual handbrake. You can put a Costa coffee mug in the rear door pockets. And the ingenious Megabox. Under the boot floor – in place of a spare wheel – is a huge 80-litre sink with a drain hole in the floor.

Use it to store dirty boots, as an ice box for picnics, or whatever. It’s deep enough to stand a golf bag upright or carry large B&Q plants home.

No other crossover is as useful as this one.

Puma has long overtaken the soon-to-be-cancelled Fiesta as Ford’s best-selling car. Order one in this dream configuration and you are spot on.