We consider the problem of vehicle following, where a safety distance to the leader vehicle is guaranteed at all times and a favourite velocity is reached as far as possible. We introduce the funnel cruise controller as a novel universal adaptive cruise control mechanism which is model-free and achieves the aforementioned control objectives. The controller consists of a velocity funnel controller, which directly regulates the velocity when the leader vehicle is far away, and a distance funnel controller, which regulates the distance to the leader vehicle when it is close so that the safety distance is never violated. We provide a rigorous proof for the feasibility of the overall controller design. The funnel cruise controller is illustrated by a simulation of three different scenarios which may occur in daily traffic.