Yes, that’s right, that oft-mocked and tiny little Ford from the ’70s is getting its day on CC–today. Say what you will about the first U.S. market subcompact Ford, I’ve always kind of liked them–especially in baby-Brougham Squire wagon form.
Consider this a prelude to a fun day if you enjoy the Pinto/Bobcat, and a warning if you hate them! Here we go…
When the Pinto was introduced, I would have been about 10 or 11 years old. At the time, Ford had a “Better Idea” ad campaign that encouraged people to write in to Ford, with their own suggestions on how Ford could improve their cars and trucks. As a smart-aleck child and and a rabid Chevy fan, I saw this as a golden opportunity. The exact words of the letter I wrote into Ford were: “First the Edsel, and now the Pinto. If you’ve got better ideas, then why don’t you use them?” Eventually, I received a postcard from Ford thanking me for my “constructive criticism” of the Pinto.
As for the cars themselves, I always thought the styling was extraordinarily awkward. The miniature Camaro look of the Vega was so much better in comparison.
Having never seen one in the flesh, only going by photos seen online, I have to say the early Pintos look really great to my non-American eyes. Yes, the front end of the Vega is great (and has a similar feel to various Holden models.) but the Pinto strikes me as a very good looking car. Just a shame there was no 4/5 door version.
Ring the church bells in the village square!!
Decorate your Pinto Tree!
Exchange Pinto gifts!
Rejoice!……IT’S PINTO DAY!
Somehow, in my mind, I can’t get the image of a kid running through the streets of a small English village yelling ” It’s Pinto Day!!”
No lie, the Pinto was introduced to the public September the 11th 1970, shouldn’t that be Pinto day?
Pintos were all over in my upper-midwestern youth. Most of these were earlier 1971-73 versions. They were quite serviceable cars, and were certainly less demanding of their owners than the contemporary Vega.
However, most of the folks I knew who bought one did not go back to the well for another. The people of my acquaintance almost all moved on to foreign brands later. They were famous rusters in salt country, only looking good in comparisons with Vegas. They were, however, fun to drive (though not that powerful) cars. My love of more massive iron kept me from owning one of these, but I rode in many of them.
I have to agree with ActuallyMike – I thought the Vega was a better looking car too, but I think that was the only comparison the Vega won, at least after a year or so of ownership. So, its Pinto day. Bring it on.
So are we gonna get a Yugo day? Chevette Day? Citation Day? Chrysler captive import Day?
Seems everybody of that age has a Pinto memory. They were ideal cars for the just-of-age, broke and struggling. We all pretended they were really GOOD cars…because to do otherwise was to admit all was lost, we had no hope, might as well take our smoking 2.3 Pintos and park them in Mom’s garage, running…and hope the exhaust takes us out before the neighbors see the blue smoke and call to complain that we’re burning tires in the back yard!
The Pinto…was an era-defining thing. You had to be there; and if you weren’t, you wouldn’t understand.
“The car that nobody loved, but everybody bought”.
Good tag line.
Some cars were so bad they’re good. Every car deserves some recognition. I applaud Pinto day!
My parents had two of these when I was a child. An orange and primer 73 wagon and a 77 brown wagon. The 73 rusted to the ground by 1981 and was traded on the 77, which, surprise, surprise, caught fire. After that, it was traded on a brown and woodgrained 1984 Dodge Aries K wagon, and I fell in love with Mopars from that day forward.
I had a ’75 for a while. If you search CC, you’ll find its story. Driving it didn’t suck — it had good power, and even though it had manual steering it was light and easy once you got rolling. The only ding against that car was its manual brakes. Well, that and the fact that reverse didn’t work, but that was a function of age and abuse and not something inherent to the Pinto in general.
My sister-in-law had one of the later ones. I learned to drive standard on that car.
The Pinto was not without its virtues. Hers was damned near indestructible. With only the minimum of maintenance it just ran and ran and ran.
The 2.3L engine was pretty good, too. What power it had was available down low. At least with the 4-speed it felt strong for a small I-4 of its era. I later had an extended-cab Madza B2300 with a variant of that engine. With the manual tranny, it managed to haul around a much larger vehicle without too much of a struggle.
The Pinto’s biggest vice was comfort, or lack thereof. H-point was very low, which made ingress and egress a bit of a contortion. By the time I drove the SIL’s car, the seat springs had lost all their springiness, so sitting in the drivers seat was like sinking down into quicksand. Gave “bucket seats” a new meaning.
The first car I remember my Mom driving was a 1974 Ford Pinto wagon in white over blue vinyl interior. Living in South Carolina, the thing I remember most is the fact it didn’t have air conditioning. When coupled with the metal seat trim pieces, curiously placed in a position to cause your posterior the greatest degree of discomfort (I still bear the scars…), it was a pretty memorable (miserable?) experience. When Pinto 1 was damaged in a parking lot, it was traded in for Pinto 2, a 1977 Pinto Squire wagon in Forest Green with green plaid interior – with A/C, 4-Speed and AM/FM stereo, it felt like we’d joined the country club set by comparison to the stripper ’74.
Best/Worst memory? My Dad, on a trip to Myrtle Beach, SC (the redneck Riviera) attempted to race some jackass in a 1978 Buick Riviera he’d happened upon via the CB radio. Mind you, the car was loaded to the brim with our trip provisions, my Mom, sister and me…And the Pinto, on her best days, wasn’t a match for the Riviera, but I’ll never forget that trip, especially the shrieks from my Mom in the front passenger seat as she pinched blisters in my Dad’s arm for racing in HER car.
Still, when new and gleaming with her wire wheel covers, Di-Noc wood trim and natty plaid seats, she was something that meant the world to my Mom, only trading it reluctantly in 1984. And what did she trade for? A used 1982 Ford EXP…out of the pan and into the fire.
I thought Panama City beach was the Redneck Riviera?
Me too, although one wouldn’t have to look hard to find rednecks at Myrtle Beach.
My family had 3 Pintos. A 1971 2-door Sedan, A 1972 3-door Runabout, and a 1972 Squire Wagon. Friends had Pintos also. The Runabout was an early model and had more in common with the ’71s. The Squire had the running changes made in ’72 such as better seat cushioning, better arm rests, and a center storage bin which hid 2 braces which went from the underside of the dash to the large transmission tunnel.
Early pollution controls and the lower compression ratio for ’72 really bogged the engines down. The C4 auto transmissions ate power also. The rear ends had a tendency to hop sideways on bumps. The hatchback and wagon held a lot of cargo relative to their size . For the most part we all loved our Pintos.
The only Pintos I’ve seen in the UK are home brewed drag racersusually with a Ford 302.I don’t think I ‘ve ever seen a stock one.The Pinto engine is a different matter as it found it’s way into many Dagenham favourites,Escorts,Cortinas,Capris,Granadas and kit cars.
Ahh, yes. Pintos (and Mustang IIs) that made those of us in the US say “Metric?!? Waddya mean we need metric wrenches?!?”
The Mustang II is a favourite with racers too,again usually with a 302.
No it didnt Gem this did not have a Pinto engine as you know it, these cars had a US brewed copy.
It’s aPinto Bryce but not as we know it!My mistake I thought the Pinto came before the UK OHC Fords
The first Pintos came with your choice of two imported 4cyls. The Crossflow headed “Kent” OHV 4cyl in the 1600cc version, seen in many British cars but often in the smaller 1100cc and 1300 cc displacements. The other was the EAO (German) OHC, often referred to as the “Pinto” engine in the 2000cc version but again more common in the 1300cc and 1600cc version in the European cars and Transit.
In 1974 with the demand for the Pinto in the US high and the European factories unable to keep up, the Kent engine was dropped due to an ever decreasing take rate and, the EAO became the base engine. The US built Lima 2300 became the optional engine. The Lima shares the basic layout of the EAO engine but it didn’t make it into Euro market versions of Euro cars, only those that were sold in the Americas. In 75 the EAO was dropped from the Pinto and the Cologne V6 in the 2800cc version became the optional engine.
The 2.0 liter “Pinto” engine definitely first appear in the US Pinto. While there are similarities with the Lima motor and the 2.0 EAO, the “Pinto” engine was an overhead cam motor with solid lifters and a secondary shaft to drive the distributor and oil pump.
In contrast, the Lima motor used the same basic pattern, but has totally unique parts. Changes include hydraulic lifters (actually hydraulic rocker arm stands, but the principle is the same…), and a distributor driven in the opposite direction.
Ford later offered a 2.3 pushrod motor in the Tempo/Topaz. This motor was based on the small straight six used in the Falcon and Mustang, and shared nothing but displacement with the Lima motor.
Ford also briefly offered the Lima motor with a 2.0 liter displacement in the Ranger.
Finally, to completely confuse things they built a 2.5 liter pushrod motor for the Taurus, followed by a 2.5 liter Lima motor for the Ranger.
Bottom line, if you’re buying engine parts for a Ford four cylinder, be damn sure to bring the old part, and compare it to the new one before you leave the parts store.
Dave, the 2.0 L “Pinto engine” was imported from Ford of Europe, where it was designed and was introduced in 1970, a year before the Pinto was.
Update: In 2.0 L form, you’re right; it was first built for the Pinto.
The Pinto 2.0 is the EAO 2.0, yeah most externals are unique to the Pinto but the long block is fully interchangeable with those found in the euro cars. You are correct that the 1971 Pinto and US bound Capri was the first application of the “high compression” 2.0, that version didn’t make it into euro cars until the 73 Escort RS 2000 and Granada.
I never once saw the Kent engine in a Pinto. It was the base engine until 1973, when the Lima smoker became the big engine and the 2.0 Cologne the base; but it seems damned few were built that way.
IIRC, the 2.0 went away end of 1973; and by 1975 the V6 was in. Little as it was it was too big for the car, screwing weight distribution all up. I’m speaking as an observer; I never had or wanted a V6 Pinto. But I did read the specs.
The Kent engine was very uncommon that is for sure. Only one ever passed through my hands. If you wanted an AT which many people did, or AC you had to spend the extra $50 for the 2.0. If you wanted the wagon when it came along the 2.0 was the standard. The 1600 was pretty underpowered and which meant that it didn’t really get any better MPG and with the 2.0 being just another $2 per month meant that it had few takers.
The 2.0 was the base engine in 74 and went away for 75. If that wasn’t the case I couldn’t have built the 2.0 powered 74 and 75 that I did. In 71-73 the 1600 and 2000 used the same mounts on the frame and they were welded to the frame. With the Mustang II coming on line and the fact that they were set up for the 2.3 and 2.8 they switched to motor mounts that bolted on and the 2.0, 2.3, and 2.8 all used different mount configurations. So I scrounged the wrecking yards for those 2.0 powered 74s. Somewhere I have 1 set of the 2.0 in a 74 and up car still stashed along with a Offy dual port 360 manifold, Holley 390 and Pacesetter headers should I ever get the itch to build another.
From my experience unloading all the new Pintos that arrived at Towson Ford in the fall-winter of 1970-1971, I’d say the Kent was in about 25% of them; maybe 30%, all sticks. The balance were 2.0s, about half sticks and half automatics.
The Kent in 1971 was somewhat slow, but not atrociously so, being that it came with the slick-shifting Ford UK gear box. The 2.0 stick was a brisk car for its class; the 2.0 automatic was intrinsically sluggish.
Those early Pintos were pretty light, and low content. The early Pinto was roundly (and rightly) criticized in the press (and word of mouth) for being tinny. The body was designed for lightness and cheapness.
In 1974 (IIRC), the Pinto was substantially revised, and the body strengthened, although some of that may have started in 1973. It became heavier, but felt more solid, but also less sprightly, especially when you factor in the bumpers.
The early ones were by far the most fun to drive (2.0 stick), but they really were quite crude and tinny in terms of their body structure.
That Jives with the numbers I’ve seen of the Kent engine accounting for about 25% of the 71s and dropping from there until it was discontinued.
The 71s were especially built to be light and cheap to meet Lido’s under 2000lb and under $2000 targets. Some of that started going away as soon as 72 when they added things like an adjustable passenger seat, more sound deadening insulation dash braces and some other structural strengthing. The big difference was the 74 cars with the 5mph bumpers front and rear and the changes to share parts with the much heavier Mustang II.
According to FordPinto.com the weights for the sedans are as follows.
1971 1949 lbs
1972 2061 lbs
1973 2115 lbs
1974 2372 lbs
1975 2495 lbs
1975 was the peak for the base models and it started gong back down from there. So some pretty quick and substantial weight gains. The Runabout had even bigger weight gains.
Here are Ford Official weights from the 74 MVMA specs.
And accessorys.
The Pinto’s weight went up 25% in four years, without a model change? That must be some sort of record.
As a budding car enthusiast I was captivated by the technical aspects of the VW Rabbit. I learned at an early age that light weight was a good thing and the Rabbit became the anti-Pinto small car, at least for me. It wasn’t so much that the Pinto was bad, it was that the Rabbit was great.
I remember staying up late one night and seeing a Pinto TV commercial that bragged about… huh??… road hugging weight?! What a contemptuous claim to make about your product, following an energy crisis no less. Must have been 1976-1977.
It was around that time that I started losing respect for Ford, though I was thrilled by the Fiesta.
I looked at a 71 Pinto Marti report I downloaded from a ebay listing. These figures are for sedans, not hatchbacks. Out of 288,614 sedans built in 71, 204,166 had the 2.0. Of those 137,240 were automatics, so by definition, 66,926 were 4-speeds and 84,448 had to be the Kent with the 4-speed.
I never owned any Pinto, but I did test-drive a new one in 1971 when they first came out, thinking that it handled nicely enough but really needed a bit more power. I also test-drove a Dodge Colt and ended up with an Opel 1900 sport coupe.
I used to see here locally a nicely-executed Pinchero – a station wagon customized into a Ranchero-type pickup complete with the Pinchero chrome trim on the tailgate. Of course it did have a small Ford V8 engine as well as the modified body.
You got the best car
I told this tale a very long time ago, but in 1971, Pinots were all the rage – Ford’s answer to the VW Beetle.
In my air force outfit, I worked with mostly officers, and they were all fierce competitors with each other for social and promotional reasons.
One officer bought a Pinto. Soon, a few others bought theirs, same with trucks that had camper shells to pull their boats!
We enlisted guys just laughed.
One sergeant I knew who worked in the flightline welding shop had a history of only driving Corvettes and owned a beautiful blue 1971 LT1 ‘Vette.
He let me drive it once and it scared me to death for fear I would do something very bad to it!
I saw him a couple of months later, and he was driving a green Pinto! I asked him what had happened. This he told me:
He had run a stop light in downtown Marysville, CA, and a CHP happened to see him and gave chase. He saw the cop and decided to go for it and stomped the gas and sped over the bridge out of town. After reaching speeds of over 150 on CA 70, he couldn’t quite make an exit turn and flattened a sign. He figured he had had his fun and stopped. The CHP caught up with him, ran up to his ‘Vette visibly weak-kneed and I think gun drawn, ordering him out of the car!
He got off fairly easy, but that was the end of his Corvette ownership for as long as I knew him.
Oh yeah, his Pinto was a stripper – even the passenger seat was not adjustable for leg room!
Shoes were a better answer to the VW beetle the Pinto was rubbish
Rubbish. There wasn’t a damn the a Beetle could do that a Pinto couldn’t do better. Beetles are only slightly higher on the food chain than Vegas.
Correct, the Pinto was miles ahead of the ancient Beetle. Bryce of course has never seen a Pinto in person and only calls it rubbish since it was built in the US and never offered down under.
Bryce a friend of mine’s father used to have the Hilmans you love so much and had two for the kids to drive when they first got their licenses. As soon as my friend could afford to buy a car for himself he chose a Pinto and considered it a huge upgrade in every aspect. Faster, better handling, more room, quieter, more durable and about the same MPG despite being a faster more substantial car.
You’re conveniently forgetting that the Pinto only barely beat the VW in C&D’s big 1971 small car comparison, and came in #4 and behind the Corolla 1200. The Pinto was roundly criticized for its floppy and tinny body. In their words: “Whenever you hit a bump, the steering wheel whips around in your hands and the whole car rattles and rustles like a burlap bag full of tin cups. Self destruction seems only moments away.”
The Corolla was praised for “its spacious and attractive interior, good overall quality and economy”.
And in 1972 Ford started adressing those complaints, with ~100lbs of additional sound deadening and increases in structural rigidity, and kept making improvements in that dept. I think the engineers likely wanted to introduce it in it’s 1972 configuration but then they wouldn’t have met their targets and their jobs might have been in jeopardy. Once the reviews started rolling in they had the ammo needed to make those improvements. Heck they moved the dimmer switch part way through the 71 model year and did some other minor changes as a result of owner complaints and magazine tests and reviews.
Over at FordPinto.com they do state that the Corolla was one of the cars the engineering team bench marked before they put pencil to paper and considered it to be the quietest of those tested.
I’ve always had a soft spot for the Pinto and am one of the few to defend the Mustang II whenever it comes up on CC. But the VW Super Beetle was a much nicer car to drive and own. For one thing you sat up high. Even a tall guy like me could get comfortable in the rear seat. It was solid as hell and the doors closed with a thunk. The car was so notoriously air tight that it was hard to close the doors with the windows up.
The IRS gave it a decent ride and fun handling, though cornering limits were low. The steering always felt light, being that the engine was in back. Clutch effort was also light and the shifter precise. A proper, floor-hinged gas pedal was used instead of that cheap ass device in the Pinto, which reminds me of the flip lever you press your cup against at a soda dispenser. The brakes were drum all the way around but felt great because of the hard pedal.
People fell in love with their VWs for all of the above reasons and of course the lovable styling, workmanship and reliability. The low, uncomfortable seating in the Pinto made few of them long term cars for anybody. This was by far the car’s worst feature.
Personally I always preferred the front seating in the Pinto over that in any Beetle, they were actually bucket seats that held you in place when you went around corners instead of squishing and increasing your lean like those in the VW.
I drove a Pinto in high school, and also drove my girlfriend’s Beetle on a regular basis. While your observations about the seating positions are correct, the Beetle’s tumblehome (curvature from the door to the roof) made it very uncomfortable for us broad shouldered folk.
Everytime I got in the driver’s seat, the B-pillar forced me to lean in towards the vehicle centerline. Based on that driving position and the crappy VW heater, I preferred the Pinto.
When I was 11, my best friend’s dad fixed cars at his home. One day, my friend got the great idea that we should go joyriding in the cars that had keys in the ignition. The lucky car was a light blue and woodgrain Pinto wagon! The ride was short, but exhilarating and created a fun memory from my youth.
If I had been in my twenties during the Pinto era, the wagon might have been the right economical car for me.
Despite all the badmouthing I liked this car. Niece owned one and I liked driving it. Not a lot of power but smooth shifting and (hers, at least) was put together well. She finally wore it out and bought a Dodge Aspen wagon (I think) with a slant six. I liked the pinto better.
Best one I can remember was when an LA area shop teacher dropped a turbo t bird engine into one. A real spoiler.
Forget the 302: a late 80’s turbo drivetrain out of a wrecked T-bird would make the perfect Pinto suicide machine! If I was a Ford guy, I’d probably build one.
Or an 84-85 SVO Mustang. Even better…
Say “Pinto” and I think “Zucker, Abrahams & Zucker”
I guess this article is as good as any of them to reveal that my first car was a Pinto. It was a 73 Runabout that was a hand me down from my Dad. Actually it was purchased for my Step Mother but shortly there after the first energy crisis hit and my Dad started driving it to work instead of the relatively thirsty Malibu. Despite the fact that it spent the first 5 years of it’s life in Delaware and Pennsylvania it did not have any rust except for one area where it had been dented and the paint cracked.
More Pintos passed through my hands than I can remember and they were quite often what payed my tuition for college. They could often be found for $100 or less, in fact I bought one for $25. They usually had some problem like the one I bought for $99 that the owner had decided to tune it up himself and didn’t know how to set the points correctly and put the cap on backwards so it wouldn’t clip down on one side due to the locating notch. I’d fix them up and was always able to sell them for $600 to other students in the college town. I’d have maybe $200 into them at the absolute most would and drive them for a couple of months before selling them. Occasionally I’d get a wrecked one, strip it and scrap it so I rarely needed to buy any parts to fix them. If I did since I was always working on other peoples cars I had a wrecking yard that I knew the boss pretty well. If I told him I didn’t need a receipt and it was for my own car I’d get the parts for about 1/2 price since I did so much business with him.
For those that weren’t around it is hard to fathom just how popular they were. The big Seattle wrecking yard family, Fitz, actually had a yard dedicated just to Pintos and Vegas. They had a Ford, GM, Chrysler, Import and Pinto-Vega yard though by the late 80’s the Pinto-Vega yard had closed, there was now a European and Japanese yard and the Chrysler yard was now Chrysler-Mitsubishi. A big part of the reason the Pinto-Vega yard was closed was the fact that it was located in Seattle proper and the land became worth way too much, which also killed the drive in theater just down the road from it, sad times indeed.
The Pinto-Whisperer! 🙂 If we had more people like you and Ed Stembridge, we would be seeing Pintos and Vegas out in regular service even yet. IN fact, I am thinking this could lead to our first CC Smackdown. Put you and Ed in a junkyard full of Pintos and Vegas and see which one can be the first to assemble a complete running car out of parts. If we could still find a junkyard full of Pintos and Vegas, that is. I’m sure some cable channel would pick it up, and Paul could retire with a lucrative TV deal.
Hey, what about me? I had three…a rusted-out New York Pinto wagon which was my “gateway drug” – I was carless and this 1974 wagon was for sale. I bought it and inside of six months I was booted out of school as well. A friend offered me $400 to drive him and his girfriend from the Buffalo area to Houston…they couldn’t afford bus tickets and food, too. They had connections, I was told, and could land me a job. So I went.
Inside of two months, things went to hell: The job didn’t pan out, the girlfriend decided she hated my guts and kicked me out…and someone STOLE that rusty rattletrap. Good God, man, if you’re going to steal a car, steal a nice one! I got it back – pried off a tree. It was wrapped around one after a police chase.
Second one was Blazing Saddles, a 1973 Pinto Squire. Bought it at a “We Tote The Note” shop…Steve Lang would relate. Reasonable price; and amazingly, the car was basically sound. It had been neglected but only for a short time. And of course, being a Texas car, there was none of the rust.
I drove that sucker home north with $150 in my pocket…Boomtown, Texas style, was just to IN-tense for me.
Home again, and the reality of a Northeast winter. I didn’t want Blazing Saddles to rust away…so I bought a winter-beater…ANOTHER PINTO. A 1972; even rustier than the 1974. $150. And yes, it did get me through the winter – even if for most of the time I owned it, the Mini Cruise-O-Matic was stuck in Second gear. (Trans-Medic fixed that, two months after I added it. Started working right just as the rest of the car fell apart!)
But yes, I had my overdose of Pintos. It’s like a drug…you know it’s not good for you; but boy, it’s fun while you’re doing it.
I had a total of 5, OK 4 + a Bobcat that were primary drivers.
The 73 2.0 Runabout that was my first car was wrecked. I had hot rodded the engine added sway bars aftermarket wheels and fat tires to it.
I eventually found a running 71 Sedan that had a trashed interior and faded paint. I transferred all of my interior, that was in excelent condition and the hot rod parts.
I drove that one for a while until I found a 74 Runabout that the owner had ran the 2.3 out of oil and tossed a rod for $25 but had excellent paint and interior. A set of motor mounts from the wrecking yard that fit the 2.0 and that one got the good engine.
The 71 got it’s old engine put back in, a Camo paint job and tall tires to make my logging road car. I loaned it to my roomate who checked the oil but didn’t close the hood properly and it flew open on the freeway smashing the windshield, hood, and front of the roof. I then stripped and scraped that one.
A 75 Bobcat w/o an engine came along next. So another set of 2.0 engine mounts and the good engine went in that car and the engine from the 71 went in the 74 and it was sold for $600.
Finally my landlord at the time had a 77 runabout that they wanted to sell and it had low miles and was in great shape overall. I picked that up and used it as my daily driver for a few years.
A 5.0 powered Foxstang made the hot rod Bobcat obsolete, it was stripped of the hot rod parts and sold. With a company van to drive I didn’t need a commuter car so I sold th 77 to a friend who was in desperate need of a car.
When he wrecked the 77 I took it back as down payment for one of the Mazda COALs I’ve written about. I parted it out and still have the all glass hatch and a couple of the factory wheels hanging around in some of my parts stashes.
Would a Fiero Freak be allowed to compete?
My first manual transmission car was a Pinto. It came in handy for learning stick, especially for red lights on hills, as I don’t recall anyone pulling too close nor tailgating. I even think I once spotted an expression of terror as I rolled back a few inches. For all its faults, I leaned a lot about driving with that car–including what not to do–and probably burnt up quite a bit of luck with some things I tried.
It also became dubbed “The Clown Car” when I was in music school, as I’d pull up and people would keep piling out. I also wound up taking it on a lot of trips, where it was often loaded with passengers and musical instruments. It always did fairly well, and I do not recall ever being stranded. Eventually I packed it full of my stuff and moved to Chicago. The Pinto made the 600+mile trip, but it was having issues, and once there the car was towed. I had moved to Wrigleyville but wasn’t yet aware that I needed to buy a “neighborhood sticker” for the city not to take it during Cubs games. After I scraped together the money to get it back, it was pretty clear the tow treatment had about killed it. I remember feeling sad for it, as I struggled with the gear changes and rolled down the windows to vent the fumes from the torn up exhaust. I eventually left Chicago after only a few months, and sadly had to leave the Pinto behind.
Today’s Pinto Day? Tanx for the heads-up, I’ll be sure to keep back a minimum of 500 feet.
Feel the warmth…
Lessee… in my family collectively we had a ’71 Runabout, a ’72 sedan, two ’73 Runabouts (my second and third cars) and a ’73 wagon, a ’74 Runabout (which became my first car), and a ’76 sedan. All but the ’72 and the two ’73 Runabouts were purchased as salvage cars and repaired. The ’72 was rearended TWICE… and no boom. First time it was hit by a ’74 Bel Air Ohio Highway Patrol cruiser and the second time it was struck by a ’68 Electra 225. My dad was jinxed…
With all the Pintophiles here…how come there’s only a Pinto DAY? C’mon…we can have a Pinto Week…a Pinto Month…even a Pinto SEASON!
Only experience I had with the Pinto was the one my employer let me use for pizza delivery (my college job). Nothing particularly memorable about it, so I suppose it worked for many folks.
Remember the Pangra?
You poor guy. The pizza shop I delivered for in college let us use a 70 Dodge Coronet Crestwood wagon with a 383 4 bbl. I’ll bet I delivered pizzas faster than you did. 🙂
I remember the Pangra and the Pintera.
Hey don’t forget the Pinto that could fly. Until it couldn’t. Paul wrote an AH about it.
The Pinto appears to be emerging as an ironic classic of sorts. Recently I have seen a restored Pinto raked and with huge rear tires — an apparent pint-sized parody of a 70s muscle car custom job. About a year ago I ran into a Pinto Owner’s Club meeting with at least 20 cars at, of all places, the parking lot of the National Rifle Association headquarters in Fairfax, VA. Of course, the jokes flowed immediately about the catastrophe that would occur if one of the Pintos were rear-ended with ammo in the trunk.
My personal Pinto memory is quite vivid, as it was the smallest car that I have ever experienced the back seat of. I was at most 8 years old, and even at that age, I found the back seat incredibly cramped when a neighbor gave me a ride in his Pinto. My mother’s Nova coupe was palatial in comparison.
I had about 10 minutes total driving time on manual transmissions when I drove our special ordered ’72 Runabout out of the Ford dealer lot in November 1971. Had to quickly learn a stick. When they first came out I was in the Vega camp as Car and Driver joked about two Pintos together on the road being tin after tin, and we were a GM family. But I quickly switched to the Pinto after a family member bought one. I felt justified in my car and option choices when Road and Track wrote in 1972 that the Pinto to buy was one with the 4-speed manual, front disc brakes and 2.0 liter engine.
Let to the party (again!), but I’m surprised no one else noticed that there are 41 years separating the Model A roadster and the Pinto Runabout in the ad, just as there are 41 years separating the Pinto and what’s in showrooms today.
It’s interesting to compare how radically the automobile evolved in earlier years. It might be a stretch, but a new driver of 2013 wouldn’t have much of a learning curve to drive a Pinto, whereas a new driver of 1972 might be stymied by the Model A’s controls, not to mention the feel of solid axles, cable brakes and a lack of weatherproofing.
Interesting observation. The thing that the driver of today might have problems with are the automatic choke cold starting, stalling, hesitation, and sometimes backfiring that were so common on the early pollution control engines. Back then you literally needed to tune up a Pinto every 4,000 miles to keep it running best. The joys of pollution control carburetors and points ignition. A particularly bad item on 2.0 Pinto engines was the “decel valve” which kept the engine speed from dropping too fast when you lifted off the accelerator, They ruptured an internal diaphragm like clockwork.