(first posted 8/15/2014) The sight of this denim blue Pinto wagon amounted to redemption of what was rapidly turning out to be a very crappy Saturday about a month ago. Embroiled as I was in an ugly, fruitless–but seemingly unavoidable–political debate with a friend, and with my weekend plans set to be rained out, this very fine CC at least offered something in the way of compensation. It really was a perfect car for the occasion, memorable as a depressing yet inescapable part of daily life for millions.
It didn’t matter that its Washington State vanity plate–“Disco78”–wasn’t in keeping with the actual spirit of the Pinto, it at least correctly identified the car. Without it, all I could tell was that it was a pre-’79 and a post-’73 wagon. I’d like to think most of us can do better job of describing this late ’70s domestic subcompact than the cute buzzwords chosen for this car’s license plate, though “LOVECNL” might be an apt descriptor.
If it was “disco” one were after, a contemporary small car buyer would have been safer with something imported–or possibly life across the Atlantic. The late ’60s-inspired Pinto was definitely more Neil Young than Sylvester, let alone Giorgio Moroder.
But a ’78 Omnirizon wouldn’t scream “free spirit” as loudly to undiscerning bystanders and in that sense, this car has much more cachet in 2014 than the cars with which it competed. It’s actually hard to say much about the Pinto as an actual car compared to the Chrysler L-body, let alone yesterday’s Fireflite, but in terms of cultural significance, as the misplaced reference on the vanity plate shows, it arguably has both those Mopars beat.
That might actually have something to do with the choice made to drive this car across the country and whoever did so would be well advised to keep it somewhat sheltered over the coming years. The novelty of four distinct seasons wears off for motorists unfamiliar with rapidly forming potholes, winter driving with all-season tires on a lightly laden open-diff rear driver (automatic, in this case) and ungalvanized sheet metal. Unless Disco78 has plans to high-tail it back to Washington soon, the next stop for this ol’ pony after two or three Indiana winters is the glue factory.
Or perhaps not: many Pintos grumbled unhappily into the mid ’90s in this part of the country, so they’re rather long-lived little critters, at least more so than the early Escorts which replaced them and the Vegas with which they went head-to-head. And with its subdued color scheme and factory-correct trim, it deserves to be kept around (if that is indeed the original radio, I’m impressed). Perhaps the original owners’ musical tastes were defined by studious indifference, making this car difficult to identify with any subculture.
It’s also meant that, much like the Pinto itself, mainstream broadcasts (dominated these days by Clear Channel Top 40) have also become an unavoidable necessity, along with the sound of powertrain laboring alongside more inspired traffic. Being a wagon with an automatic, there’s some likelihood of a Cologne 2.8 resting under that somewhat patinated blue hood. If not that 90-horsepower V6, then a 2.3-liter Lima unit managed eighty-eight–that puts the move from mini-Mustang to mini-estate (and even mini-sportvan) into perspective.
This lightly optioned example avoids such tackiness, but inflation could’ve been a factor. For 1978, Pintos like this one were $4000, which was a bit more than Nova V8 money, and it was also Fairmont wagon money. Sales were naturally down to 190,000 from a peak of about 545,000 in 1974 (with 290,000 sold in 1976). More money for a slower, older car wasn’t a path to popularity, but the decline in the fortunes was most likely because the mere sight of the small Ford, with its slight coke-bottle shape, was getting old.
Unfortunately, retirement wouldn’t come before its masters mandated a round of plastic surgery and two more tours of duty. Usually such drawn out deaths are accompanied by miniscule sales, price cuts and increasing obscurity. Such wasn’t the case for the Pinto. Sales remained near 1978 levels as prices rose further. It would appear familiarity with such a popular, well-exposed model worked in its favor, making it an icon of acquiescence in the face of mounting disappointment. Whether or not that makes the Pinto’s life uncommonly dignified or a depressing spectacle is up to you, but it’s helped secure this car’s charm for over thirty-six years.
Related reading:
Curbside Classic: 1971 Pinto – 1971 Small Car Comparison No. 4
Curbside Classic: 1978 Ford Pinto V6 – The Car I Didn’t Buy
Curbside Classic: 1980 Pinto Wagon – The Pinto’s Long Colorful End
It’s not such a bad car, Charlie Brown. All it needs is a little love.
It’s funny: except perhaps as someone’s very first car, nobody ever aspired to own a Pinto. But they served by the score as capable transportation. The wagon always seemed to me to be the one to have. I had one with a trunk, and you couldn’t stand up a gallon of milk in it. My cousin had a Runabout, which was 1,000% more useful than my trunked one, but even then that wayback wasn’t all that capacious. But just look at that flat load floor in the wagon you found. Mmmboy, that’s good wagon utility right there.
Agree, Ford’s wagons were often practical & attractive, like the Fairmont, Escort, & Taurus. Perhaps their boast as “Wagon Master” was not wholly empty. I think the Country Squire was the best-seller in its category; it may have been the “Dual-Facing Rear Seats” (which I used a lot myself), but I’m not certain.
Yes, the Country Squire had the “Dual-Facing Rear Seats” which my brother and I used to fight each other in every long trip we took in the car
Regardless of whether one appreciates it or not, driving this Pinto in the winter would be a shame. When something’s made it 36 years due to the care of fastidious owners, wrecking it in two or three is just mean.
I agree, but I think this happens fairly regularly. Some old person dies or can’t drive any more. Their last car, which is usually older but well-kept, gets sold cheap/inherited/given away to a new owner that just needs a set of wheels. They drive it into the ground. Could be what we’re seeing here.
This Pinto could still live a ling life as a daily driver, even in the rustbelt, IF it gets a fresh coat of paint AND annual oil spray application. That’s probably not going to happen though.
As a high school student in the mid 80’s, this would have been an embarrassment to drive, and would have invited hazing even from the teachers. Sure, the Vega was worse, but didn’t exist by the Reagan inauguration. Especially unloved these Pintos, they stuck around for decades. They were still running about in the mid 90’s. Most /6 were gone by then. I’m surprised they weren’t dirt cheap towards the end of the run. Usually only luxury cars have had such long runs: 450/380/560 SL, SEL, w123, some Volvos, Lexus SC for ex.
But now this car doesn’t look half bad, much better than my Monarch I had at the time. I find the Bobcats especially cool. I hope she’ll be taken care of, not to be trashed in a year or two.
There were still a few Vegas left, a friend of mines parents still had one until about 1990, it was a wagon, they had an interesting fleet, A Volare sedan, a cheap Fairmont wagon, the Vega wagon and a 1968 Catalina hardtop coupe that I was in love with.
From 1984-1986 I dated a number of older girls with cars. Two of them had cars that I thought were Vegas. One turned out to be a Chevy Monza Wagon. The other was a Pontiac Astre. Both of them had Iron Dukes instead of “Dura-Built 140s.” I don’t recall there being any other Vega variants in my high school parking lot, although I started looking for them after learning that Katrina and Paige’s cars weren’t really Vegas. I don’t recall either car ever stranding us or either girl talking about her car having issues.
There was another cheer leader around the same time who had a Pinto. I don’t remember that car breaking either, although I do remember that she prompted me to coin the phrase park-by-ear, based on her habit of only stopping when she had hit the car in front or behind her while parking. Those cars usually belonged to the parents of the kids we were meeting up with, often while said parents stared in disbelief and I pretended I wasn’t there.
My first car was a ’74 Runabout, and I got it in ’79. No one at my high school made fun of my car, hell, many were jealous because they DIDN’T have a car!
I know very little about this car, being English and all that, so a welcome CC write-up.
the proportions in the second picture seem wrong to me. Too much rear overhang, the door being the length of the wheelbase, amplified by the chrome trim around the wheel arches.
The car in the brochure picture looks much better, sans chrome and the multi-colour breaking up and improving the proportions. Not that it was a beautiful car to begin with, certainly no S3 Jag XJ!
The 2.8 Cologne V6 made 160 bhp in late 1970’s European Fords, in particular the Capri and Granada. It went on to make 204 (ish) bhp in the early 1990’s c/o a Cosworth designed DOHC and bored out to 2.9.
It lived on here in the US as the 4.0 found in the Ranger/Explorer vehicles, then was found in SOHC form in the 2005-2011 Mustangs base engine. In pushrod guise it made 160hp and cammer guise 210.
Ford’s V6 engine families are very confusing. There are the German ones, the British ones, and the North American Vulcan and Essex families (no relation the British V6, also called Essex!), which are different designs again. The Canadian Essex V6 is a 90 degree design, unlike all the others. Then there’s the Mondeo and Cyclone V6 families…..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ford_engines
Well, to be fair, the 2.8-liter Cologne only made 160 hp with fuel injection, which the U.S. cars didn’t have. In carbureted Granada 2.8s, the Cologne had 135 hp DIN. In 1978, the version in the U.S. Mustang/Mercury Capri had 109 hp (SAE) and most Pintos had 102 hp. It was only California cars that got the 88 hp version, I presume because that was the cheapest way to pass California’s more stringent emissions standards.
The Pinto was basic transportation and despite the possibility of the early ones catching fire if rear ended which was corrected by the late 1970’s (and which I still think was a bit over blown as less then 50 cases of this happened on a car that sold over 3 million of them ) was a good car for what it was (basic transportation)
I like the fact that all it has by way of a center console is a shifter and parking brake. No big assed oversized center console.
“The Pinto’s legacy was affected by media controversy and legal cases surrounding the safety of its fuel tank design, a recall of the car in 1978, and a later study examining actual incident data that concluded the Pinto was as safe as, or safer than, other cars in its class.”
Ditto, it’s kind of shocking now to see carpet there. Mind, the seats are so low, like a Brit sports car, there’s not much depth for anything on it anyway. That’s my biggest beef with the Pinto: it’s built too low for a basic-transportation car, compared to its Cortina relative. I chalk it up to the mania for fastbacks when it was designed; the Vega was along the same lines.
My only Pinto experience was as a pizza delivery car. All I can remember is, it did the job.
The Cortina’s pretty low inside too.
I learned to drive stick in my sister-in-law’s Pinto of approximately this vintage. By the time I drove it, it was at least a dozen years old. The interior was cramped, and with the seat springs stretched out from years of wear, one was swallowed up by the car when sitting in it. So the driver’s seat was far from comfortable, and climbing back out was a chore.
But that little car was indestructible. Parts were cheap. And while the 2.3L I-4 may not have had a lot of top end power, when equipped with a standard transmission, it had plenty of torque for around-town traffic. It could even be a little bit fun to flog in a slow-card-driven-fast sort of way.
The Omnirizons had better packaging and more contemporary styling, but when shopping for a durable, cheap second-hand car in the late ’70s and early ’80s, it was easy to do worse than a Pinto.
If you thought it was bad back then
Just look at the way we’re in now!
One or two or three reports
And thousands of cars are recowed.
I mean recalled.
(Do poems really have to rhyme?)
-The Poest
I almost pulled the trigger on a 77 grey wagon with massive, multi-coloured stripes and smoked glass portholes. Not a bad looking car for the time! Just a shame that it had an auto tranny.
Hyster lift-trucks used the pinto engine for several years back then. Go figure!?
So the portholes were real on these? I always wondered if they were just a fake stuck on the rear quarter to simulate a porthole.
Yep. The Cruising Wagon is still the one to have if you have to have one, a true ’70s touchstone.
I have to admit, I like these. Something about stoner vans, panel trucks, sedan deliveries…any of those really does it for me.
“For 1978, Pintos like this one were $4000, which was a bit more than Nova V8 money, and it was also Fairmont wagon money.”
With an MSRP for a 1978 Pinto wagon being only $155 less than a Fairmont wagon of the same year, who in their right mind would buy the Pinto? Was the gas mileage really that much better?
Maybe it was all about staying in front of CAFE quotas.
And if the MSRP difference is roughly the cost difference, that might prove how little incentive Ford had to invest in small-car engineering, for the Pinto was not revised much, & the Escort was half-baked when launched.
Pinto or Fairmont? Firetrap vs. 200 c.i.d. straight six reliability. Hmmm. $155 back then is like $1550 now so I might have gone for the Pinto and regretted it later, as is my wont when it comes to buying cars on price instead of what I really want to buy. They did get 30 mpg on the highway vs. the 23 mpg of the six so…the verdict (then and now) would have been Pinto. And then a trade for an Subaru DL wagon in 1983 after being raped and ripped by the illustrious Ford ‘service’ department.
This vintage Pinto wasn’t a “firetrap” (most Pintos weren’t….but that’s another story) and Fairmonts didn’t come with the 200cid 6 standard, lots of Fairmonts were 2.3 4 bangers.
If I recall correctly, 1978 was the first year that the corporate-wide CAFE standards took effect. Ford had not downsized its big cars, while GM had already downsized its full-size and intermediate cars by that point. At Chrysler, the only full-size cars that sold in any number were the Chrysler Newport/New Yorker, and the fuel-efficient Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon debuted in early 1978.
Ford’s full-size cars were actually good sellers in 1978, but they were hardly economy kings, even for their class. The Lincolns, in particular, were hot sellers – especially the gargantuan Continental Mark V.
The Pinto and Bobcat were the only small cars Ford offered that year. From what I’ve read, Ford really pushed the Pinto and Bobcat in 1978 and 1979 to boost its CAFE averages, offering both dealers and customers incentives for Pintos. So while the sticker price may be close to that of the Fairmont, I’m guessing you could negotiate a very sweet deal on a Pinto during this era.
Popular Mechanics conducted a survey of Pinto owners in 1979, and many respondents commented on what a good deal they received on the final purchase price. Which suggests that Ford was pouring on heavy incentives to move the metal.
Ford sold the smaller front wheel drive Fiesta in the US from 78-80. The Escort came out in 81 and the Pinto was dropped and the Fiesta no longer imported.
You’re correct about the Fiesta. But I believe that Ford wasn’t allowed to include the Fiesta in its CAFE averages, because it was imported to the U.S.
Was the base Fairmont wagon with a 4 cyl motor and manual trans? Common Fairmonts would be ordered with automatic, raising the price about $800.
Plus, rebates were offered on Pintos/MII’s this year.
BTW: The 1977-78 Pintos had this slope nose grille. ’76 was a rare one year look, with egg-crate grille.
Yes. I owned an ’81 Fairmont 2.3/stick many years ago. Not a bad car.
Well, I’ll tell you why. The difference was actually more than that of you equipped the Fairmont like the Pinto. First of all, the Fairmont cost $30 more in Shipping cost because of it being bigger than a Pinto. Also halfway thru the 78 model run the Pinto picked up a lot of standard equipment that cost extra on Fairmont. Like AM radio, tinted glass, deluxe bumper group, full wheel covers, rear defrost, and bodyside protection moldings. Also if you wanted a automatic with the 2.3 in the Pinto wagon, you could order factory AC. In the Fairmont, AC was not available with the 2.3/auto combo forcing you to spend $241 more for the 200 ci six. By the later years Pintos had enough sound insulation they they were only about 2db louder than the Fairmont. And if you read the old test reports, you’ll see everyone mentioned how choppy the Fairmont ride was, so I’m sure the Pinto didn’t ride much harder. Plus on average the Pinto got approx. 3 to 4 more mpg’s. At least according to the road tests of that time. And so the price difference was greater than “only $155” dollars.
Perry, you’re just happy it is a color other than white! Can’t say I ever had much enthusiasm for these, but I did greatly prefer the looks of the later models with the updated grille etc, brings it into the smoother 80’s style. Hey, that makes this one of the very few cars of which I prefer the “refreshed” version over the launch model. Only ever rode in one once (an early sedan version in white) on my way to my first concert with a slightly older acquaintance although a neighbor had a wagon version very similar to this but light blue.
Regarding the lack of styling changes to identify different years, when the Pinto was first launched, Ford made a big deal about how it was going to stress continuity of design and avoid change for the sake of change. On the other hand, the original fastback-ish car was basically what you get when you ask a Detroit designer (circa 1967–68) to draw you something that looks sort of like a Volkswagen Beetle without, you know, looking like a Beetle.
Two of my high school buddies had Pintos in the late 70s, one an older wagon (brown with dinoc), the other a hatch of roughly this vintage, with the full glass hatch. We road tripped all over the mid Atlantic for our summer backpack trips, with no problems. The back seat was of course a penalty box, and as the smaller of us I spent too much time there. On one of our trips we had to leave a water cache halfway along the trail (North Fork Mountain Trail in WV is beautiful if you’re a hiker). To get to the cache location we drove the Pinto up a dirt “road” to the ridge. Being in the back, I hit my head violently on the ceiling several times, but the car made it up and back without complaint. Tough little car.
I dunno Perry. Political discussions with a friend are depressing. Pinto’s don’t seem to me to be.
If I had a choice though, for the same price I would go with the Fairmont and 200 six. Back then it would have probably been the Nova V8. Even better would be a Nova wagon. Might as well wish for a unicorn.
The pre Nova chevy II had a wagon until they changed the design in 68. I would take a fairmont or a nova wagon with straight six over the pinto in my dotage. Today I’m just happy to see someone else has a two door post wagon.
Good find.
They did have a scumliner PONY version of these Pintos that was extra cheap. Ford reused that curious PONY name for other cheapo specials, it even survived into the Mazda Escort era, I remember a strippo Pony version of those.
It always struck me as an odd name choice, trying to sound so cheerful about buying the stripper, I guess they test marketed “Lowered Aspirations” (LA Edition?) and “Sorry” but that didn’t fly.
“How about the 1978 Ford Pinto Guess You Didn’t Really Apply Yourself Edition?…..nah, that doesn’t work either, Tell Lido were going with PONY……that’s lunch ladies”
Well, the Pinto ‘Pony’ is about on par with the Chevette ‘Scooter’ series, which, like the lightweight Plymouth Feather Duster, acquired quite a following in drag-racing circles because of its unabashed cheapness and dearth of just about everything (including having, literally, fiberboard interior door panels).
Yes, I remember the Scooter, I’ve only seen one before in person from what I can recall, and yes, I remember the fiberboard door panels with just a pull strap on them, and the optional rear seat, and no glove box lid.
Ah the Chevette Scooter. Now there is a name that was misapplied to that car. Chevettes did not scoot they accelerated with a snails pace.
I had a 1983 Chevette Scooter coupe ( I think 1983 was the last year of that model?) It had the already mentioned cardboard door panels, no radio(had a radio delete plate and antenna delete plate(there was a plastic cap on the fender where an antenna would have been located). It also had A/C, auto trans, back seat, black bumpers and moldings, drivers side mirror. Plus it had no rear defroster or glove box door OR power brakes.
The first things I did with it was to buy a glove door and the hardware from the junk yard(oddly enough the car had the striker that the glove box door latch latches on to to hold it shut) for $5. It was brown and my interior was black but I did not give a shit as all I wanted was to be able to go around corners without crap falling out of the glove box.
I then busted out the Dremel and cut a rectangular hole in the dash where the radio delete plate was(after removing the plate I found the dash was set up for a radio but of the knob and shaft kind so I dremeled it out to install a CD Player and then installed a fixed mast antenna (I had played with the idea of a power antenna for it but decided not to) and ran wiring to rear speaker boxes and that was that.
It was mighty slow and with the A/C on full could not go past 35 without feeling like it was going to shake apart.
Oddly enough the divers seat was way more comfy then my 1999 Firebird(talk about rubbish seating with no padding)
Well, at least Ford’s Ponys had back seats!!
Mine was a white 1980 2.3L 4-speed manual version–square headlights, poverty hubcaps, and that same blue interior and black rubber mat in the cargo area.
I purchased it used in 1985 with about 55K miles on the clock. It was to be my college car—plenty of room to pack up all my stuff for the schlep to my dorm. Later, I even bolted on a trailer hitch so I could drag my motorcycle around with a borrowed utility trailer. I also “upgraded” it with some factory slotted “mags” off a Mustang II. Those 13 inchers were BEAUTIFUL!
The car was fairly reliable, but I was annoyed by the driveline howling and vibration upon deceleration. I could never get rid of it—driveline balanced, pinion bearing replaced, u-joints, slip yoke…no luck. I even replaced the catalytic converter…thinking the howling might be the pellets shaking around–no luck there either.
After one particularly sweaty day in Bakersfield, CA, I purchased an old unopened aftermarket underdash A/C kit from a neighbor. The kit was for a classic Mustang, but was easily adaptable. While the system blew really cold, the power drain on the little 2.3 Lima (88hp) was rather noticeable. When I towed the motorcycle trailer with the A/C on, travel became quite leisurely. Fuel consumption dropped to about 13 mph.
I took my now wife on our first date in that car. She liked me, but pretty much hated the car. At about 130k miles, the ignition box started failing intermittently…and I had pretty much gotten tired of the car after 6 years. The valve guide seals were leaky too…and I didn’t feel like disassembling the spaghetti bowl of emissions hoses/tubes on the head and intake to replace those seals–emission tests in CA are tough, and I was concerned I would never get it back together properly. I think I sold it for $600.00.
I wish I still had it. I would love to swing a new Eco-boost 2.0 into it!
No photo of the rear of the car showing the license plate?
Growing up I watched out of staters going to Cornell trash their cars due to the climate and it was sad. A 1986-1989 Accord with California Sunrise plates getting rustier every semester, denting aluminum rims and destroying low profile tires due to pot holes, and I saw a mid 90s BMW from Georgia slide into a tree during a snow storm. due to
I’ve seen too, too much of the same. I fear for this Pinto’s future.
That woodie Pinto wagon looks quite nice, a mini Gran Torino Squire.
I always thought these Pinto wagons had a “cuteness” quotient that was undeniable, much more so than the run of the mill Pinto runabout. There was something adorable, if you will, about the little kicking pony logo with the tail flowing off the “O.” Maybe it was just that it looked like the little kid brother of the Country Squire. You’d see a lot of them around southern California, for years, it seemed, capable transportation, as Jim Grey notes above.
LOVE all your stories! A 1971 Pinto was my first new car, 2000cc, dark metallic green over saddle vinyl interior, 4-speed, AM radio, RWL A70-13 Goodyear Polyglas tires and racing mirrors. $2,071 out the door and my payments were $61 -thanks to Dad’s Credit Union. I added foglights behind the grille, an aftermarket armrest console, gauges below the dash and Cragar 4-spoke chrome rims. MAN was I stylin’! Drove it for 3 years until a 1974 Mercury Capri stole my heart. Anyway the Pinto gave me NO problems and took me on a lot of great trips in my early 20’s. On one jaunt to Georgia at 4am with two buddies aboard I got it up to 105 mph. They were asleep so I rattled them awake and their sleepy eyes looked first at me, then the speedometer then out the windshield…all in silent awe!
A ’61 Corvair Monza was my first car that Dad bought me in 1968 for high school graduation and it was fun -but the Pinto was my first new car and boy did I cherish it. 43 years later I can still feel the steering wheel in my hands and the snick-snick of that great floorshift. Pinto’s have taken -and perhaps deserved a lot of denigration over the years but I was in love with mine…and always will be.
I remember reviews at that time suggested the 2000 with the 4 speed was a fun car. You got the right one. I bet your Monza and Capri were fun as well.
0-60 in the Corvair was about 21 seconds. 0-60 in the Pinto was about 10 seconds so I thought I had a hot rod! The Capri was fun but I had the factory-authorized AC installed later and that was a mistake!
My ’74 was a 2.0L/stick, and she was a blast to putt around in.
One of my friends in high school had a Pinto wagon that he and his brother had transplanted a 302 into. The Mustang donor (’73 Mach 1) got a 428 CJ from a ’68 ‘stang that had hit a tree. The Pinto could scoot!
I could never figure out why the V8 Pinto never was as widespread as the V8 Vega, which was seemingly everywhere back in the day.
You’d think that the Pinto would be even easier to convert to a V8 since it likely had the exact same engine bay as the Mustang II, which regularly got a V8 from the factory. All you’d have to do was find a totaled Mustang II V8 in a boneyard and you’d have everything right there.
You can use the MII mounts and pan to put a 302 in a Pinto but the engine compartment is significantly smaller. That means you need to take a sledge hammer to the firewall to make room for the bellhousing. You also need to do some surgery to get a radiator in it. Usually that means cutting out the core support where the hood latch would reside. Exhaust is also a problem you can’t use the MII V8 exhaust manifolds in a traditional manner. You really need a driver’s side manifold installed on the passenger side and route the pipe forward, down and around.
I bought a ’73 red sun-faded to orange Pinto with no frills for $150.00 in 1988. The manual transmission went out on it a few months later. A trip to the salvage yard got me another one for $25! So easy to swap them out, too!
My dad welded a trailer hitch on the back so I could pull my little flat-bottom fishing boat to the lake. One day when putting the boat in I backed into a pot-hole on the ramp and bottomed out the Pinto. No biggie, kept on going. After fishing for a few hours I backed the trailer into the water, pulled the boat up and started to pull back up the ramp. The engine died. I couldn’t get it to start, it was like it was out of gas even though I had just filled up. My dad came to the rescue and pulled me off of the ramp – boat and all with his IH pickup. After getting it on flat ground I crawled around under it and saw that when I had bottomed out it had crimped the metal fuel line completely closed! I used some wire cutters to cut that section out, slid a rubber fuel line over it, used hose clamps to secure it, and off I went! Drove it like that for another couple of years until I sold it…..for $150.00…..
Styling changes:
in ’75 they dropped the red-white-blue stripes from within the ‘P’ of Pinto.
Also they added ‘MPG’ after the name.
In ’76, the headlight surrounds changed slighty to a more hexagonal theme.
in ’77 or ’78, the parking/turn signals changed to this slanted version,
from the original vertical ones with an oblong shape.
I used to know more, my parents having bought one new in ’75, just as I learned
to drive it — a copper-colored, stick, 2.3l sedan with FM radio as the only option at $3,000. But after so many years and so little thought, I’ve forgotten the others.
The mustang ii was heavier and slower. I’ve always wondered what they were like when they stuffed that v8 under the mustang hood.
Our Pinto in ’75 was the same price as our Peugeot 404 wagon was in 1970. (sob).
By ’76, our Volare wagon with O/D stick, A/C & FM was about $7000.
I don’t think you could really get a Fairmont for $4k. That Fairmont was pretty much junk
in 1978. A light car that felt and drove terribly. I don’t think many were optioned
at the base price range…
My dad went station wagon shopping in 1978 and I remember he was being quoted $6,300 for an Aspen wagon with Super Six and automatic. The Fairmont wagon with the 200 six and automatic was $7,300. And the Chev Malibu wagon with the 229 six (I believe) and automatic was $8,300. These were Canadian prices. He chose the Aspen, and was happy with his purchase. It gave him relatively troublefree service until 1991.
Ed, a relative did own a Mustang II with the 302–and it could really scoot (though cornering entertaining with the weight in front)! IIRC, lots of Pinto owners used those M-II engine mounts and such to put the 302 in their cars..
I just went looking for a 1978 Fairmont/Zephyr ad–here’s one at just under $4500–this Zephyr only has the 2.3, but it does have auto, power steering, and a few nice touches. A friend who owned one like this said that on-ramp acceleration was only so-so, but that it cruised just fine and got surprisingly good mileage for a car that roomy.
71-72 look the same except for the Runabout which had a short window and metal on the bottom in 71 and was all window for 72.
73 was unique with it’s version of the front 5mph bumper. The same bumper was used except it was wrapped around an aluminum extrusion which used absorbing mounts. It stuck out a little more and used a polyurethane filler between the bumper and grille instead of steel like the 71-2
74-5 had the big 5mph bumpers front and rear.
76 had the egg crate grille with rectangular parking/TS lights
77-78 got the polyurethane head light surrounds and this grille, parking/TS combo.
79-80 got the rectangular headlights along with the new front fenders and hoods.
My mom had a ’75 Squire Wagon, that’s the car my older brother and I were carted around town in when we were growing up (late 70’s-early 80’s). I vaguely remember taking a long road trip in that car, Minnesota to South Carolina and back, and that it made the trip without any indicent. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a Pinto (Squire or otherwise) in the wild, wouldn’t be a bad bit of 70’s kitsch to own.
I hated these when new , time has shown I was wrong .
The were Fleet Sales darlings too .
-Nate
It was around 1977-1978 that Ford of Canada really started to get serious about marketing their cars as having improved rust protection. Given the lawsuits over premature rust they faced in Canada at the time. I recall TV commercials with Dave Devall for Ford Extended Protection. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if this Pinto has some extra galvanized steel, and zinc coatings, that earlier models didn’t have.
The addition of the F-O-R-D letters on the hood in ’76 struck me as too formal of a gesture on such a carefree, casual car.
Love what looks like the original paint on the feature car. Great find!
I really hate that antiquated blue oval with the turn of the century script. Something about it just really clashes with a modern vehicle. Im ok with the logos on these though.
Pintos seemed to come in two groups, at least in my life. In 1971-73, they were seen as fun, inexpensive cars that were popular with younger buyers or as second cars. Once the fat bumpers hit, the rest of the time they were seen as cheap appliances that people settled for but didn’t really desire. I knew lots of people who bought the early ones, almost nobody who bought later ones.
Is it me, or was this the default color for Pintos? It would not surprise me to learn that 60% of Pintos ever made were painted this color. I have always liked blue cars, but this shade has to be the dullest, most lackluster metallic blue ever conceived.
Yeah, it seems like the fat, 5mph bumpers define when the Pinto ‘jumped the shark’. While it’s undoubtedly true that they saved some owners from minor collision repairs, the earlier cars look so much better with the more fragile 2.5mph bumpers (like just about everything else). I can’t think of any other government mandate that did more to ruin domestic auto styling than those damn bumpers.
In fact, it seems relatively obvious that the headlight nacelles were extended at the bottom simply to help hide that huge bumper shelf that appeared between the headlights and the fat bumper.
The Pinto, like the Maverick is becoming more and more popular with both the hot-rodding set and the purist, factory-perfect auto restorers. The Pinto shares some trim with the Maverick, the tail lights being the most noticeable.
I turned the taillights upside down on my Pinto, so they looked like Toyota Celica taillights. The trick was installing left to right , right to left , upside down. I wonder If Mercury Comet taillights would fit a Pinto ? Would have been fun to try.
Stay tuned for DISCO78’s side of the story…
I’m thinking ‘Disco78’ might be just right…
‘It took all the strength I had not to fall apart
Kept trying hard to mend the pieces of my broken heart
And I spent oh-so many nights just feeling sorry for myself
I used to cry, but now I hold my head up high
And you see me, somebody new
I’m not that chained-up little person and still in love with you
And so you felt like dropping in and just expect me to be free
Well, now I’m saving all my lovin’ for someone who’s loving me
Go on now, go, walk out the door
Just turn around now
‘Cause you’re not welcome anymore
Weren’t you the one who tried to break me with goodbye
Do you think I’d crumble
Did you think I’d lay down and die?
Oh no, not I, I will survive
Oh, as long as I know how to love, I know I’ll stay alive
I’ve got all my life to live
And I’ve got all my love to give and I’ll survive
I will survive’
(I Will Survive / Gloria Gaynor)
Of course there’s also The Cars ‘Just What I Needed’
‘It’s not the perfume that you wear
It’s not the ribbons in your hair
I don’t mind you comin’ here
And wastin’ all my time
I guess you’re just what I needed
I needed someone to feed’
I’m just glad our writer is enough of a real disco fan to name-check Giorgio Moroder and Sylvester rather than the Bee Gees…
As for the Pinto, I don’t feel love. This was just about the most embarrassing car to drive in the ’80s as one of my high school friends (who had a ’75-ish wagon) could attest. Embarrassing, but not unreliable.
As almost-perfectly cast as Winona Ryder’s ’76 Pinto coupe is in Stranger Things, this blue wagon would be even more so.
My first tooling around a parking lot in a stick-shift car (as opposed to tooling around offroad on motorcycles) came in a Pinto wagon a bit older than this. After that, a Ford Econoline van with a three on the tree.
The broadcast radio geek in me glazed right past the original post date but caught on when it mentioned Clear Channel as the monolith of broadcasting. They’ve been renamed iHeartmedia but their music selection is no better.
In the early ’80s, A friend traded his ’77 Pinto Pony MPG hatchback for my $600 motorcycle.The motocycle was kind of rough, and my apartment block had no safe place to store itI
The Pinto was a 2.3, 4-speed with economy rear, so it was like driving a 5-speed without first-gear – very annoying, especially on hills. But mine had the factory gas-tank protection-package, plus one very attractive option – factory AC! At the time I was driving a troublesome early ’70s, no-AC Audi wagon, so the Pinto was very tempting. But I really needed a wagon. So after some minor repairs I got about $1000 for the Pinto from an elderly woman, who lived in an area with no hills. I heard she was very happy with it, being her first car with a working AC, and she drove it until she passed away several years later.
In hindsight, If I’d had the storage, I probably should’ve kept the motorcycle – a 1966 BMW R26!
Happy Motoring, Mark
Let’s see my brother had a 71 hatchback with a modified 11.0:1 4 banger and stick. Extremely fast. My mother had a 74 wagon in which I had a crash on a road I had never been on which had a hairpin turn to the left and gravel road straight. By the time I realized it I was too committed and ended up hitting a berm in the middle of the two. The car ended up standing upright on the other side on top of a metal culvert which ran under the road. Oh, and while I sat there pondering my fate the car caught fire. While in grad school 78-81 a classmate drove a 73 Pinto in mustard whatever.
Despite working for Hertz at this time, never did drive one while working there (I was a transporter for cars rented one-way and needing to be returned to originating location for 2 summers 1977-1978). Not sure why not, especially in 1977, guess they weren’t popular at my location.
I did drive one (once) in June or July of 1975…I was staying with my Grandparents after going to Lafayette College for a couple of weeks…my Grandmother’s brother had a cottage on the Susquahana, and we went out to visit them for the day. My Grandmother who never drove a car (no license) drove a mini-bike (they were popular in the 70’s and I think her nephew had one). Her Nephew was actually younger than I by about 2 years (she was next to oldest in a large family, and that brother was next to youngest) and I for some reason were picked to drive to a nearby dairy to buy unpasturized milk, I had my license for less than a year, and drove one of their cars (a Pinto sedan) to the dairy. It was an automatic (I hadn’t yet learned to drive standard, though 6 years later and to this day have owned only standard transmission cars).
I didn’t drive far, but it must have impressed me, though I was used to driving standard sized Fords like the Ranch Wagon my parents owned.
It was a nice day…before my Grandfather was diagnosed with throat cancer, and a few years before my Grandmother eventually lost her legs to diabetes…Oh, and my Grandfather had crashed his car into another car going up “Slabas Hill” when coming back from a party….and it was the summer we moved back up to Vermont from Virginia. Lots of stuff seems to happen in a short time when you’re still pretty young.