A 70s econobox with a reputation for explosive gas tanks. The Pinto has a poor reputation for safety and build quality but could be a future collectible. Or maybe collected for ironic purposes like a Pacer.
So dear readers, Would you buy a Ford Pinto?
Vote and give us your take in the comments section. Like my high school history teacher always told me, “There are no wrong answers.”
My Take? Nah, I’m good.
[yop_poll id=”68″]
HAD A PINTO WAGON loved it. great gas mileage comfortable, tons of room.
I had a 1975 Pinto wagon. It had a v6 and was very quick. Surprised quite a few unsuspecting souls…lol Loved it, handled well and rode good.
Have a ‘78 Pinto Squire Station Wagon now that I purchased from the original owner with just 37,000 actual miles and love it.
https://youtu.be/wivjeW3P_do
I had a ‘71. It was indestructible. Got hit at an intersection and the body was bent ( unit construction) couldn’t get it straightened out right. Finally had to let it go.
had a 1975 mercury bobcat, loved that car, put 8 bucks in gas drive it all week long,
I had a ‘72 wagon. Loved it. Wish I still had it.
Yes. Wife had a ‘76 notchback before me. Was a reliable car for her. I worked on it some; no problems. Had an unfair reputation.
I’d like the wagon.
One 1977 yellow 2-door with the half black vinyl top was enough for me.
Had a ’73 in college with manual transmission and drove it hard. I loved it. Served me well, never any issues that I recall.
Pinto with cosworth engine YES!
Never at any price. POS should be left to rot in Ford hell 😉
POS, true. But not nearly as bad as the shake-n-bake rust bucket Vega!
Very true, some cars are just made to rot…Hyundai and Kia for modern day examples 😝
Touché 😀
I bought a new 1974 yellow Squire wagon and drove it for 3 years and put 98k miles on it. Loved the Pinto and would buy a nice manual transmission wagon now! Sold it to buy my ‘78 base model Thunderbird on 9/21/77 and still have that beautiful car with 260,611 miles. 🙂
I had a pinto when I E.T.S out of the Army.It was a good little car got me back and forth from college to use my GI bill. And I was able to pay cash for it.
I remember a friend putting a V8 in a Pinto but it was uncontrollable.
I would buy a Ford Pinto, pull out the weak drivetrain, install a V8 powered drivetrain, and then smoke the tires all throughout town!
Had a 74 fastback with a vinyl top, sunroof and really thick plush carpet.
Happy little car. Gotta lot of use out of that one.
I bought a used 1972 Pinto in 1974 during the gas crisis. I used it to go to University. 3 months of driving it, and I developed a serious back problem. I could hardly walk. I went to all kinds of docs, but the cause could not be found. I sold the pinto in 1976. My back ache was cured!!
I believe they were a decent car for their time, especially once the recall modification added further protection to the gas tank. I had a 1976 Bobcat in the early 1980s and it served me well. A friend of mineshas owned 45 Pintos over the years and still has 3 including a 1976 that he bought new.
I owned two of them and a Vega. I would own another pinto before I would own another Vega. The 74 pinto was really one of the best driving and roomy small cars for it’s time. We made several trips from Utah to Reno in it. Good on gas, even though it was a rear wheel drive, with snow tire that car would make through the snow when other cars were getting stuck. There are better choices today. But, back in it’s day, before they started blowing up, during the days when gas was climbing. It was a good car.
I had a 1973 Pinto. I Loved it. I would definitely buy another one.
When I first started driving my car was a basic Pinto I was 16 years old I bought it from my cousin he had bought it about a year earlier (1972) for around $1,800.dollars he was making monthly payments on it somewhere around $50+dollars, if I’m remembering correctly.. He decided he needed a bigger car so he let me take over payments.
I drove it like any crazy 16/year old shouldn’t it was peppy surprisingly fast fo a car with about 80 horse
4 cylinder car. I had a very hard time killing that little engine but i finally did. So then a 18 year old I decided what that car needed was for me and my younger brother to put a V8 in her. since I had been in auto mechanics at school I thought I knew all I needed to know, I got it in and got it going, but the day I finished it to the day I sold it I worked on it. Honestly I really loved that car and if I had, had a bigger wallet that could have bought new a engine and not just Junk yard engines I might have kept it till today. But Youth is our time to learn by making our mistakes, hopefully we learn by those mistakes. Another thing I learned that my Dad was right, no matter what stupid thing I did he never said “I told you so”
When I first started driving my car was a basic Pinto I was 16 years old I bought it from my cousin he had bought it about a year earlier (1972) for around $1,800.dollars he was making monthly payments on it somewhere around $50+dollars, if I’m remembering correctly.. He decided he needed a bigger car so he let me take over payments.
I drove it like any crazy 16/year old shouldn’t it was peppy surprisingly fast fo a car with about 80 horse
4 cylinder car. I had a very hard time killing that little engine but i finally did. So then a 18 year old I decided what that car needed was for me and my younger brother to put a V8 in her. since I had been in auto mechanics at school I thought I knew all I needed to know. I worked on that car every weekend and every other weekend to the day I sold. Dad said I should have repaired that little 4 cylinder engine but I knew every thing and kept buying one junk yard motor after another. I guess Dad thought I was learning a lot cause he never said “I told you so”
When I first started driving my car was a basic Pinto I was 16 years old I bought it from my cousin he had bought it about a year earlier (1972) for around $1,800.dollars he was making monthly payments on it somewhere around $50+dollars, if I’m remembering correctly.. He decided he needed a bigger car so he let me take over payments.
I drove it like any crazy 16/year old shouldn’t it was peppy surprisingly fast for a car with about 80 horse
4 cylinder car. I had a very hard time killing it, and I tried hard.
I not only would own a Pinto, I *own* a Pinto. Mine’s got a SBF with a nitrous plate and has wiped the smile from many faces on the street.
I’d definitely buy a pinto if I had the chance, always thought they were much more stylish than the ford capri we got in the UK. I’d love a bright blue manual saloon obviously with the fuel system modification just incase. I know a lot of other cars built by GM (Vauxhall) and Austin (Rover) among others had fuel tanks in a similar position back in the day.