The Ford Pinto has been a punch line for decades, and why shouldn’t it be? Any car that’s as infamous for exploding gas tanks as it is for being photographed wearing airplane wings is bound to incite more than a few snickers.
But like any car, the Pinto has its enthusiasts. For longtime fan Mike Streets, it was a rare …
My mother had a Pinto (79) that featured the the Starky & Hutch Stripe; we flogged that poor car down gravel roads. I drove it like I hated it because I did. Over the years I learned that the cars actually have good bones.
As for the exploding gas tanks; if I remember correctly there is a simple retro fit, and the issue was limited to only certain years. I friend once told me all you have to do is change the upper shock bolt.
In stock trim the cars are very soft (go figure) and under heavy braking have a tendency to lock the rear wheels first. Firming up the suspension cures this.
The wagon with a turbo coupe motor sounds cool.
If one was interested in cars like a Pinto I think the best way to find them is boots on the ground. There is a Canadian TV show that covers the boots on ground approach- Lost Car Rescue if you can find it. They use the boots approach, add some intelligence, and an eye in sky to find their targets. As they fly over northern properties they often see various large collections of older cars.
Ah, Pinto's and Vegas were part of my growing up- I learned to drive a stick mostly on a Vega.
A buddy of mine had a blue Pinto that he loved- it was his first car, and he would haul some of our music equipment in it. Until he got in an accident and totaled it. But here's the twist that people here would like- he spent some effort on the engine to be really good- and it survived. And he somehow found a Pinto wagon (a normal one) in a field with a dead engine. It didn't take long to track down the owner and make it change hands- and he ended up with a pretty cool Pinto Wagon with a reasonably hot motor.
Perfect to carry all of our drumming stuff from school to where ever we were performing.
These days, I would not be shocked to learn there are fewer Pintos (and even fewer Vegas) in the US than Alfa GTVs. They were just disposable cars.
alfadriver said:These days, I would not be shocked to learn there are fewer Pintos (and even fewer Vegas) in the US than Alfa GTVs. They were just disposable cars.
Many Pintos went racing in SCCA as ITB cars and to circle tracks as 'mini stocks'.
The 2.0 motor was used in Sports 2000 cars and was prety well developed.
In reply to alfadriver :
Your post just reminded that a high school friend had a hotted up V6 Pinto. It'd do near 130 before the oil light would start flickering. Apparently the oil wouldn't drain back into the pan fast enough.
My fabricator has a Pinto Wagon with the stylish Country Squire wood side decals
I have a 1973 Pinto I campaign in SCCA SOLO2 DP. I've had it since 2006 or so. It was originally a ICSCC conference racer in the PNW from 1976 until the mid 80's, where it won its class multiple times. I read a GRM article in 2005 or 6 and thought a Pinto would make a cool autocross car. Then a month or 2 later I was talking to someone at a local autocross about it and he just happened to have one.
I've raced it in autocross since 2009. It's been dynoed at 140 wheel HP and TQ. It has a Racer Walsh stage 2 cam, big valve head, 11:1 compression, and the 4 carb Esslinger 38mm Mikuni SD carb setup. Finding performance parts is nearly impossible any more, so I've been piecing it together slowly. Hopefully I'll make it to a West Coast National tour some day and test it out against the top dogs. 
This is mine. My dad's old car I just recently resurrected. This is from Roebling Road a couple weeks ago. Had a blast in it. It drove surprisingly well. But needs more speed!!
The only pinto story I have isn't performance related. My dad's second wife was a woman named Cathy. Cathy was...special. She has a blue pinto. After they broke up my dad got particularly spiteful one night and took whatever gigantic Chrysler cop car he had a the time (grand fury III maybe?) Cop bar and all, and went and knocked the pinto on its side
So, what I got from that story, is dad was an azz hat, with anger management issues, that hid behind his big boat of a car...
You may have meant something different...
Fun! I knew there was performance potential in those. There was a wagon with some modified suspension that was a terror in the hills around here.
And there was an aftermarket kit with turbo and much more radical body called the Pinto Pangra that I liked the looks of, I think it got reviewed in C&D. Author's cars sound like great fun, especially the turbo, as those are pretty light cars. Nice as long as they aren't rusted out.
I've always thought that the Pinto was a great looking little car, butt... My friend had one and after his leg got crampy from flooring it, I would have the reach my left leg over the transmission hump and floor it for him. :)
I had a 72 wagon, 2 liter and 4 speed. Neat little car. My brother had an scca ssc Pinto that he pulled the gear shift lever out going into turn one at Lime Rock. The DC Region of the scca ran a regional class called GT Pinto which had lots of cars and good racing. I believe Car and Driver raced a Pinto in IMSA.
I remember a Car and Driver article on Pinto's from back in the 70's.
They upgraded the front sway bar, better shocks, and added a Z bar to the rear which stiffened the heave motion spring rate, but didn't increase the rear roll stiffness.
I can't remember why they did this other than to show what could be done to a Pinto.
In reply to JimS :
I have pulled the shift lever out of its pocket many times. I have the (old) Hurst shift lever. It has a plastic pocket with a metal retention ring that holds the pivot ball in. I put a couple small set screws in through the plastic to hold the retention ring in. So far so good.
Have had a couple Pinto's. They really do drive and handle pretty well. First one was a 71 w/1600 Kent motor & 4 speed. It was the sedan model, small rear window and a trunk lid. Got it around 1977, ex-wife got it in the divorce in late 78. Ex had a 75 Pinto when we were dating. Couldn't afford it after we married so it was sold a few months before we married. Second one was a 74 hatchback w/2L & 4-speed. Bought it cheap when I married current wife in 1981. Got it for $150 and drove it home. Put tires, timing belt, clutch, starter, fuel filter and some external pieces. PO beat it to crap. Rear quarter window & R/F fender from a junkyard, swap meet radio and Kmart speakers. All in for about $500 and put about 20k miles on it in the year I owned it. Sold it for $800 when I was transferred. Only car I made money from.
Not to be morbid but to the best of my knowledge all the injuries from rear ended fires were back seat passengers that couldn't get out. Mustang II's were built on the same platform and had the same issue of fires from rear ended but significantly less injuries as the doors were longer with more back seat room, easier to get out of the back seat. If I remember right the cause was fuel tank getting pushed into the rear diff spilling gas on the muffler with fire as a result. Fix was a deflector shield that deflected the fuel tank over the rear diff to prevent puncture.
A wisecrack of the era:
"You know your having a bad day when you are sandwiched between a Pinto in front and an Audi 5000 behind you. "
(referring to the Audis' unintentional acceleration issues)
I just watched the latest "Faster With Finnegan". They turned a 1980 Pinto wagon into a "drift missile". Not going to lie, I want it. Bad.
I have been enjoying the Fuzzy Dice guys resurrecting a V8 Pinto and driving it a very long way.
They have overheating issues the whole way, as does every V8 Pinto ever, but it is a fun journey. I do not understand why they did not just strap a great big truck radiator to the front and go but unless it happens in episode 4 it will not I guess. I am pretty sure the problem is a simple case of inadequate heat removal. They have a transmission cooler as well and I am not sure that is helping a small lightweight car that is not pulling anything. Seems like it is just adding to the work the radiator has to do.
A far better car (and better looking) was the Mk 3 Cortina. Same driveline but better looks and handling. We got them for a couple of years in Canada, but sadly they never sent them to the US. I owned two of them, one of which I modded the engine on - it was great fun.
An unexpected (but welcomed) consequence of putting stories like this on the website is that I'm intrigued by how many personal stories people have.
History has kind of made the Pinto out to be less than desirable, but it's clear a lot of people have very fond memories of a Pinto from their past.
L5wolvesf said:alfadriver said:These days, I would not be shocked to learn there are fewer Pintos (and even fewer Vegas) in the US than Alfa GTVs. They were just disposable cars.
Many Pintos went racing in SCCA as ITB cars and to circle tracks as 'mini stocks'.
The 2.0 motor was used in Sports 2000 cars and was prety well developed.
It was also the basis for the Cosworth Sierra/Escort Cosworth engine.
They still call it the "Pinto" engine even though it was only used in actual Pintos for like three years.
I can remember buying a new one for the price advertised in the paper of $2,388. They were under the Chevy dealers stripper Vega by about $100. A couple of years later I bought a '69 Mustang with a 351 for $900. The Pinto was the better autocrosser. Damn that was a long time ago.
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