The Pinto Story - by The History Guy

A good summary of the story of the Pinto by the rather well know YouTube fellow, The History Guy.  A bit short on relevant visuals (mostly just pictures of Pintos) and technical aspects, but a well done summary, especially the after the fact analysis.

If you know the general story and want the hear about the analysis of the generally assumed facts of the story, skip to 13 min in..... spoiler, it may not be what you think....

I'm in.  I love The History Guy's channel.

Meh.  A review of the Pinto and it's perceived dangers as a rolling Molotov Cocktail.  We should be grateful that the courts distorted the truth and hastened the Pinto's demise.  What the video ignores is what a lousy car the Pinto was, and its role in forcing faithful buyers of domestic automobiles into the arms of import automakers.  The Pinto drove like a bad copy of a full-size American car--slow and sloppy-handling in comparison to Japanese and German competitors of the day.

As someone who spent some time behind the wheel of a 1976 Pinto wagon with the 2.3 and a 4-speed manual, I can only shake my head and wonder what those who today speak in kindly terms of the car are thinking.  The fuzzy lens of nostalgia I suppose, can soften the glaring deficiencies of any car with the passage of time.

I haven't watched the video, but...

When the Pinto debuted in 1970, its principal American competition was the Vega, compared to which I always thought it was significantly better. (I still remember the gargling-spoons noise of that Vega motor.) I can't speak to the then-current Japanese competition, but what German cars would a 1970 Pinto have gone head to head with? The Beetle? (The first Golf was 1974.) I doubt anybody cross-shopped a Pinto and a BMW, let alone a Benz. Did the Pinto linger around too long? Sure. Would anybody at Ford have found support for the idea that a whole new tiny car should be funded in 1973 or 1974, when the industry was coping with crisis after crisis? Probably not.

In reply to Stealthtercel :

I was referring more to the 1974-1976 time frame, by which time both Toyota and Datsun were selling several very competent models in the U.S. , and the VW Rabbit/Mk. 1 Golf was on its way to selling what would ultimately be over 6 million units.

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

We had a 78 Pinto.......I learned to fly down gravel roads in one. The Japanese cars were better in every way BUT the steering rack was decent and they were pretty damn sturdy.

Note I have no desire to own one.

I do find it ironic that many hot rod guys make derogatory remarks about Pintos but then talk about the so called Mustang II front ends on their car....mmm pretty sure that's a Pinto front end on your car.....just saying.

I'm a recovering Pintoholic.

I hate them. I love them.

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

If it was about the Pinto and how it fit into the actual car market among the rising imports- sure.  But he was just covering the controversy that was the Pinto Death Trap myth.  Which I though was quite good- as he reminded the world that the reality was not the myth what so ever.

He's not a car guy, he's a historian- who looks for history that people don't know about or get wrong.

edit- we had a '74 Vega.  Which was the direct competitor- not much of a car their either.  And when the Pinto came out, the Rabbit didn't exist, yet- and both cars were considerably better than the Bug.  We later had a '77 Celica- I don't remember it handling all that good, either- rather soft and wallowy.  

I like my Pinto.

My parents had a '72 Pinto hatchback with the 2.0l OHC engine.  It was a nice car for what it was.

Later, they ended up with a '74? '75? Vega, which was a total, complete POS.

I had a 2.0 4 speed wagon as a commuter. My brother had an ssc pinto. Pintos made pretty good race cars. Car and Driver had one for imsa I believe and the DC Region SCCA had a class called GT Pinto that had a lot of cars partcipate with some good racing. 

Yes, I know the Pinto explosion thing wasn't exactly as folklore says, but growing up my parents both had Pintos.  One hatch, one wagon.  I always wonder what would have happened if they backed into each other at high speed!!!!

The REAL truth about the Pinto

The Pinto was a success for Ford; over 350,000 the first year. Though not as attractive as the Vega, it was certainly a better car in just about every way. Pintos were the default $300 car when I was in high school, and lots of kids had them at their decade mark. Vegas did not survive, and had already succumbed to rust and blown engines by that time. The Pinto was a good appliance, and a reliable car if maintained. The 2.0 engine did not tolerate forgotten oil changes or overheating, though.

My own $300 Pinto was a 1974 model. It was no sports car, but with the 4 speed manual it wasn't hateful. The automatics were a bit soul-crushing in comparison.

Until the FWD revolution they were a worthy economy car contender. Datsuns were flimsy. Toyotas were about the same in performance. Chrysler had nothing. The Gremlin was a 1960s Rambler. VW only had the Beetle and mediocre Type 3. The rest were just also-rans.  Ford still sold 185,000 Pintos in 1980, by which time it was competing against Ford's own Mk1 Fiesta (78-80) as well as the Rabbit, Omni/Horizon and Chevette. So, I'd call that a success. The Americanized Escort we got in 1981 was a wallowing, miserable, cylinder-head-cracking turd of a car. 

Pintos deserve a little more respect in automotive history along with the Mustang II. They weren't great cars, but they were very successful cars.

No Pinto experience here, but I was around when my parents bought a brand spanking new, dark green and beautiful '74 Vega with custom interior, and the optional AM/FM radio.  Gorgeous car, but a total pile. 

GM ended up buying it back from then when the tops of the front fenders rusted out (from the bottom side, up) after one Wisconsin winter, and the engine blew up shortly after that. 

Not learning their lesson, they turned around and bought a really base model (one up from the "Scooter" version) '76 Chevette in pumpkin orange, which lasted a zillion miles, for some unknown reason.

Good times ...

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

I had a 72. Man, I loved that little car. Just stupid fun to drive. 2.3 and a 4 speed. A decent set of tires and wider wheels did wonders for the handling and it was as reliable as an anvil. It was the epitome of slow car fast. They dominated the 4 cyl class at the local circle track in the 80s. It is one of the cars I regret selling. 

ddavidv said:

The Americanized Escort we got in 1981 was a wallowing, miserable, cylinder-head-cracking turd of a car. 

 

I learned to drive stick shift on a 1986 Ford Escort Pony...the ultimate low budget model.  4spd, no a/c, crank windows...not even a passenger side view mirror.

Mine was a '74 with a 4 speed in bright blue. I autocrossed the crap out of it. You could order go fast stuff from your IECO or Racer Walsh catalog. They also had a Pangra kit which was kind of a Pantera front end with concealed headlights.

Good times. 

There are LeMons World videos on both the Pinto and the Vega.  Disclaimer, I've never owned any of either, so all my knowledge is gleaned from 3rd hand experience.  The Pinto was homely looking compared to the Vega, but the Vega (sort of like the Corvair, which I _do_ own) was an engineering disaster.  The difference being, GM finally figured out how to build a decent Corvair, whereas they pulled the plug on the Vega and doubled down with the more-reliable-but-otherwise-thoroughly-mediocre Chevette.  And then hedged their bets with....the Citation.  *shudder*

Pintos, at least, seemed to run forever.  Even in the 90's, in Upstate NY, I recall seeing Pintos being used as daily transportation.  I have never seen a Vega in the flesh.  And I was born when GM was still making them.  

To be honest, American cars really started falling behind in the 60's.  I've owned lots of Volvos from that time period, and compared with Darts, Falcons, and Novas, they were far superior cars.  BIG American cars were pretty terrible (with some few luxury exceptions, such as the 60's Lincolns and Imperials), but at least they had no real competition internationally.  Basically the only thing that's saved the domestics has been the shift of pickup trucks from tools to family/ luxury vehicles, and the big engineering improvements that those saw, especially starting around the late 80's or so.  

There's a neighbor of a buddy who has a Bobcat hatch and a Vega.............both are running and really clean.

I've had 3 Pintos. 1st and 2nd were ITB race cars 2.0. The 2.0 was the same motor used in Sports 2000 back them. Strong motors that can be made very fast. The street versions were slow because they were designed to get low MPG not horsepower on the street. The 3rd was a street semi-daily and back up for the 2nd ITB in case it got wrecked.

The 2.3 has been successfully used in racing, amateur and pro. 

The "explosion" issue was only on the non-wagon versions. It was not the "design" of the car it was more that there was no other place to put the tank. They could have, should have, and eventually did protect it a bit more. On the IT cars were went to an 8" rear diff which eliminated part of the problem.

L5wolvesf said:

The 2.0 was the same motor used in Sports 2000 back them. Strong motors that can be made very fast. 

It amuses me that the engine known as the "Pinto" engine was only used in Pintos for three years, but it also amuses me that one of the few cars to challenge "Godzilla" in touring car racing, the Ford RS500, had a Pinto based engine.  Twice as many valves and a lot of turbo.

Toyman! said:

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

I had a 72. Man, I loved that little car. Just stupid fun to drive. 2.3 and a 4 speed. A decent set of tires and wider wheels did wonders for the handling and it was as reliable as an anvil. It was the epitome of slow car fast. They dominated the 4 cyl class at the local circle track in the 80s. It is one of the cars I regret selling. 

 

 

Yours was a 2.0, or not a '72. The 2.3 engine wasn't available in the Pinto until 1974.

In reply to ddavidv :

That was 35 years ago. I'm pretty sure it was a 2.3 so it may have been a later car. I know it was the old body style before the ugly update. It was also one of the few coupes I've seen. Everything around here is a hatchback. I bought it for $400, drove it for 3 years, and sold it for $450 to buy an 81 Corolla wagon for $350.

If it was a skinny bumper, it was likely a 2.0L.  Then again, someone could have swapped in a 2.3L.  Two of my Pintos had V8s.

The 2.3L does not share the same bellhousing pattern as the 2.0L, but the Zetec does.

In reply to SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) :

I wish I had pictures of it, but back then I was too poor to have a camera or get the film developed.