The Ford Pinto was NOT a Bomb on Wheels!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ต.ค. 2024
- The Ford Pinto had an infamous reputation of exploding upon impact from the rear. But was it really as bad as the public made it out to be? Hear Donald's thoughts on why the Pinto's unfavorable image was undeserved.
ABOUT THE CHANNEL:
Founded in 2014 in Newport, Rhode Island with a mission of "Preserving, Celebrating & Sharing Automotive History," the Audrain Automobile Museum connects and engages our local and international communities to educate, enlighten and entertain with a calendar of exhibitions, programs, and car events, including the Audrain Newport Concours & Motor Week.
The Audrain Museum Network continues this mission by producing quality digital programs to share unique conversations, information, history from all corners of the automotive world.
Still haven’t subscribed to the Audrain Museum Network on TH-cam? bit.ly/3RjleYp
Have a peak at some related videos from our network:
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
A Pony Car in a Suit - Aston Martin V8 Vantage
• A Pony Car in a Suit -...
Leno and Osborne Drive the Ram TRX!
• Leno and Osborne Drive...
Leno and Osborne Drive the Brand New HUMMER EV!
• Leno and Osborne Drive...
And the fan favorite Mansions & Motorcars with Jay Leno and Donald Osborne
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
Season 1 - • Leno and Osborne in Au...
Season 2 - • Leno and Osborne in Au...
Season 3 - • Leno and Osborne in Au...
Season 4 - • Jay Leno & Donald Osbo...
Follow Us On Social Media For Additional Content.
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
INSTAGRAM: / audrainautom. .
FACEBOOK: / audrainautomo. .
TWITTER: / audrainauto
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
Click Here For More Information About The Audrain Museum: www.audrainaut...
Click Here For More Information About Our Annual Audrain Newport Concours & Motor Week! www.audraincon...
For More Stories And Personalities Covering Everything From Sport To Luxury From Across the Automotive World Check Out Linkage Magazine, linkagemag.com/
Looking For An In-Depth Dive into the Automotive World?
Join the world’s top car enthusiasts in being a part of our Motorsports Club. Receive once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to explore the rarest cars, meet the top names in the automotive industry, and fully immerse yourself in your passion: audrainmotorsp...
Coming to see the most recent exhibit at the Museum? Visiting the “City by the Sea”? Make it your journey, our car.
Rent an extraordinary car for the day, or weekend, of your dreams! audrainmotorsp...
or
Store your vehicle with us! All the fun and none of the hassle - www.audrainpar...
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
Contact Us:
Audrain Automobile Museum:
Phone: (401) 856-4420
Email: info@audrainautomuseum.org
Audrain Park Place:
Phone: (401) 683-0660
Email: info@audrainparkplace.com
Audrain Motorsport:
Phone: (401) 682-7040
Email: info@audrainmotorsport.com
Audrain Newport Concours & Motor Week:
Phone: (401) 856-4420
Email: info@audrainconcours.com
The Pinto was only a joke for those who never owned one. My first car was a ‘71 bought in ‘84. I kept my eye out for a CA one years later and found a clean ‘73 in 2020. Slow, yes. It’s also extremely simple, ride surprisingly well, and indeed well built. It’s built like a 60’s car with more metal than plastic. And the doors are classic 70s Fords, they shut with a satisfying click. Designed at a time when the national speed limit was 70MPH, and is happy and economically capable for that all day. If one could avoid salt covered roads, a vintage Pinto is still dirt cheap to keep on the road indefinitely.
It was 55 mph
@@dogsense3773 The 55 mph speed limit started in 1974. I remember it being a recurring news story as it was debated in 1973.
@@mddesign thanks for the dates, as I was in the navy 73-77 ,over seas so I miss all of this. in 77 I drove across the u.s at 55-60 mph in a 67 cougar, it took forever. I still have the 67 cougar!
@@dogsense3773 when debuted in fall 1970, it was 70 mph.
You are so right about the salt and snow. Learned to drive stick on my parents 72 Yellow with black vinyl top sedan. Unfortunately we lived in NY with salt covered roads. Kept car until we got an 82 Escort new. Anyways the rust was just amazing. Both rear fenders just rotted completely out! I liked the car a lot, thought it rode and drove nice.. but bad in the snow. I still remember heading for a date in 78 when huge snow ruts sent me off rode. I was luck and was able the back out on to the road. Fond memories!
I agree with you one hundred percent Donald. I worked in the service department of a Ford dealership in the mid seventies and these cars were very durable and rode drove quite well for the time. They definitely don’t deserve the reputation they have been labeled with.
Surprised you didn't mention the Kent engine, Donald. One of the best 4-bangers ever. Still used as a race engine, and two of them together make a Cosworth V-8, one of the winningest F1 engines ever made. Also, while you knock the auto gearbox, the three-speed Cruise-O-Matic was far superior to other offerings in this class.
I loved the Pinto! I had over 20 of them back in the day you could buy them cheap drive them for a while then sell them.. I put a V8 in a few and sold them. What a great little car it was.
A gremlin had a 6 cylinder engine and was a lot faster.l had 2 of them. Both went over 150, 000 miles and were great cars.The pinto did not have better performance.A 1971 Amc 232 motor was rated at a 135 hp and was a light car
It goes to show that we shouldn't blindly trust the news media. Back then I believed what was said about the Pinto.
My uncle had a '72 with a automatic and 300,000 miles. No engine work, no transmission work.
But he keep all of the fluids changed and fresh. No he did not do the minimum standard. Changed all early and often.
Haha!! Oh my.. I hate to show my age. I bought an 1976 Pinto wagon new. As an 18 year old,,a lot of friends didn't understand why. I've always liked a long roof car,,looking at the Nomads and other 2 door station wagons they just were cool to me. It ran well for what it was. Manual transmission made it fun. Loved that car! Thanks for the memories.
I never liked the lines of the sedans or hatchbacks, but the wagons looked cool to me; that was the only body style that didn't look stubby. The Vega was also a cool looking car, but it took them 4 or 5 years to make it reliable.
Pinto wagons were cool.
My affluent high school parking lot was filled with Camaros and Cutlasses. I had a puke green Gremlin and my best friend drove a yellow Pinto which we affectionately called "The Bean." We weren't the coolest but we had a ball in those cars.
Loved my hatchback. Also green. With oversized snows, no storm stropped it, my PA columns fit in the back and was fun to drive.
I remember being laughed at when I drove up to my high school parking lot in my 1963 Plymouth Fury. Paid $300 off my own money for that beauty. The laughing stopped when I dusted a built '69 Chevelle in a 1/4 mile race. Man, I wish I had kept that car after college!
The car I remember most fondly was my 1994 Geo Metro. Lot's of great memories were made in that car in it's 200,000 mile lifespan. Fun, reliable and 52 MPG on the highway.
I love Pintos - especially the first two years with the smaller bumpers and engines. That is a fine example and so nice to see it well maintained. Thanks for being realistic with the review. Great car? No way. Good and competent car for what it was designed? Absolutely.
I prefer the 77 and 78s myself. We had a 77 for a year when I was in middle school. It was nice.
The first three years had the small bumpers.
Until you get rear-ended.
The Pinto was also one of the first American cars with Rack & Pinion steering, which almost all cars have now.
when I was a teen, I convinced my mom & a girl who was a friend to buy a Pinto each, then another friend of mine introduced me to his friend who had a Pinto & worked for Ford as a mechanic, then later in life I got married & bought a Pinto wagon, I have always been drawn to the Pinto & would like one today as a second car.. Thanks for the Video, I am a follower of both your series..
That looks exactly like the '72 Pinto I bought new for $2200, even same color. My father-in-law said it wouldn't last 100k miles. When I traded it in it had over 140k miles and still ran like new. It was easy to work on. I did my own tune-ups, oil changes, etc. With the help of a manual I even overhauled the engine. I added a tach, oil pressure guage, and some sound stuff. Lot of memories in that car, thank you.
The pinto a very well built small car, I have driven pintos, sold, did maintenance on them. I have owned a large variety of pinto wagons, hatchbacks, trunk models, mercury bobcat's the pintos cousin's. I have enjoyed you and your beautiful 72 pinto with a 2000 engine german made. I appreciated your respect to review the pinto as a sound car. I am glad they notified everyone about the gas tanks so people would drive safely. I have been rearended at 60 mph, the 15 mph shock absorbers bumpers collasped, we got whiplash slightly in our 79 pinto the gas tank was fine. I know about other vehicle recalls on truck gas tanks that were fixed. I know accidents happen, any car or truck with live fuel can ignite if hit. I also think if people had been driving safely most accidents would never have happened don't you? We were stopped at a red light in a 35mph speed limit in our 79 pinto, the police measured the black skid marks they determined they were speeding 60mph. Thank you for having common sense while driving a pinto, they weigh at least over a ton to be exact 2, 270 lbs, pintos, station wagons, 2300 or V6 different rear axles different weights?The pintos all drove very uniquely different built by special hard working people. I love pintos thank you Donald. I have a love in my heart also for pintos. I have enjoyed watching you drive a pinto, the way they are to be driven in the owners manual in there glove box. The recalls on the gas tanks have been fixed and was only on certain year models. The pintos driven safely are perfectly fine and when others drive safely you will get a lot of miles and use. Ford pinto and Mercury bobcat 1971- 1980 shop manual says in chapter six clymer shop manual, fuel and exhaust systems page 153 a special note. It says Ford motor company has indicated that the fuel tanks and filler necks installed on 1971-1976 pintos and 1975-1976 bobcat's are subject to failure when vehicles are struck from the rear. See your Ford or Mercury dealer to have this problem corrected, if not already done. Ford motor company good pinto engines, good transmissions, good rear ends beautiful quality cars to drive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the video. It's nice to see the pinto get some love for a change instead of all the hate that's been thrown at it over the years.
I went from a 67 Dodge R/T to a brand new 72 Pinto hatchback. Talk about shock! The Pinto cost me under 2 grand. The day I picked it up brand new at the dealership and drove it out and off of the lot the pointer for one of the gauges fell right off. I had to turn around and drive it back in to the dealership where they fixed it. Other than that It WAS a good car and gave me zero issues. I was actually able to find quite a few aftermarket performance parts that were being produced for the Pinto. I remember getting a very nice Hurst shifter that made it way easier to shift and easier to get into reverse and also found a set of headers and intake manifold with dual carburetor options. Also was able to find some handling options too. So it ended up being pretty quick and handled really good.
I lived in Arizona at the time and it was fun to drive on a twisty mountain road. It was a really nice looking car too. Metallic blue with white stripes along the bottom. Hard to keep the stripes clean but it was a nice looking car if you took the time to polish her up every now and then.
I raced a Pinto in SCCA B Sedan and did quite well. They were low and wide with huge wheel wells. The 2 liter was easily tuned although it fell way short of the Datsun 510. I added Mustang II front brakes. I was regional B Sedan champ one year. I got to race against Paul Newman a couple of times and was awed by the Datsun's power. They had about 100 horsepower more then the Pinto although I could stay with him in the twisty stuff.
So did I!!
Newman must have been no fake motorman. He walked right past us at the Indy track when we just happened to be there as tourists. Hollywood was in the middle of filming him in the movie entitled, “Winning.”
Love, love, LOVE the Pinto, especially the early body Pintos. Thanks for another great video Donald, as always you know exactly what true car aficionados love and appreciate from years past ☺️
Yep...the early Pintos were gorgeous little cars......toward the end of the run, not so much.
I agree! ❤️
I bought a new off the showroom floor 1979 Pinto Pony sedan. It was red with a red interior. It had three options: high altitude emissions, front disc brakes and tinted glass. I've had forty cars and the Pinto was the one I put the most miles and kept the longest. I loved that car and wish I still had it.
Donald, I was highschool sophomore in 1972 and a friend of mine got a bright orange Pinto a year later (the Runabout) which we had great fun in. And my girlfriend’s dad had a white Pinto Squire wagon.
A few observations:
The matching “key wallet” that is tangling from the ignition is classic! We all had those!
The monochrome interior that matches the exterior, again classic and so common back then (ah….when cars were just more colorful!)
The hexagon front light bezels, something I never noticed before is a neat design touch.
And finally, who would have thought back then the lowly Pinto would ever become a collector car?
This was fun to watch! Thanks.
A great perspective and review! I've owned two of these -- a '77 Bobcat V-6/AT wagon, and an '80 Pinto Pony I-4/4-speed. Both great cars in different ways, but one thing they shared in common was how comfortable they were to drive on the highway.
I had two Pintos, a 1972 Runabout and a 1974 Squire --both with manuals. I liked them both.
I had a 1973 Pinto Wagon. The one with the wood grain and had a lot of rust and dents. This was Buffalo. I used to sleep in the back for camping. I took the wood grain off and had to fill all of the holes from the trim hardware. It ran great the entire time. I paid $150 for it in 1978. It got me through high school and part of college.
I had a 73 pinto with the larger engine which was quick off the line would chirp the tires when power shifted to 2nd it was a lot of fun to drive.
We had two Pinto’s. They were both Squire’s one was a 74 and the other was a 78. They were easy keepers for transportation. Change the Oil, Keep it tuned and Rotate tires and change your wipers every 3k miles it lasted a long time. Had a lot of great memories. Thanks Donald, Great Videos!!!
In a world where falsehoods create false perceptions of hopelessness and hate - The truest Joy of driving and independent thought of car ownership is a bright shining light. The courage to admit unabashed enjoying and the pride of buying, selling and owning a Pinto stands our perception vs reality on our heads. I say Amen Rev Osborne! 🦊
The only cars to get a more infamous reputation, in my opinion, was the Corvair.
Amen❤
I had a dark metallic green '72 hatchback that I bought in '75. It was a 4-spd with ac and a sun roof. Can't remember the price, but I had $48/mo payments. I drove it for 2 years and thought it was a great little car.
I'd much rather see reports on vehicles like this that the average person may have owned then all the super car videos. So what if a car can go from 0 to 60 in 3 sec. and go 200 MPH. Where in the US are you going to be able to do that and not get a ticket?
Well said! I bought a luxury Pinto, a Mercury Bobcat Runabout new in '75 with the 2.3l and four speed tranny and drove it daily for over twenty years until it got T-boned by a drunk. I sure miss that car and would probably still be driving it if the accident never happened.
Donald, I loved my 1970 Pinto. There were some quirks with it. The two dash knobs on the left. One was for the head lights and one for the wipers. Mine had two round knobs. I would pick the wrong one when for the wipers. I went to a Ford dealer and bought the newer wiper knob and installed my self. After reading an article in Popular Mechanics, I reset the timing to 10 deg. advanced and turned the vacuum valve around on the distributor. It did help with performance. The two liter 4 was the engine to have. I would shift to the next gear when the car wouldn't go any faster in the gear it was in. haha Mine was medium green metallic. It cost $19,500 on the road. I didn't like the Vega's engine design and the VW wasn't giving any discounts. In '73, I got a Pinto wagon automatic, BIG mistake. A terrible combination.
$1950 1971…indeed the two left handed knobs should have been reversed, with the outer being the headlights. The 2.0 was not smooth per se especially compared to any balance shaft modern four, but it’s an honest and simple prime mover.
$19,500? Gotta be a type-o! You could buy 2 Cadillacs for that price in the early 70s.
@@MisterMikeTexas That is $1950. sorry for the typo. So, you were watching. haha
I think that Pinto was more than likely a ‘71 since 1971 was the first model year for which Pintos were built (starting in the Fall of 1970).
I love every word you've said about the Ford Pinto.
Thank you for your video.
My first car was a 73 Runabout; a gift from my dad, he bought it used for $800.
Great car and I thank my Father for it..!!
Great review. I had a 75 Pinto wagon and loved it. Great handling. I kept it until my family grew larger.
Exactly the type of video we crave👍
Love cars that non-enthusiasts ignore or disregard!
I smile now when seeing one (rarely) in our temperate NW climate. Some are still driven unironically here.
Try a Hyundai Pony :)
My first car was a 1973 Pinto 4 speed. It didn't last long though I got hit and it was totaled. I also had a 1979 Mercury Bobcat that I drove while getting my trucks engine replaced. I should have kept the Bobcat because the truck was terrible.
In high school, 1981, a friend of mine was given a '71 Pinto coupe with no engine, so he put the built 289 and 4 speed from his recently wrecked '65 Mustang into it. I remember it having 5 lug rims so he did more than just drop in an engine. The way he drove it, it didn't last two months. The final straw was when he forgot to put the hood pins back in and the hood opened at a very high rate of speed. Did a huge amount of damage.
I have a lot of nostalgia for the Pinto. My family had three different Pintos when I was growing up. A 1972? blue station wagon, a 197? green Mercury Bobcat, and a 1978 blue Runabout. All three had automatic transmissions (mom couldn't drive stick) but the Bobcat didn't have the power steering option (mom hated that). The blue runabout is the first car I ever drove at around age 9 (in an empty parking lot with my dad in the front passenger seat. He wanted me to be able to drive if there was ever some kind of emergency. I was very tall for my age and could comfortably reach the pedals with the seat forward). That was the same car I drove to High School when I got my license circa 1992. About safety: my understanding is that the Pinto was statistically no more dangerous than any other small 1970s car, and much safer than a VW Beetle. All 1970s cars were death traps compared to modern cars and the pinto was no different. Sure, in the 1970s a Cadillac would have been safer but only because of it's size. I wouldn't want any 1970s car to be my daily driver today, but would love to have a restored Pinto to drive occasionally and take to shows.
My wife had one and loved it in the day. Never gave any trouble. Cheers 🇨🇦
I had a 1972 ford pinto. The exact same car and color that gentleman is driving. And I loved it and I wish I still had it.
Sir! I could not agree with you more. I think those little Pintos were a fantastic bargain for the time period. Maybe even more today. And of course, I totally agree with you in regards to the reputation that was foisted on them. I wish they would go back to that formula for making cars NOW, today! I'd sure as heck buy one!
I had a 74’ Pinto, metallic brown with a brown vinyl interior (I wound up adding brown shag carpeting, a cassette player and Goodyear rwls) and a 4 speed stick. I, too blew the engine because of oil starvation (the oil filter loosened). I replaced it with help from my father who paid for a new stocker. I should have put a 289 in it. Have a lot of memories around that car when I was in my late teens. Wore out 2 sets of tires driving all over Texas in all weather in the late 70’s. Wish I could drive one like Audrain’s example. It was a great car to have in a special part of my life.
About a year ago, I was at a Lowe's with a large parking lot and there was a two door station wagon parked by itself away from everyone. It had a striking style...sort of european. I hadn't seen one in many years, and I was really impressed.
Enjoyable, honest segment. I knew several Pinto owners in the 1970s, and it was reliable and well-liked. My grandfather had a new 1974 Squire wagon that was a very solid-feeling car despite its small size, and he loved it, except for the acceleration. With automatic, A/C and California emissions, it struggled a bit in freeway merging scenarios. The optional V6 of later years improved the power and refinement considerably.
Loved my early 70s hatch. Indeed a blast to drive. With oversized snows, nothing I ever drove before was better in the snow. My PA columns fit in the back.
Great video that revives memories of the wonderful visceral feel of driving a 4 cyl/4 spd manual Pinto.
A 4 cyl/4 spd Pinto was (is) a comfortable vehicle to ride around town in, and it differs from modern small cars because of its rear wheel drive and low widely-spaced front bucket seats divided by a tall transmission tunnel. I also owned the follow-on Escort, and it was certainly more powerful and practical, but the Pinto had a superior wide driving feel with a low center of gravity. You were “in a bucket” in a Pinto vs “on a bucket” in an Escort.
I slept several nights on the perfectly flat and long surface the hatchback model Pinto provided with the rear seats folded. 80s Escorts didn’t provide a comfortable rear sleeping area.
Where the Pinto really shined for me was on my pizza delivery job while I was going to college in the 80s. I delivered pizzas for Dominos in a suburb of Detroit when Dominos was new to the area and super popular, and one of the few vehicles that could reliably handle the stress of a long delivery vehicle shift was the humble Pinto. Chevrolet Vegas were long extinct by the mid-80s.
I also owned a couple of V6/automatic Pintos. V6 Pintos had factory dual exhaust which led to a two in / one out rear muffler. You simply had to replace the muffler with two glass packs for a great sounding low restriction dual exhaust. When I drove a V6 Pinto at Dominos the other drivers called it the “Super Pinto.”
I agree 100% with you on the Ford Pinto. Great simple little cars! Handled excellent. I drove a couple of the early ones back in the late 70s early 80s. I drove them everywhere for work, vacation trips up north and beat the hell out of them for fun. They just kept on going and going. I had a few friends who also owned Pintos and also did the same. None ever exploded. I believe the fake media blew that all out of proportion as usual like they did the GM pickkups. The recall was a simple plastic shield that bolted to the rear end to keep the rear end from cutting the gas tank in a rear collision. I seen several Pintos in junk yards and some still driving that been smashed in the rear end and they didnt explode. One that was in a junkyard was smashed right up to the rear seat! No sign of fire.
That Pinto you are driving is a FIND!! I just told a buddy the other day, I wouldn't mind buying an old Pinto (pre '74) with a 4 speed to add to my 2 old car collection. If I found one like that, I would probably have to buy it. The buddy I was talking with owned 5 of them in his younger days. He drove all of them like he stole them and he also said he would also like to buy one now.
My first brand new car was a 1980 Pinto hatchback with the glass back door. Red, sunroof, 4 speed. Loved that car and it never gave me any problems.
Always loved the little Pinto (1980) I owned. It had the 2.3L and 4spd and with the addition of some wider wheels and tires it was a blast to drive. And it usually gave me exceptional fuel mileage. Even by today's standards. I worked back then at a Ford dealer around that time. The ironic part of the story is that even then the parts department was required to stock the recall parts for the 'fix'. It was a package with two screws and a roughly 4 x 6 inch plastic flap that installed between the tank and bumper. That was it. All the cars made after the initial few early cars came with the flap. Simple fix. Another fact was that the 70s-80s square bodied GM trucks with side fuel tanks actually killed far more of their owners when hit by side impact that rear hit Pintos ever did. Something like 2000 truck deaths to 27 Pinto fatalities. Those are the recorded numbers anyway. My '80 pinto had deluxe two tone orange and brown paint and I installed mag wheels and a factory front air dam. With the later restyled grille people often mistook it for an early Fox Mustang. Thanks to Donald for giving these cars the credit they deserve.
You forgot about the longer filler pipe that extended deeper into the gas tank, and I seem to recall a tighter fitting seal at the gas tank and more screws fastening the fill pipe to the body up at the fuel cap. I remember a metal plate at the body near the fuel cap that was added if the body was rotted there. And I believe the differential bolts were cut shorter too, though not part of the kit.
I've owned a couple of Pintos and share Donald's enthusiasm for them. I will add that with some suspension work and engine work they could be turned into really quick and nimble cars. The 2300 engines were bullet proof and could be seriously hot rodded. Really fun cars to fool around with and I love the sound of a built 4cyl blapping out of a straight pipe!
With the right exhaust, it will sound better than a fart-can Civic!
We had two of these growing up, and this makes me smile, and makes me nostalgic.
Dude, you are awesome! I myself owned a 1971 Pinto GT. It was similar in color to the one you were driving here. I have to say, it was so much fun to drive, and I'm not sure that I've enjoyed any other car ever. Such a shame this cute little car has been vilified as much as it has. Thank you for setting the record straight!
We also had a Squire wagon, also a 72 with the same drivetrain. Loved that thing. Manual rack and pinion was precise and responsive. Put around 160k - very reliable too.
My first car was a green '72 Pinto that looked almost identical to the one in this video. Thanks for the memories!
My first car was a '76 Pinto Squire wagon with the 2.8 V6 option. LOVED it!
What a refreshing video. Thank you so much for making it. I owned two Pintos, both with manuals, in the early 80s. The first one (first car I ever owned) cost $400 and the second one $420. I got 30 MPG on the freeway from a 1976 model. With rear wheel drive and a manual transmission, a Pinto was a fun car to drive. I was defending the Pinto for a long time after I sold mine. Just had to make sure the fix was done before you bought one used. It was a great car for the time period for sure.
Thank you, Donald, for another very informative car video. I have never owned a Pinto, but knew several people who did, and like yourself, loved it. It’s ashame it failed, along with the Vega, to which I briefly owned one in 1972.
I agree we other you, that it really needs to be looked at again, and who knows, maybe bring it back as an EV?
A 10 year production run. It was not a failure like the Vega in terms of defective engines, it was a success if not for being the poster child for safer cars.
I got my drivers license in 1984 in a 74 Pinto wagon, brown with wood on the side. My dad always had at least on Pinto around. I had lots of performance cars during that time, but the Pintos were very reliable and economical and I always enjoyed driving them. I found a clean 1977 low mile 2 door manual last summer but my wife did not share my enthusiasm so I let someone else purchase that affordable classic.
This is so strange. I just saw a Pinto driving through town a few days ago and now this video pops up on my phone. Not to mention that my mom had a 2 door Pinto Wagon when I was too young to remember. I saw pictures though. It was orange with the porthole windows in the back. I would love to find one like it
I had a '71 Pinto sedan and I lived in New Hampshire, where road salt was a problem for anything made out of iron or steel. The body of my car, which I paid $200 dollars for, was patched up with flattened coffee cans, pop rivets and Tiger Hair. It had the Three speed automatic transmission if I remember correctly, would do 90 MPH flat out and was indestructible apart from the rust. It would go anywhere with good winter tires on the back and a little weight in the trunk. The one odd thing that I remember, was that the cam shaft lobes were not surface hardened sufficiently and so it's contact with the rest of the valve train was quite noisy. I drove that car down to Florida, and West on I-10 to Phoenix AZ, then up to Northern California where I stayed for a while then back to Southern California where I lived out of it for a few months, and back to Phoenix, where I swapped it for a Mazda station wagon of similar vintage but with a rotary engine and a 4 speed transmission. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the Pinto was still running. Other than a pin hole in the gas tank which I fixed with epoxy, I couldn't kill it no matter how hard I tried. Loved that car.
Very good, Donald. I'm so glad that a favorable review has been done, and particularly by you.
Back in my broke days of the Carter administration and into the early years of the Regan administration, I had three Pintos a '71, '72' and a '73. All were very worn when I acquired them, having had tough lives and each with over 100K miles. However, they were incredibly reliable. About the only problem I had was to replace the fender mounted starter solenoid, as was a common and inexpensive problem with Ford cars from the '60 into the '70s. There were many Pintos around at the time and no one seemed much concerned about the gas tank. I think most of us Pinto owners had a plan to the effect of, were we to hear screeching tires behind us, to pop open the driver's door if needed for a quick escape. Not chancing the door be jammed shut and unopenable. I wish the early Pintos were back in production as I like them much better than any low-cost cars available today.
I had an 89 Bronco with that solenoid. I found out that you have to resist the temptation to crank down the electrical contacts because that will break apart the internal mechanism. Instead, it's best to use a socket on a screwdriver handle.
I worked with a guy years ago who owned several Pintos. (I've had one) He said, "The only weak point is the timing belt". "I always carry a spare one". "I've changed them on the side of the road in twenty minutes".
I had two pintos back in the ‘80s. I miss them. Good little cars.
The car is beautiful and looks very much like the Chrysler Corporation fuselage. I like the old school ignition key case which dangles so prominently. I’d feel better for you and your followers if you were fully belted, however. Thank you so much for this wonderful presentation.
Great video, Donald. My dad worked at the St. Thomas Assembly Plant just outside St. Thomas Ontario in the early 70s which manufactured the Pinto (and my uncle also owned a later model). The one you are driving looks amazing for it's age. Certainly brings back the memories.
Spot on Donald. The two liter engine was the best. Both of the early Pinto run about s I had were pretty good overall. I liked that the pinto didn't need power steering or power brakes. The rack and pinion steering was tight and precise and the front disc rear drum setup was very good and trouble free.
I always felt that Ford could have made it more profitable and sportier if they had offered an option package with better front seats a more performance oriented gear set for the manual transmission and a suspension with better shocks,springs. That would have made a huge difference in how it was perceived..
I agree completely with your evaluation of the 1972 Pinto. I also had a '72 Pinto 2-door sedan (not the "Runabout" hatchback). Mine had the 2.0 liter engine and automatic transmission, and the standard interior (mine was two-tone black and white vinyl) - your green one looks like it has the deluxe interior option. It handled well and it did not need power steering or power brakes. I miss mine! Not a car you see in good condition anymore.
Wow. Never heard such positivity about Pinto from such an exalted source. Thank you....
My dad had one for many years , it was a great car, wish I had it today. And if you're a northeast NASCAR fan you know how great those Pinto modifieds looked ❤
The Pinto suffered mainly because of 'yellow' newscasters and a Val Kilmer - Zucker/Abrahams movie gag. (Audi had suffered similar problems, exacerbated by a member of the 60 Minutes presenters paying a mechanic to rig a device in order to 'demonstrate' an issue. He had also been previously kicked out of Fort Lauderdale, by the city, and told never to return because of his 'yellow journalistic style' that resulted in lawsuits, etc.) Of the 1.53 million afflicted Pintos and Bobcats (Mercury version) 6 people actually died from collision related fires. Compare that to Chevrolet and GMC pickup trucks that mounted their fuel tanks on the outside of their right-hand frame rails which were related to over 2,000 deaths. There were 10 million pickups vs. 1.53 million afflicted Pintos & Bobcats but still... 1/10 of a million trucks, 1/10 of 2,000 killed = 200. Six out of 1.53 million suffered from the Pinto's problem. Both were horrible problems causing loss of lives but the point is, in comparison the Pinto didn't deserve top billing and they weren't exactly the firebomb so many portray them to be.
Pinto's #1 competitor was the Chevrolet Vega. The Vega's quality (shoddy build quality, brakes, NVH and corrosion) and engine issues are well known - rust buckets and and engine that was such a total POS the government MADE them extend its warranty from 12/12 to 60/60,000. Clutch cables would pull through the cheap, thin firewall, etc., etc.
The reason you don't see either very often is the Vegas mostly rotted away in a few years. Pintos, on the other hand, were picked up and turned into race cars. A LOT of race cars. That went on for a number of years, especially after they had aged into inexpensive cars.
Dodge/Plynouth had nothing, they were pretty much on the skids until they cut a deal with VW and began selling Rabbit/Golf variants - Horizon and Omni - in 1978. Talk about late to the game! Neither were glamorous, sporty or special in any way imaginable. If it wasn't for those two models and Lee Iacocca, the Pentastar Corp. would have died a sad, horrible death. Back then there wasn't anyone willing to take on their burden for more than a Whopper with Cheese. Those two cars, and their later spin-off big sibs, as ehhh as they were, are what saved Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth.
Regarding Corvairs, they were a large gambit at the time they came out. They were also comfortable, kinda sporty when compared to the three-ton Betties that were so common at the time. Leaving Ralph Nader and his commentary aside, they handled.... kinda sorta. On dry roads they did o.k., steering was light (no weight up front) and they rode fairly soft. However, a little snow, a heavy rain or autumn's wet leaves would keep them from being able to turn very well. Well, the steering wheel would turn the tires just fine but, at any speed higher than that of a riding lawn mower, that was about the end of the transaction as the front end would just push/slide straight until the rear brakes could stop you. Now you can rethink your Nader conspiracy, if you had one coming in. Oh, and don't forget to carry a fan belt or two and a couple quarts of oil at all times.
Plymouth introduced their Valiant in '60. A good reliable car with a slant six and looked like a Chrysler got hammered and spent the night in the back row of a drive-in with a Studebaker. Ride- o.k., handling - somewhere between the Corvair and Falcon. Excessive rattles included at no additional charge.
🙂
All good, except Chrysler's L platform (Omni/Horizon) were not Golf derivatives. The deal they struck was only for 1.7 liter engines. The car itself was a heavily modified Simca/Talbot, if I remember correctly. They were at least developed together. Later they changed the smaller engine option from the VW to a Peugeot 1.6L and then dropped it altogether, only having their own 2.2/2.5 engines (I can't recall if the latter was ever optioned in the L platform though).
Also as a side note, the Vega was so underdesigned that there was a crisis with them during preproduction prototype runs... the cars would start tearing the unibody on the firewall and floorpan around the A pillar and door buttress attachments when driven hard. Essentially the prototype Vega was ripping itself in half.
@@mfree80286 And it wasn't from the engine's torque. ;-)
Yeah, it's been a few years. I knew the entire Omni/Horizon wasn't outsourced from any one manufacturer, I just got lazy and didn't go back to read the whole story on them. They weren't anywhere near as horrible as Vega but they certainly weren't anything special either. I think most of them were sold to people that would swear they would never, ever buy an import (and there were hundreds of thousands of them saying it.) Funny, owning just one Vega or Omni made them change their tune. LOL
@@carlbeaver7112 I've had plenty of L and extended K platforms over the years, and they're indeed crude but solid and if you do your own work on them, they start looking better and better :)
Even had a dodge shadow I stripped down and turned into a rallycross car. Dead stock, just missing a couple hundred pounds out of the interior, and it was perfectly happy bouncing across muddy fields at 40mph. Even nosed into a berm so hard once dirt shot through the column gasket and showered me... no damage, just popped the boot back in and cleaned up. Car took so much abuse I managed to bend all the stock wheels 1/8" out of true.
My Omni GLH was a happy little car too, even if it wasn't turbocharged.
I think most people just ran them into the ground without maintenance, thinking it wasn't worthwhile. Sad, because parts were dirt cheap and they were so, SO easy to work on as long as it wasn't the starter or exhaust manifold :-D
@@mfree80286 Agreed, they weren't completely as horrible as a Vega/Monza or what they came out with later. But your money would have been better spent on a Pinto, Maverick, Valiant or something from Japan.
Work at a Ford dealer back in the day the pinto in their last years were extremely nice with nice manual shifters and fancy interiors and they drove really well in fact had a buddy that raced it at Riverside international raceway the pinto had a wide stance and was stable and my buddy was actually a Chevy Vega guy but preferred the pinto
My parents bought a 1971 Pinto brand new that year, it was orange. I thought it was pretty cool, our family had only one new car before, a 1971 Ford Thunderbird that we still have! The Pinto was a solid car, ran great, never any problems with the engine, it ran strong. My dad taught me to drive a stick shift in that car. Those were fun times!
I had a '77 Mercury Bobcat with a 4-speed. It was a great little car, thank you for sharing your opinion!
Agreed! Yes we made fun of them when we were kids in the 80’s. In the 90’s they were being raced. In the 2000’s they pretty much disappeared. Now when I see one still on the road, it brings a tear to my eye. There’s a green pre ‘73 sedan that makes appearances in random places in Carson City, NV.
No doubt that is the nicest one left. they handle very well and probably one of the best handling American cars of the era. Thanks for the ride. next do a 86 Taurus wagon.
Yes! I'm searching for an 86 Taurus wagon. LX trim in medium canyon red is what I want. Too bad Gen 1 Taurus and Sables are extremely difficult to find today...
@@ironinquisitor3656 true 37 years old now!
I agree! I had a 1971 sedan and it was very durable. One time I was in a very sever rain storm and the streets had become rivers and cars were stalling out right and left but not my Pinto. At one point water was coming near the top of the doors and sometimes washing over the hood I had the excelorator floored going only 20 mph I could smell oil and transmission fluid, the engine was over heating because the water pump stopped turning because the fan belt was slipping and the fan blades being in so much water created to much resistance for the fan belt. I finally got to a street that wasn't a river and within a minute the car was running normally. The next day I started the car but it kept staling, I took the distributor cap off and found a lot of moisture had formed on the inside of the cap so I wiped it with a rag, put it back on and the Pinto ran fine.
I owned 2 different Pinto wagons, a ‘74 and ‘80. The ‘74 was my college commuter car. I had it for 6 years and put about 150,000 miles on it. I then bought the ‘80. I had it for 7 years and about 175,000 miles. Loved them both but I preferred the ‘80. An issue I had with both of them was a weak original radiator that lasted less than 2 years.
1975. My girlfriend had a '73 white hatchback with a orange vinyl top and orange stripes. I was cruise'n a '64 bug. Life was fun at 17 years old. Thanks Donald! I do have a '64 bug now.
I had a 72 Pinto in the mid 90s. Someone had modified the engine and that thing would really scoot. (for a Pinto) I loved it. It was a really fun car to drive.
When I was 18, my second car was a 6 mo. old `78 Pinto hatchback--orange/black interior. I loved that car and it served me well. PS, PB, factory AC, and 4-wpeed. Took ribbing for owning one because the bad press on them was still fairly new then. sold to a gal across the street from parents house. She drove it another 4 years after my 3!
Our neighbours bought one of these brand new with the trunk in (what I think I remember) a lime green. (Hey I was around 8 years old. They were the only friends we knew that had purchased a brand new car! I always liked these first models of this car.
Very good. I remember that exact color. I don't know the name of it, but I used to call it Munchkin Green. Ford put that shade on other models too as did other manufacturers.
i have fond memories of being shuttled around by my best friend's mom in the back of her Pinto wagon. I don't know the year, but it was a 4 speed and we could both sit in the back with the seat down, cross legged, and our heads would almost hit the roof. We knew about the reputation but we were in such a rural area that the thought of getting rear ended seemed pretty remote.
We had several different Pintos through the 70's and early 80's. The last one was a 1979 sedan with the 4 speed. It wasn't with us to long before the teenage male contingent of drivers out at the farm figured out you could wind it out to about 60 in 2nd gear. I was doing such one day when my brother, being the smart aleck he was, started banging on the roof with his right hand while pulling up the Emergency brake slightly with his left hand. I'm about to shift when all of a sudden I'm hearing an unpleasant noises and seeing lights on the dash. As for the fate of our Pinto? It was coming back from Okemos Michigan one day and the county had dumped fresh gravel on our road without spreading it about. Mom hit one of the piles of gravel and drove the oil pan drain plug well into the oil pan and oil started leaking out. The real bummer is this was about a week after an oil change. We packed the hole full of ribbon epoxy and topped it off. About the time for the next oil change it got traded off for a new Escort.
My sister had a matching green Pinto. Would love to have another one.
I had a 1971 (first year ) with the small 1.6L British Kent engine that liked to be revved up. It felt like driving a bigger car, and was wide with big heavy doors. Hatchback with lots of storage with the rear seat folded down.
Donald, you are without a doubt the classiest, most insightful commentator on automobiles. I would instinctively trust your judgement on any number of cultural issues.
glad to see someone finally defending the pinto . i had two 1973 wagons , very dependable . i discovered that with goodyear custom polysteel (if i remember correctly) tires and no modifications , both would take curves better than any car i'd ever driven . important , in a less than powerful car . drove one thru a huge puddle of standing water in a downpour once , and got my face drenched like someone threw a bucket on me . after making sure both windows were up , discovered rt side floor and carpet (both rotted but i didn't know) had been blown in by the puddle . laughed so hard i almost wrecked .
I had a 1972 Pinto Hatch back in the same green you are driving with a 2000 cc motor . It was a great car . Except the starter needed replacing about every 9 months. I got very good at replacing the starter, LoL . Back then they sold things to get a little more power out of them . I had a Header , slighly bigger cam , and a very small 4 barrel seem quick . Had about 140 HP .
Had a '75 Runabout and totally loved it! Great little car for a starting family!
THANK YOU! I have always felt greatly outnumbered on automotive groups when I defended the Pinto. I too had a Pinto wagon, a 74 with a 4 speed. I bought it with a bit over 90K on it for $1,100, and put 50K on it, then sold it for $975. Sure, it had some repairs along the way but it was exponentially more reliable than the 69 Cougar it replaced. It got me through the 1980 recession and tough years that followed with reliability and economy. It was well made, very suitable for its purpose and was vastly superior to its domestic competition and probably its foreign competition.
Thank you for your earnest summation. A refreshing and seemingly unbiased point of view.
This gentleman is spot on regarding the Pinto SEDAN. The wagon never had an issue.
I wish all reviewers were as educated, articulate, accurate and well groomed as this gentleman. While most reviews have an axe to grind, this man presents facts and proves his points.
Every car review should be this good.
This was excellent. Ranks with the best of the best.
I had several Pinto wagons and surfer vans. I wish I had kept at least one of them. Thank you so much for this video.
I bought a used 1971 sedan in 1972. Same 2 liter engine and manual transmission. Mine had the Holley/Weber 2 barrel. I can't remember if they all did or not. I bought a 'dyno tune ' kit that had bigger jets for the carb and lighter springs in the distributor. Advanced the timing by using a vacuum gage vs timing light. That 2 liter was a different animal. I ran B60-13 tires on a 7 inch rims (imagine the wheel wells full of tires). I autocrossed (SCCA) it thru high school and won virtually every 'G' stock event in Memphis, until the new Honda Civic came out. That car saw 6000 rpms more often than not. I could take a 350 Camaro until about 30 mph. I had joined the Air Force and thought I needed a pick-up truck. I wish I had kept that car but two vehicles living in the barracks wasn't practical. My favorite car to drive in my 52 years of driving!!
Funny story to add to my Pinto - I worked for a guy in high school that washed vehicle fleets. I got my CDL (yes for semi's in the old days) in my 1971 Pinto. I did the written test at the Summer Ave HWP station in Memphis. The road examiner came out, sat down in my car and then looked at my paperwork. She confirmed that I was getting my CDL and I said yes. She said this doesn't make any sense at all. Nothing said what kind of vehicle had to be driven (at least not on her paperwork). She signed off on my license and got out of the car. I never turned the ignition switch!!
Having owned three Pinto wagons and a Bobcat hatch. All were wonderful and, except for the Bobcat, all 4 speeds.
Aside from the fantastic handling characteristics, the wagons in particular were excellent vehicles in terms of basic utility.
As a young man my work included sign painter/installer and some light remodeling. These little beauties could swallow up a stack of 4'x8' sheets of drywall or plywood !(hatch open of course)
Most modern SUVs & crossovers can't even do that.
Thanks for giving the lowly Pinto some much needed love.
Those of us who know, already know...👍🏁
I stumbled across this video quite by accident. I had a 1973 Pinto Hatchback/Runabout that I got from my father. He replaced our venerable 1963 Falcon with it. Questionable move at best. LOL I learned to love that car! Why in the world I ever sold it is totally beyond me! Oh yes. I remember. It was the height of the Carter Era and we had way too many cars and since we were moving from Ohio to the Northeast, we couldn't take all 12 of them. The Pinto had to go. Stupid me for selling it and for moving to the Northeast! I digress.
My wife had her 1971 Pinto Sedan. After I made a few minor modifications to it she was able to get an average of 40+ mpg while mine was able to get a bit more at 44 mpg, average! It wasn't rocket science, either!
The Pinto, just like the Corvair, was given a bad rep by the news media! That and accountants! The engineering in each vehicle was wonderful However, the F-N accountants made changes to some small parts by getting "deals" on undersized or reversed parts. "Hey! A deal's a deal!" (Kelly's Heroes. LOL) Those small changes are what screwed the pooch on these cars. Both were perfect for their time and I would be happy to have at least the Pinto still in my possession! If only I could find another 1973 Runabout with a 2.0 and an automatic at an affordable price I'd be all over it!
You are very correct that the Pinto was actually a really well designed and well built vehicle. It was unfairly judged and then given an unjust and undignified sentence of death. Vive La Pinto!
I owned two of them at that time was a very nice running car with good gas mileage. What sucked was the timing belts breaking around 15 000 miles but did no damage to engine
I had a 1980 Ford Pinto with the glass back hatch. I owned it for 4 years and the only problem I had was a leak in the heater core. Easy to fix and parts where inexpensive and easy to find. When I sold it, I got almost as much as I paid for it. At the time some of the local motor heads were starting to play around with 4-cylinder engines and kits were starting to show up that increased horsepower and torque. I saw one pinto that the owner had squeezed a small V-8 engine. It was incredibly quick on the take off and just got faster from there. It is too bad that Ford got away from that kind of car.
I had two Pinto Runabouts, two door Hatchbacks with the Ford C-3 Automatic Trasmissions. The first one was a 73 2.0 L and the second was a 1980 2.3L.
Both were very good Cars and I always enjoyed driving them.
I spent my first years as a child in the back seat of a red Pinto of the same year. Those were great days.
My parents bought a used 73 wagon which I ended up with. Certainly no powerhouse, but was fun to drive. My sister bought a used 74 Runabout which she had for several years before selling. These were actually really good cars. I still love them!
A Pinto! I never expected to see Donald driving one. My first car was a 1974 Pinto, brown, a trunk and manual transmission bought for $1100 in 1977. I had money for a nicer Truck that I wanted but my dad said better to aim low for my first car as I would likely beat up and neglect it. He sure was right. The porthole Pinto wagon was the best model to have back then.
Whet to a dealership to by a new 1973 pinto. Got the heavy duty shocks and springs ($12) and some other inexpensive options. Went straight to buy cragar wheels. Put my option polyglass tires on them and later went to run an autocross event. Turned out because the wheels were 1/2 inch wider than stock I ended up in D Modified Production class. Surprisingly finished 7th out of 14 cars. Not bad for a new $2,300 pinto.
My parents bought for me a new dark green pinto in 71 when I was in the 11th grade. After high school when I bought another car, my brother and I used a Herbert & Meek swap kit for a 302 v8. I learned a lot and with a v8 was a LOT of fun
I loved my 1975 Pinto wagon. It had a 4 speed manual and the 2300 motor. It was blue. I bought it used from a car dealer in 1977. I drove it everywhere. My friends liked it because, it had plenty of room and it was dependable with great gas mileage. I wish I had it now.
Growing up, Pintos were common in my area. In the late 70s, one guy down the street even souped his up, painted it yellow, and slapped some Cragars on it. We youngsters loved that car. It sounded like a monster going down the street.
I always had an appreciation for the Pinto.
I'll tell you this, I'd take one over the Mustang II any day. 😄
Great video sir! I had a 74 Pinto Runabout 4cyl A/T in green/green. Drove it in high school in the mid 80s. Got hit from behind at a dead stop by a Ford 1 ton flatbed going 20-30 miles an hour. It was at a railroad crossing... he didn't see me on the other side of the raised tracks. There were seven or eight cars waiting at a stop sign in front of the high school. Out Pinto hit the car in front of us and that car hit the car in front of it. It was pretty violent. Thank the Lord the fuel tank did not spew fuel all over the passenger compartment. I believe my dad had the fuel neck replaced which was part of a recall? That may have prevented it from pinching and sparking potentially. Being a car guy who restored Mustangs for many years I never thought to investigate what caused that issue. But I do know in the early '70s late '60s Ford just bolted fuel tanks into the trunk compartment. There was no subfloor over the tank. The Pinto was totaled.
Our Lord Jesus Christ was with me my brother and my best friend that day. I think of that accident often.
I have been driving a 1973 Pinto Squire wagon for more than 30 years. It's color code 5H, Medium Brown Ginger. 2.0L/4 speed. I spent 41 years as an auto mechanic, just retired last year at 62. The original engine was in pretty bad shape when I bought it in 1989. I replaced it with a rebuilt one. It took 25 years and over 200,000 miles to wear it out, mostly stop and go driving. It is now on its third engine and second transmission. I had it repainted and the woodgrain replaced a few years ago. It has body colored sport mirrors and a roof rack. As far as I can tell, it has every available option except for the automatic, which I wouldn't have wanted anyway. It is a rust free AZ car, and the body is rock solid. It has the original optional Appliance 13" 5 slotted aluminum wheels. I installed an 8 track player in it, and put a Weber carburetor on it, otherwise it is completely stock. I don't plan to ever get rid of it. The biggest problem with Pintos today is the almost complete lack of parts, especially body parts, interior parts, and glass. The only place I can get the 13" tires is Coker Tire, for $300 apiece, plus shipping, plus mounting and balancing.
It's so cool to see Donald Osborne, a guy who handles some of the most prestigious motorcars ever built, driving and immensely enjoying the humble Ford Pinto.
I bought a new 1971 green pinto just like the one you are driving in the video. I bought it fall of 1970 and drove it through my four years of college when I commuted from Philly suburbs into the city. Paid base $1919 and with AM radio and automatic the sticker was $2100 even. Great value . Slow but reliable. It truly served its purpose for me. Replaced it with the Dodge Demon version of the ever present plymouth duster.mt hat also lasted forever. 10:55