One of my HS teachers in the 70s was a Datsun 510 race driver. He also owned at the time a Datsun, now Nissan auto parts store. Last week I took my wife’s Nissan Rogue to my mechanic. It needed the valves cover and he told me to get it original. He also told me where to buy it at a good price. Yes, it was my teacher’s auto parts store. I didn’t even know it still existed. Drove to the store and yes, there he was. 41 years later! Now in his late 60s or early 70s, retired from the school system, still selling auto parts and no longer racing. What a thrill was to see him again! The icing on the cake: he still has the original Datsun 510! I wish that I could share a picture of the Datsun here.
I had a '73 Pinto with the 2000cc engine, it was a great driving car. I had different wheels and tires to put a bit more traction to the street and quite possibly (memory fails but I know me) a set of headers and a lower restriction muffler. It ran well, great fuel mileage and cornered surprisingly well. I would not hesitate to buy one again if it had been stored away.
I loved both the Pinto and the Capri. In 1971 I had just gotten married. I missed tremendous amounts of work because my Falcon would not start when it rained. I went to the local Ford dealer and picked the cheapest new car on the lot. 1971 Pinto two door coupe with 1600cc engine and a four speed. Only option was FM radio. List price: $1995. Payments were $57/month. Car served me well, but needed more room so I traded in for a 1975 Pinto wagon. In 1979, I decided I wanted I wanted something sportier so I traded it in on a Capri hatchback with the 2800 V-6 and four speed. Fantastic car. I wish I still had any of those three cars.
I’ve binge watched all these as soon as I stumbled upon these. This episode hit home as I have ALS and I’m a car fanatic. Great series and really enjoy you.
I have been into Foxbody Fords since high school and remember Racer Walsh adds in the magazines in the 1980s. Good to see they are still around. More Foxbody Fords, they are getting very collectible.
I remember seeing Racer Walsh at Lime Rock and Pocono. And yes, I owned a Pinto. Cheapest transport I ever bought. The bodies were used by many racers in the modified classes on dirt tracks up and down the East coast
I bought new a '75 Pinto "Runabout" 4-speed and I loved it...lived in Europe in '76 and they never heard of a Pinto. They thought a car with a 2.3 engine must be very fast because a '75 Passat with a 1.6 engine produced 75 HP and a '75 Alfetta produced 108 HP from a 1.6...they couldn't understand how a 2.3 could churn out only 83 HP...good times!
The Pinto has always been my favorite car. My mother gave me one even before I bought my own first car and I bought many after that. There is something to be said for simplicity in a car.
Gosh do I miss my 510, auto crossed it in the mall parking lot before they were open 7 days a week. I miss that too, 24/7 for everything.......we need a break now and then.
My first car was a pinto, my father loved them...... We had six in our family.. I had four going through high School.. I had a 2300 that had a four barrel on it that would pull the front wheels when you dump the clutch...and even though I didn't do it the last one I had had all the guts of a cobra V8 mustang II.. they were great cars except for that little bladder problem they had...
I had a 1971 Pinto with 50 series tires, air dams, three pedals and a mild built 1600 push rod engine. It was a blast to drive. I used to pick on baby Porsches (914s) for fun.
Thank you Tom , back in the '80s I would buy a Pinto for $50-. All told I had 12 or 13 of them , I would take 2 and make one runner. I gave away a couple of them to family, and I raced SCCA production class with another. It was a blast to drive. Those were the days.
We had 2.0 pinto engines in our Australian Ford Escorts and Cortinas. They were great engines and the basis for the Cosworth YB engines that dominated racing in Europe and Australia in the late 80s. Love these engines. I currently have two powering an Escort van and a European mk3 Capri.
Back in the day my stepmother had a new 1971 Pinto with the 2 L and 4 speed manual transmission. I liked how the car ran & shifted smoothly and handled and rode well. The only objection was how it looked which was never very attractive compared to Vegas and AMC Gremlins which were its main competition. When they rolled out the Mustang II I always felt it was just a reskinned Pinto until they put the 302 back in it. What hurt the Pinto the most was all the deaths in the car caused by the fuel tank explosions caused by rear end collisions that drove the differential into the unguarded fuel tank and rupturing it. The bad publicity that this caused was compounded by Ford's attempt to hush it up and even more bad press when it came to light Ford's engineers recommended the fuel tank shield but Ford's management objected becaue it would have added an additional $5.00 to the cost of the car.
Could not miss the very large grassroots motor sports magazine banner hanging on the wall. Nice to see. Cool that dad after he denied still gets to ride along in the car at races.
My first car was a 74 Pinto. I can't say it was "bullet-proof" but it only died and left me stranded 6 or 8 times. Looking back, I think it was a better looking car than I remembered.
Never knew they had race series. My younger brother bought one for cash brand new when working at Jack In The Box While going to Junior College. After moving to SoCal for 4 year college he was wrecked by a lady on the freeway. He bought another new Pinto for cash. I drove it once and hated it. My VW Bug cornered and handled the hills a lot better.
I had a 1974 Pinto wagon through high school and college - the car had more fiberglass in it than a corvette but ran like a champ especially through upstate NY snow
Hey Tom! I'm a Chevy guy, but I'm with you. I think the Pinto is a very cool car! In Pro Stock, they were awesome. I liked the look of the Vegas yet their engines were garbage, with the exception of the Cosworth version. I enjoyed this video! 😃👍
I had a ‘72 wagon as well. I rebuilt that 2.0 liter, put on a header, new Holley carb, swapped the auto trans for a 4 speed, and 14” Cragar SS/T wheels. Man I miss that car.
I absolutely love pintos...I learned to "drift" as a teen before drifting existed!!! In the snow of New England of course. Bring back the series, and someone need to build turbo V6 AWD to attack Pikes Peak and The Mount Washington hill climb. They are one of the best handling that I have ever had spinning on black ice @60 miles an hour.
The Pinto engine as a 2.0 was a brilliant old motor. We got that engine in Australia in our MK2 escorts (2.0 was pinto 1.6 and below was Kent) Bullet proof and an easy to work on.
Interesting. I saw the purple car a few years ago at Sebring. Earlier this spring I picked up a ‘73 Pinto, original CA built and kept car. My first car was ‘71 that I drove in ‘83-‘84. I always told myself I had to find another rust free, like vintage Pinto. While I love road racing, my Pinto will eventually be built with 2.3 Ecoboost, and C4 for drag racing. Most people are “put a V8 in it”. I’m like, nah, Pinto’s don’t need a V8 to be fun!
Your remarks about variety in automotive enthusiasts is spot on. The real enthusiasts will still look at things out of their wheelhouse. Pintos aren't anything special, but they're a part of it. This episode shows something special done with them. Still makes me look. Thanks for sharing
I had a few Pintos, one I put on the Pinto wagon's heavier sway bars and Pirelli low profile tires. It handled amazing. You could put the limited slip from a Mustang in the back. The Mercury Bobcat (their version of the Pinto) had a 2.8L V6 in it. Fun cars.
Funny story, my mother told me stories of light to light racing her pinto while she was pregnant with back in 1980 lol. It seems the pinto was another one of those under-appreciated cars due to poor public relations and early safety issues. Though, It appeared that most, if not all, of the eco compact cars of the late 70s and early 80s had poor safety designs in some form or fashion. Tom, I love what you are doing with this series!
I think this was the best one I have seen-shame about the audio-but still-great. A little bit of everything. Realistically folks, always take the Pinto over the Dino.
I bought a 1976 Capri when I lived in Germany and it turned out to be a wonderful car. Wish I would have kept it. I keep looking for them at car shows, but haven't seen one yet.
I was a kid when Pintos and Vegas were new and love them. I had friends who's moms had both....so they remind me of those days. My plan is to build a Vega Kammback with a more reliable engine. Not a Chevy V8 like everyone else, but rather something smaller and more appropriate.
I really enjoyed your video about your find in England, but the comments were disabled. What an amazing place that was... It is nice to hear an American that can tell the difference between UK models and European... :-)) This is also a very good video.. :-)))
i like the pinto :) the desing is not bad on them and a two liter engine in those is a good powerful lump :) and the modern 2.3 ecoboost engine is modernaized pinto motor :)
I always loved the Pinto, even with the supposed rear-end explosion issue. Just a cute, cool car. In my late teens/early 20's I owned a 71 Vega wagon. That engine was the worst piece of mechanical junk I'd ever encountered, but the car looked cool... kind of like a Camaro of the same era.
Glad your back home Tom. Short video. Looking forward to the next one and the joint effort on the Ford racing car over on Haggerty Red Line build show with Davin.
I've always been a fan of Pintos. The explosion issue is a real shame, because it means there are few of them that have been preserved out of fear of the car.
Tom - when are you going to come to Canada? Not only do we have Canadian variants of American cars (ever seen a Ford Frontenac [AKA a Falcon]), but we also got a lot of cars here imported from Europe that weren't sold in the US - e.g. Vauxhalls were common in the later 60s and the 70s.
Had a 73 wagon back in 78-80? Basically bullet proof and would lay rubber for as long as you kept your foot on it. Discovered that, if you laid the rear seats down and put a thin mattress in back you could...uh..sleep? in it even being 6'2. Black out the rear windows and.. If the Pinto's a rockin - don't come a knockin.
My oldest brother had the ugliest orange colored Pinto back in the mid 1980's. It once blew a tire out; that's it one tire. He never had any issues with it. We both kept up her maintenance and I was only 10 or 11 yrs old at the time. He let her go so he could by a 68 Mustang which he still has today. It does need some body restoration but it's a numbers matching car. It's kept in our Dad's garage and we take her for a spin every once in a while. She's painted Canary Yellow. I need to do research to see if that was a Ford Factory Original Color Option. I know the build sheet is still in the car. I just don't want to rip the back of the front seats to find it. Maybe if I send the VIN to a Mustang Collectors' Community they can give me the info we need.
in the late 70's my friends had pintos, and others had Capri II. One friend, who could not afford his Road runner (70) anymore bought a pinto for $650. About a year later it got hit in the front fender, and the insurance co paid him $800. We got a matching paint fender at the junk yard for $20 and bolted it on. He figures the car paid its gas and insurance too! The road runner did not do that.
My first Street car was a Vega my first race care was a pinto my wife's first car was a Capri love these little cars but the pinto was bullet proof I blew up the other 2
