Whether you love it or hate it, the Ford Pinto was a car that had to happen. American manufacturers had turned producing large cars into an art, and buyers were happy to hand over their cash for those vehicles. However, dark clouds were on the horizon at the start of the 1970s. By the mid-’70s, cars like the Pinto would become an integral part of any manufacturer’s model range if they intended meeting tighter government regulations on emissions and fuel consumption. However, the Pinto had a weakness, which had nothing to do with fires. The problem was that their owners viewed these cars as disposable items. Once they had outlived their useful life, most of these cars found their way to the scrapyard or the crusher. This 1974 Pinto Runabout has avoided that fate and needs a new home. The owner located it hidden in a barn, a spot it appears to have occupied for decades. He has revived it but needs a passionate enthusiast willing to continue the process. Located in Rancho Cordova, California, you will find the Pinto listed for sale here on Craigslist. It could be all yours by handing the owner $4,000.

It isn’t clear how long this Pinto spent in hibernation, but I suspect that we can measure the duration in decades. However, it doesn’t appear that it suffered unduly through the experience. Below that layer of dust hides Saddle Bronze Metallic paint that seems to be in reasonable condition. It wears its share of minor marks and imperfections, but the buyer will need to clean it thoroughly to determine whether it is suitable for a survivor-grade car or whether a repaint will be on the agenda. It seems that the Pinto has spent its life in California, which bodes well when we consider the subject of rust. There’s none visible externally, and the owner doesn’t mention any hidden problems with areas like the floors. The rubbing strip on the front bumper is loose, but the exterior trim, chrome, and glass all look pretty good.

While this Pinto’s exterior shows promise, the news isn’t as good when considering its interior. It is pretty trashed, and the buyer will be facing nothing less than a complete retrim. This could prove a challenge because kits for the Pinto aren’t thick on the ground. They are available, but they are surprisingly expensive when you consider the vehicle size and the original sales volumes. Perhaps companies have subscribed to the belief that there wouldn’t be many decent Pintos in existence today, so there was little point in producing kits in significant numbers. The few that I’ve found sit around $2,500, which is a considerable sum when you consider the potential value of this classic fully restored.

Lee Iacocca’s vision for the Pinto was summed up with his “2000/2000” philosophy. He aimed to bring the car to production with a weight below 2,000lbs, and as a marketing man, he knew the psychological importance of pegging the retail price below $2,000. He achieved his second goal with no dramas, but he failed by a mere 15lbs with his first. However, it is worth reflecting on the impact tighter safety standards and increasing equipment levels had on the Pinto’s weight. The heaviest vehicle in the 1971 Pinto range featured a 1,993cc four-cylinder engine and an automatic transmission, tipping the scales at 2,066lbs. Wind the clock forward to 1974 when our feature car rolled off the line. Its original owner ordered the 2,301cc engine and the three-speed automatic transmission. The weight? An incredible 2,537lbs! It also made a joke of the Government’s focus on fuel consumption because the 1974 Pinto drank more than its older sibling. When the owner located this Pinto, it hadn’t run for years. He tinkered and undertook the activities required to breathe new life into it. It seems that the motor starts and runs nicely and that the vehicle is mechanically sound. It appears that the open road might be beckoning this Pinto and its new owner.

Depending on your perspective, history will paint Lee Iacocca as a visionary within the auto industry or as an egotistical and uncompromising tyrant. Certainly, he was capable of extracting greater performance from staff under his control than almost any individual in American motoring history. If we subscribe to the visionary theory, it is possible that he saw the writing on the wall and realized that Ford needed a car like the Pinto moving forward to satisfy legislative requirements. It is a fact that no manufacturer has been exempt, and I believe that it reached its zenith when Aston Martin sold a rebadged version of Toyota’s iQ called the Cygnet. Today, badge engineering sees many brands market their “own” subcompact to satisfy legislation, but Ford didn’t choose that path with the Pinto. It commenced the process with a clean sheet of paper, and the fact that they sold more than three million examples during the car’s production run suggests that it was the right car at the right time. Our feature car comes from the Pinto’s most successful year, with 544,209 cars rolling off the production line. Thanks to their disposable nature, it isn’t clear how many survive today. Maybe this Pinto is not the most desirable car on the planet, but its role in American automotive history makes it worthy of preservation.