The owner of this Pinto used to drive his grandfather’s ’76 Pinto Wagon as a daily driver and he wanted to save it but it was too far gone. The owner found this ’76 Pinto Hatchback as a replacement but has now listed it here on eBay in Magnolia, Delaware with a bid of $2,499 (reserved not met) at the time of writing. The owner resprayed the car himself. He has too many projects, so one has to go.
The owner says that the gas tank was removed and replaced. Also, the underside of the car has been painted and undercoated.
We don’t know if a rust inhibitor was used prior to the painting of the underside? Let’s hope so!
The owner says the interior is in “excellent condition”. We don’t know what the condition of the front seats under the covers. The back seat looks great and there is an image of it in the ad. There is a crack in the dash that was covered with a dash cap dyed to match the interior color.
The ’76 bumpers were replaced with some later year aluminum ones. This is a power steering, manual brakes no A/C car. There has been recent maintenance/upgrades including: high amp alternator, KYB shocks, fuel pump, carpeting, plugs/wires and battery. According to the owner all gauges and lights are in working order.
The owner has a stockpile of his grandfather’s parts collection as a separate sale if you purchase this little pony. It appears that you maybe able to have a Hatchback driver at a good price point if a Pinto needs to be in one of your garage stalls.
Motor-on,
Robert
I no there wheel be someone that wheel make a joke abought the gas tank blowing up there always is by 76 all that was took care of /they were made from 1970 to 1980 /so they could have not been that bad
Back in ’79 thru about 1985 I owned and operated a used car lot in the southwest. My main supplier of used cars to stock my lot with was a huge Ford dealership in town. Back then, there were tons of Pintos and Chevy Vegas on the road, and the Ford dealer took lots of ’em in trade constantly. I’d buy them from the dealership at a wholesale price, recondition them, and retail them to primarily airmen from our nearby air base. Constantly obtaining Pintos of all models for my lot, I got to see first hand how they held up for people. I’d buy them with anything from maybe 30K miles on up to 100K plus. I began to gain a real respect for the Pinto. They had 2 engines, one a 2.3 litre and the “big” one for use with AC was 2.6 litres (as I remember). It didn’t matter if they were 4speeds or automatics, either engine held up really well, even with high miles on it. The big thing that was important was that the oil be changed as per the owner’s manual. If the owners did that, these Pintos were darn good transportation cars. If you’re ever going to buy one with air conditioning…..DO make sure it’s got the larger 4cyl motor. They even came with a V6 later on. That was a good engine too.
Great story. But it’s a Pinto.
My Dad had a 76 Pinto he bought new. By 1982, the drivers door handle had rust holes around it and was getting loose and the drivers seat had a 2×4 shoved under it as the floor pan had rusted out and taken the rear drivers seat mounting points with it. Good times in the Rust Belt…..
Please see my comments about the last pinto. ..
At the end of the day you still have a Pinto.
I remember these cars back in the day, fun & cheap to drive but a disposable throw away car.
Keep ’em coming! I love them and can’t help but think one is in my future. Restomodded.
Or maybe a Pangra…
My parents had a Pinto wagon in the mid 70’s, it was light blue with woodgrain along the sides. The only drawback on the car was it couldn’t hold a timing belt.
Yep! Here we go again with the Pinto Perils.. It just goes to show you that they are still around and holding their own..
I had a 74 Pinto. The German 2 liter. Bought it in 1998 for $$1250. Had only 15k original miles. Bone stock with AM radio. Still had the tape hanging form the factory on the rear leaf springs. No cracks in the dash.
An old lady had it. Only drove to church. Passed away. Daughter received it with 7000 original miles a year before I bought it. It had 15k by the time she sold it to me, doubling the miles in one year.
Then sold it in 2006 for $1750 with an unfortunate dent, someone hit the back side rear panel and did not leave a note or anything. It had 26k miles and still looked mint throughout. (besides that dent)
I did need a carb rebuild right after I bought it. Also the transmission mount. The original tires, non radials from way back when.. were stiff as a brick, so I put some new Kelly brand $20 a piece Donuts on it. The alternator went twice on me (I think the AC Delco ones are just bad quality, lucky Kragen had a lifetime warranty). Never really got it running ideal. I got about back the additional 500 bones I put into it upon selling. No complaints.
My family owned so many Pinto~s I thought it would be neat to have. I loved the totally unimaginative simple dash board and climate control. The weird whine as you put it in reverse and accelerated. The shake of the stick as it idled. The feeling of sitting in a bath tub front and rear. The ridiculous size of the transmission taking up space inside. The tiny trunk.
I still loved the happy front end. Brought me back to looking at mom’s Pinot Squire wagon of the same year when I was little. That was a fun car to roll around in the trunk in and play hot wheels…
But I also learned it was damn slow. Scary slow, even. My 75 Convertible Beetle was a race car compared. The emissions, smog pump garbage, large bumpers of this year model… it all over taxed that 2 liter. I cannot see why anyone would want Power Steering on one, I found it easy to turn.
The 2.3 liter in this one, never interested in me. Automatic… UGH.
Now if this one above was a pre smog tiny bumper 71-73…. I might want a Pinto~ again. But I would never touch the later ones. I found it near miserable to drive.
It would have been neat to delete the anchor bumpers. Finish tuning, get some headers and a cam… but I decided to enjoy my Sprint Turbo and 92 VW GTI 16v that were flat out blast to drive, and sell the VW Vert and Pinto.
That Pinto paid for the wedding ring I bought my wife.