Every now and again, a reader sends in a tip that is perfect for a site like Barn Finds and it sells quicker than expected. Reader Darren Barton sent in an excellent find for a Ford Pinto with the rare “Stiletto” nose panel conversion, and it unfortunately found a new home before we could post it (thanks, Darren!) This is an equally odd Pinto for replacement purposes, as it has a full electric conversion that was converted from gasoline immediately after being purchased, perhaps as a result of news coverage about the car’s tendency to explode. Find it here on Facebook Marketplace where the seller sounds eager to unload, and is asking $2,100 or best offer.
Like many electric conversions in the period, the owner plastered stickers or graphics on the car that told you it ran on batteries. It’s really no different than Prius owners who have found decals stating in large-form letters THIS CAR IS ELECTRIC to put on the back hatch. I guess it’s important that we recognize the origins of its propulsion. Regardless, this Pinto was supposedly driven home from the dealership with its presumably four-cylinder gas powerplant intact and then immediately torn down to be converted to electric operation. As such, the seller notes there is no gas tank. Apparently, there’s also no title, and the 96V electric motor needs replacement.
There are old Maine plates on the car, which explains why there’s no title; the Pine Tree state is pretty loose on older cars requiring paperwork. Regardless, this was likely a massive undertaking back in the day, but it’s always hard to tell if the work was done to a high level. How would you know, really, unless you bring someone with an engineering or electrical background to assess the quality of the work performed? And then there’s the need to find replacement parts for retrofitting to get it to run again, and from what I’ve seen, none of the batteries are exactly cheap to buy.
However, the seller does claim the Pinto has well under 8,000 original miles and the interior condition seems to validate this. The seats and door panels appear to be in excellent condition. The Pinto is also equipped with a manual transmission, which had to have been interesting to use when paired with the electric motor. This is a project that is certainly intriguing to consider the potential of, but you’ll have to either be a Pinto enthusiast or an electric car fanatic (or ideally, both) to justify the time and investment needed to restore this battery-powered project. Would it make more sense to convert it back to running on fuel?
An electric Pinto, what will they think of next. I wonder if the minimal miles were accumulated with the electric powerplant, or before. I say that because I have a friend who had a career working with electrical equipment, who has been working on an electrical conversion of an old MG… for almost a decade. For him it has been one issue after another, and it’s still not roadworthy.
So for a buyer, is this a project to get the electric powertrain working again? Likely hard to find that person. How about someone who wants to bring the Pinto back to near-stock? That’s a big project too.
Pintos do have a following, and this one isn’t a rusty mess, but it seems like it is in between a rock and a hard place.
Thanks Jeff for bringing us something quite unique.
One look under the hood, and uh uh. It’s days of sipping electrons are over. The problem is, to clean up that mess and make the Painted Pony driveable as a gas car again, will require quite an outlay of shekels. Besides, if that car did function as some sort of prehistoric Tesla at some point, who’s to say the frame hasn’t been tweaked by the weight of a bunch of lead acid batteries? That was the only power source du jour in those days. It will probably be best to buy this car as a parts mule. It has some useful body pieces and good glass.
The ad does not say Sold. Posted 18 weeks ago.
It’s a bit confusing, but I think Jeff was saying that he had a unique Pinto that he wanted to feature here, but it got sold, so this is another unique Pinto to replace that one.
Nice project to remove all the electrics and install a junkyard late model ranger V6 with a 5 speed and have a fun fast low dollar daily driver. At least the interior and body provide a nice foundation. I would consider this at this figure but already have a project underway. Great father/son project to get the kid his or her first car on the cheap and learn auto mechanics in the process.
I was thinking similar, but with a 2.3L from a Ranger. I had a 94, and while not a powerful engine, in that light car, it would be more than enough and be easy to work on.
$2100 is not a bad price, you could rip all the electric crap out and stick a nice small block in there.
Would you please stop with the “tendency to explode” crap? With almost three million Pintos sold, approximated fifty were involved in a specific rear end collision in which there were unfortunate deaths. They could have mad a better gas tank filler neck, and they knew it. They lost in court not because the cars were less safe than a contemporary VW Beetle, with the gas tank placed above the driver’s legs, but because costs of a better design were discussed vs costs of lawsuits. I would be willing to bet that the Pinto has a lower death per mile rate than most of its contemporaries.
I’ve been saying this on here for years. To no avail. It’s like they can’t help themselves.
As far as this Pinto goes? Rip that Science Project out, ASAP. And replace with a nice small block Ford.
There was a generation of those Pintos that were relatively reliable and economical. That’s coming from a former GM LOYALIST. My ex and some friends had them. Pretty tough to be one of Americas’s economy cars of the ERROR. Remember the Corvair (Ralph Nader) and Vega?
I understand that the “independent” tests were rigged to make the car explode anyway, this to further the unsafe narrative.
Same for the square body Chevy trucks.
too much for the condition of it. shame they should have left original
A bad idea to electrify the car all around. Consider, the 96 volt motor needed eight (count em) 12 volt lead acid batteries to operate. This had to be 80s/Citicar technology at work. And with all that weight, the car drove for how long on a charge? No wonder they let the car sit and moulder.
A 7,000 mile old school EV conversion. Cool! Too far for me though.
Not sure why it “needs” a new electric motor. I can’t even tell what motor that is.
I’d pick it up if the controller were a known-good series wound motor controller. Otherwise, if the motor is bad, there’s not a lot a person would want from this conversion.
Scrap metal prices for electric motors is not bad right now. Probably enough to purchase a gas engine from a Pinto, Mustang II, Ranger from the bone yard. How about scavenging the engine, 5 speed and all the digital electronics from a 4.0 Ranger?
Good way to go Wayne. Unless you’re an electrical wizard, resurrecting this well intentioned
little car would be slim to none.
And while I have an interest in EVs, I’m not physically able to take this on due to heart problems. But if I could, brother
look out! I’d get it back up and running, wrap the car in flexible
solar panels which would allow it
to recharge itself while driving and being parked. And yes, there is a company here in Florida that
makes these panels for things like golf carts and so on. You could ditch the old lead acid batteries and go lithium ion or nickel cadmium packs that are much lighter than the original units. But for the sake of practicality, a Ranger 4 or V-6 would be a good choice here. And if you wanna make it run like
a raped ape, put a turbo on it!!
Although it looks like a rat’s nest under the hood, the wiring on this EV conversion is relatively simple. Most 1st generation EV conversions were lead/acid. This 96 volt battery pack added 1000 to 1200 to the stock car and would require beefed up suspension and brakes to handle safely. I don’t see that that was done. The motor is probably okay if all contacts, terminals and brushes are checked/cleaned. You could get this going again with 96 volt LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate) packs with BMS for (+- $7,500.), a new charger, controller and DC-DC converter (+-$4,500.) plus your labor. Whether its an upgraded EV or restored gasser, you have to love the Pinto to invest this much time and money. The 96-120 volt EV conversion I did on my 1968 SAAB 96 back in 1994 has run flawlessly. I am currently making LiFePO4 battery and systems upgrades for more range, less weight, better handling and more speed.
Obviously, that motor has a commutator and brushes perhaps they are just worn down or maybe a commentator needs re-returned,doesn’t mean that the whole motor is bad. I would, however, get rid of the DC motor and put in a 3 phase motor with a variable frequency drive and run it on 400 V to make it much more efficient. Anytime someone goes to all the special trouble of converting a gasoline car to electric is an amazing thing. Changing it back to gasoline is just simply archaic and is for people who don’t understand.