- Seller: tomo b (Contact)
- Location: Los Angeles, California
- Mileage: 99,999 Shown
- Chassis #: 3R12X145649
- Title Status: Clean
- Engine: 2.0-Liter 4-cylinder
- Transmission: 4-Speed Manual
The Ford Pinto may have carried an economy-car reputation when new, but today, survivors and well-kept examples have become increasingly collectible. This 1973 Ford Pinto Station Wagon, offered exclusively on Barn Finds, is described by the seller as a solid California “blue plate” car with no rust ever. With tasteful upgrades, a sorted drivetrain, and a clean presentation, it stands out as a stylish and practical driver that’s ready to enjoy.
Under the hood, the wagon features a rev-happy 2.0-liter four-cylinder paired with a 4-speed manual transmission. The seller notes the drivetrain has been mechanically gone through, making the car a genuine turn-key driver. With the combination of light weight, simple maintenance, and solid reliability, this Pinto offers affordable fun with everyday usability.
Cosmetically, this wagon has been tastefully modified with a tucked front bumper, rear roll pan, monochrome de-badging, and a slightly lowered stance. Rolling on 17-inch Cobra wheels and fitted with disc brakes, the look is both modernized and clean, while retaining the car’s original character.
Inside, the seller describes the car as having its original deluxe factory interior, with thoughtful updates that include a Bluetooth-equipped stereo with hands-free capability, a wood steering wheel, a console gauge cluster, and a dash cap upgrade. The driver’s seat has two small areas where the stitching has come apart, but otherwise, the interior presents well for its age.
The Pinto wagon body style has always been the most versatile of the lineup, offering practicality in a compact package. This example, with its strong California history and upgraded presentation, represents a unique chance to own a Pinto that’s far more than an entry-level classic.
With its clean body, sorted mechanics, and desirable upgrades, this Pinto is positioned as a reliable daily driver, a stylish weekend car, or a fun show-and-cruise wagon. Offered with a clean California title in hand, it’s ready for the next caretaker.
Would you keep this 1973 Ford Pinto Station Wagon as a stylish daily driver, or take it further with additional custom touches?
Bid On This Auction
JJM bid $1,000.00 2025-09-08 10:14:41
wes johnson bid $100.00 2025-09-03 18:31:35
That is the coolest Pinto I have seen in my 72.75 years on this mortal coil. Well done!
you sir…….have fine taste !!
A ’75 squire wagon was my first car 42 years ago. Seriously thinking about buying this🤔🤣
Interesting find. As much as these were in vogue during the 70’s and 80’s from the late 90’s onward they all but disappeared especially in the rust belt. Fun to see such a preserved example. Now guy’s contribute to my education here, that doesn’t appear to be the stock carb here. What are the heater hoses hooked up to a housing on the carb ?
I believe that you are looking at a Weber carburetor conversion in the photo, with an aftermarket air filter. This is a fairly common modification for this engine. It is likely that the hoses you are referring to are for a hot water controlled automatic choke.
Thank you kind sir :)
carb has been upgraded to a weber.
For all it’s bad reputation. The Pinto was a good looking car. This one in black really shows off its lines. Well done
Really nice looking Pinto, but not a color you want in Florida. My mother had a 73 Vega wagon, silver and black 2 tone, with black interior, kinda same animal.
Very cool. I think I would focus on interior…repair the seat, reupholster the door/cargo area door cards. Do something different with the rear speaker boxes. Kudos to the seller for not staging a surf board on the roof.
I’m with you on losing the speaker boxes, I’d probably try to find the stock speaker locations to mount some aftermarket speakers to go with a suitable aftermarket radio to fit in the stock location.
A well preserved example that has been well cared for. Unlike some folks, I like the vinyl side molding, not necessarily for the look, but to protect that flawless paint from door dings in the supermarket parking lot! I’m less thrilled with the blacked out bumpers and grille, though. Everything seems to disappear. A chrome bumper with the blacked out grille would have been a better look, but that’s easily fixed, and a matter of personal taste. The license plate in the rear window is illegal here in the People’s Republic of Taxachusetts, so i’d need a rear plate mounting bracket to pass the mandatory safety and emissions inspection here in the People’s Republic! The shipping costs would also be a problem, as shipping any car across the country is very expensive, otherwise , I’d be all over it! GLWTS!
license plate has since been relocated to the rear roll pan.
These are durable and simple. Valves are easily adjustable without shims. My wife’s 71 had a 2.0 4 speed like this. It had an emissions Weber carb but this looks to have a non emissions replacement. No air pump was a bonus. Easy to replace the timing belt with a conventional rear wheel drive orientated engine. Would love to own this car and I’m a Chevy guy!
Good looking Pinto wagon that I’d be bidding on if it wasn’t a zillion miles away, again.
✔️✔️✔️
Nice!
This is as good as a Pinto ever gets. Great looking exterior, except for that rub strip on the sides.
I know the rub strip doesn’t look great, but it does protect that beautiful paint job! Keeping that paint flawless and beautiful is tough enough, without the thoughtless morons who swing open their doors like swinging a sledgehammer in every parking lot! You take your beautiful classic out for a ride to a local restaurant on a summer cruise and some idiot decorates your door with yet another door ding and matching paint chip! Doh! You might be able to find a less obtrusive flavor of rub strip to mount on the door, though.
Needs a touch more oomph.
Would make a great summer toy, but my wife’s cousin was immolated by a drunk driver while riding home from school in the back of a Pinto
I think the wagons did not have the same rear fire issue, but, as I said below, “No rear bumper” is not wise, just because it may not appear well.
The gas tank fix applied to the 1971 through 1976 sedans and hatchbacks. None of the station wagons, sedan deliveries or the Cruising Van were affected due to their different tank and filler design.
Looks like a nice example of a Pinto wagon. I agree with 72 front bumper but would have used factory rear bumper and license plate bracket, rather than sticking a plate/sticker in the rear window. It appears the windshield moulding is missing as well.
To me “No rear bumper” is akin to “No wire hangers” (for exhaust anyway). Not a good idea.
Can you make a Pinto wagon look cool? The answer here is YES! Great job on this one!
Nice Pinto! Imagine it with a Pangra frontend!
Would love to see more info on the Chalon 914 conversion and the Studebaker coupe in the background.
thinning the herd, so those cars will be offered next. the Stude is very close, and very cool.
Definitely a fine example of early attempts to dissuade the American public from buying Japanese cars!
I am wondering if there would be any 0-60 performance gain if the original 13″ or 14″ tires/wheels were put back on this car.
possibly, but i prefer the convenience of not winding the motor up when on the freeway. she does just fine on the street too.
It all has to do with the outside diameter of the tire. Not the rim size. For example, my MGB that came with 185-14 tires on 4″ rims. Now has 195/50R15 tires on 7″ rims. The outside diameter of these 2 tires is virtually the same having zero effect on the overall gear ratio. Having a zero effect on acceleration or highway cruise RPM.
True. I run 215 45R 17’s for the summer in my Miata, but use 215 55R16’s for the snow tires, with almost no change in overall diameter. The slightly narrower snow tire allows the tire to cut through the snow, rather than simply floating on top of the snow, for better traction when the white stuff falls.
I totally get the 1″ difference not making a difference. The reason I was wondering was the overall diameter difference between a 13″ wheel/tire combo vs a 17″ wheel/tire combo is 4″ which I would think is pretty significant. Since I don’t know the actual tread to tread diameter on either of them, it got me to thinking there might be enough of a difference to make a difference in performance. And I’m also aware of Plus One and Plus Two (et al.) tire swapping but I don’t know if that was even taken into account or maybe just swap in the biggest wheels/tires to fill the wheel wells (which it kinda looks like).
I had a ‘72 and ‘74 wagon. Loved them!
The ‘74 was bright orange with ET IV Mags and 195x75x13 Goodyears all around. Handled like it was on rails.
Nice to see someone appreciating a much maligned Pinto wagon.
I had a yellow wagon like this. High compression pistons, hot cam, headers, and the same carb. I also had aftermarket sway bars. I wish I had kept it. It was a terror on the streets. Never did make to an autocross . I had wider wheels with the factory full wheel covers. A real sleeper. The low ability to find the proper fuel at the time was an issue. NOW you can walk into any parts store and buy a can of octane boost. Those weren’t available 40 years ago.
You better get permission first!
I’m not a ford guy but a I have been working as a auto tech for33 years. I would put the timing cover back on. Still a very clean Ford Pinto and its a 4-speed which is nice!
Why does it seem the term “economy car” seems like so much less during this time. Between the pinto and the Vega we certainly gave the Japanese a huge step up in their dominance during this time!
Because the Asian automakers were hungry, trying to establish a presence in North America, while the “Big Three” were complacent and lazy, essentially agreeing with Henry Ford II that “minicars equals mini-profits”! They sold compacts and subcompacts because they had to, not because they believed in them, and their disdain for that market segment showed in how the compact and subcompact cars were designed, built and the compact car customer was treated at the dealership. The Big Three devoted a minimum amount of time to the design, manufacturing, sales and service to compact cars, seeing it as a “loss leader”, to get young buyers into the showroom until they could afford to buy something “better”, read bigger, as their income and social status increased. The idea that a high quality small car could be a very profitable market segment in its own right was as foreign to them as the Japanese people were to them!
Don’t even have to go Japanese. Example: BMW 2002. Good looking, handled like the Bimmer it was, and it was well screwed together. But an economy car, barely.
This would be cool to have, love the black!
I had a 73 just like this back in the day. Built the engine with higher compression, added Crane Cam, Headers and 4 Mukuni side draft 1 barrel carbs. That really woke it up. The 2.0 L engine has solid cam follower and required periodic valve adjustment by a threaded cam follower pedestal, no shims.
I also lowered the wagon with springs, lowering blocks in rear, Koni shocks and heaver sway bars, 7″ wide wheels with BFG TA’s. It would make it to the coast on twisty road faster than 69 435HP Vette I had before it. Vette would outrun it on straights, but Pinto handled corner like it was on rails.
As good as this Pinto looks.. remember that its nothing but a glorified Mustang II..
Sigh.
Yep.. it gets old doesn’t it?
‘Twas the other way around, no? The M II was a glorified Pinto. Chicken/egg syndrome, doncha know…
Well, since the Pinto came first, in 1970, and the Mustang II wasn’t released until the 1974 model year (Autumn, 1973), I tend to think of the Mustang II as an upmarket Pinto, but then again, there were enough different pieces that the Mustang II could be considered a car class of its own, much like the aircraft carrier USS JFK (CV-67) was in a class of one (1), despite being derived from the Kitty Hawk-Class carriers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitty_Hawk-class_aircraft_carrier
The debate is somewhat like debating how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, a semantic argument that I would very much prefer to avoid. Let’s just say that no matter what you believe, the Mustang II doesn’t get any respect in the Mustang community, despite the fact that without the Mustang II, the Fox-body cars and the Mustang in general, might not exist! Despite the Mustang II’s many flaws (and there were many flaws, to be sure), the sales it generated saved the Mustang! We should at least be thankful for that!
Or one could think of it as half of a Mustang. At least that’s what my ex called my 72 wagon after getting under the hood.
Drove it 17 years. I loved it.
I would have to drive this to North Carolina. Can you please venture an opinion or clarify the statement that you went through the drive train? Thanks, Bob.
the car drives great. engine tests and works well on all fronts. that being said driving any 50+ year old car across country that is new to you would be ill-advised at a minimum.
I would have to drive this to North Carolina. Can you please venture an opinion or clarify the statement that you went through the drive train? Thanks, Bob.
i will try to get a print out from the mechanic who went through the car prior to my making it my daily driver.
Robert Atkinson Jr. , Unless dry pavement or sand.The narrower tireis always better for traction in wet and snowy roads. The wet conditions it 8s more of a narrow foot print. Where in negative traction conditions it’s all about more traction per square inch. Take it from an old Ice Racer!
Thank you, Sir! It’s always nice to hear from an expert!
Very nice wagon and one I would love to drive until my road ends. There are just sometimes you need the utility it provides. This wagon’s good looks and layout do not hurt a thing.
Sure would have liked to have this one. Maybe I’ll find one someday. This one sure is pretty.