Cruisin’ for a bruisin’! I found conflicting ideas as to the origin of that phrase, but it looks like this 1979 Pinto Crusing Wagon has already experienced it first hand! It’s listed for sale here on eBay and is located in Dallas, Texas. Bidding is up to all of $940 at this point, but there is an unmet reserve.
The seller thinks that the remaining decals were factory for the Cruising Wagon. I’ve looked at a lot of pictures and have yet to come across one like this — perhaps we have a reader that knows more? Apart from the little wrinkle in the door and some wheels that need refinishing, it doesn’t look bad from this side, does it?
I’m sure those very period louvers on the back window are pretty rare. Unfortunately, if you look towards the front of this very period wagon, you’ll spot the reason this car has been off the road.
We’re told that the neighbor backed into the car, demolishing the left front fender and making it necessary to replace or straighten the bumper as well as some other components.
Ouch! The seller thinks you can salvage that lens. I found several listings for Pinto body parts at the Pinto Car Club site. At least two ads there would have this fender. The sad part was that there was a RH front fender on eBay in the original yellow color! Oh well.
Okay, back to good stuff. The interior is gorgeous, at least for a Pinto. I always liked that particular steering wheel; it’s duplicate was on my parents’ 1978 Mustang II.
This was a surprise, and a pleasant one. I expected to find the 2.3 liter four-cylinder under here, but this is the 2.8 liter V6, and it has air conditioning (the seller says the compressor is free but obviously there’s no belt). If you are interested, the seller has some more pictures here on their website. If I had more time this might be a fun project, but I’ll have to leave this Pinto for one of you. What do you think, readers?
This pinto could be put back providing no frame damage from front hit.
Many lil half pints were conceived in drive ins and shag wagons like these 😜👀
I’ve never seen that stripe style on a cruising wagon. I’d bet they were a universal set designed for a van – there’s no flow around the porthole area.
Not a kit. Done from roll stock. Betting that was a TrimLine application done at a used car store after a repaint. I did tape striping for many years, competed with the TrimLine franchisees, and i used colors OTHER THAN red, orange and yellow.
That cool ‘storm door’ unroof is a real gem too, huh?
The neighbor “backed into” this Pinto the same way Chris Brown patted Rihanna on the cheek.
I like these weird little wagons. It would be interesting to swap in a zingy Toyota engine and 5-speed. Or Mazda if you want to keep it loosely in the Ford family.
A 2.3L Turbo engine out of a TurboCoupe or SVO Mustang can be swapped in fairly easily. I’ve seen those engines make 400+ when built properly.
I hope the neighbour received a very good punch in the face for this!
If the neighbor had insurance why wasn’t it fixed at the time of the mishap. A neighbor of my parents backed in to the drivers fender of my new 76 F-150 4×4 and his insurance paid off quick and I made out by doing the work myself. Maybe this guy took the money and decided to sell the car.
With older vehicles it isn’t uncommon in even a small accident for the insurance to total the vehicle, pay out “book value” and scrap it rather than fix it.
The guy may have taken a cash pay out rather than see this otherwise not bad car crushed.
Nice little cruiser for around town and taking in the local show and shines. Those stripes seem a tad random, in relation to the portal windows and the body lines. Drop in the driveline from an SVO and this would be a nice sleeper.
I have a stockpile of 2.3 EFI turbo blocks, Garrett turbos and spare parts. Damn this would be a fun application ! Don’t think aftermarket stripes matter much. In 1976 Ford offered a “Stallion” decal package on Maverick and Pinto. The 2.8 V6 was a good motor built in Cologne Germany.
Nice find again guys !
Stripes are NOT factory, nor is the sunroof. Rear luvour is rare now a days. Cool car, I prefer the 77-78 front end, and then throw in a new Ecoboost, or an old SVO powertrain. Great car to drive. BTW- I love when they say that A/C compressor turns freely…..You mean the clutch on it turns freely, doubt they ever energise th0e clutch and then try to turn the compressor….Throw that A/C away and replace with a nice Sanden unit anyway
Its at 1500 & still reserve not met yikes how much is one of these worth with the damage its sustained? Its already at more than I would want to spend with no parts included to fix the damage. Hey its in Dallas Texas maybe Richard Rawlins will come & buy if his reserve isnt met but seeing that Rawlins is usually a low baller would probably only offer 500 at best for it. I’d take the 1500 or whatever else is offered & run instead of holding out for more.
I had one of those. Fun times Cruisin’ with SuperTramp on the 8 Track !
When I hit the words mustang II and pinto in the same sentence I couldn’t handle any more of this. There not even heavy enough to be worth anything?
I bought one new it was black on red with a red and silver rap around the porthole stripe with lower red and silver strips the V6 had no power but could be beefed up. There was enough room for a 302 C4 combo as there was in the Mustang II and it would be a fun ride
I wonder if earlier front end sheet metal and front and rear bumpers would bolt on this? I had two Pinto wagons, one was a ’73 Squire version with the fake wood. The other one was a ’74. I’ve always liked the grill and bumpers of the pre-1974 cars. But ohmygod, the YUUUUGE bumpers on this thing!
Great photo of an early wagon with hay bales. Betcha that’s real convenient to haul maybe 3 or 4 bales if you’re lucky. There has been a porthole panel wagon sitting in a neighborhood near my work for at least 20 years slowly deteriorating. Haven’t had the time or gumption to walk up the driveway and ask anything about it.