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Ever Seen One? 1973 Pangra Desert Find

I wonder how many of you have seen one of these before? From this angle it’s a little difficult to discern the origins of this 1973 Pangra, listed for sale here on eBay after being parked in the Nevada sun for over 20 years. Bidding is starting at $1,000 and there is a reserve. You’ll have to figure out transportation from Las Vegas, Nevada if you are the high bidder!

I’ll bet you recognize it now! This picture from an original Pangra ad made no effort to hide the Ford Pinto origins of the car. That’s right, a Pinto! The Pangra was conceived by Jack Stratton, sales manager at Huntington Ford in Arcadia, California. You could buy a Pangra at four levels; the first was a purely cosmetic kit to fit or have fitted to your Pinto while the second level added Recaro seats, additional gauges and wider wheels and tires.

The third level added shorter front coil springs, front and rear anti-roll bars and four Koni shock absorbers. This car appears to be a top-of-the line model as it also includes a turbo conversion of the 2.0 liter factory four cylinder and air conditioning.

Apart from a single station wagon, dealership-modified Pangras were all based on the two-door model, presumably for additional rigidity over the hatchback version.

You can see the shredded original Recaros here along with the additional gauges and even the Pangera name plate on the dash. Unfortunately the digital LED tachometer appears to be missing (the rectangular hole in the top of the added gauge cluster.

The Ak Miller developed turbo kit was good for either 175 or 185 horsepower depending on which source you believe. If you are interested in the whole Pangra story there are some neat articles with more details here from Hemmings Muscle Machines, here from hoonable.com and here from howstuffworks.com.

This is what you could have when you are done! The above car was listed on eBay in 2014 for $6500, and research indicates that only 40 to 50 Pangras were produced over the two year run from 1973 to 1974. What do you think this ultimate Pinto (is that an oxymoron?) worth? Would you save it?

Comments

  1. Avatar Mark S.

    Did they come with an asbestos suit?

    Like 10
  2. Avatar Classic Steel

    It’s different for sure and I like being
    educated on odd cars 👍👍👍👀

    Like 29
  3. Avatar michael h streuly

    I LIKE IT. Would be lots of fun running it up at grandstand or at the rock store.

    Like 8
  4. Avatar Rocky

    Goodness, gracious, great balls of firr

    Like 5
  5. Avatar Karguy James

    That would be fun to take to an all Ford show and just watch the reactions.

    Like 18
    • Avatar Al

      Some Ford enthusiasts would be burned up with envy.

      Like 14
  6. Avatar Kman

    Yes, I have seen them and also driven a modified one with a 5.0. Lots of fun

    Like 8
  7. Avatar angliagt Member

    Strangely,I like it.If you could get it for
    around $1000,it might be worth considering.
    When these came out,I didn’t care much for them,
    but seem to have aged well.

    Like 7
  8. Avatar Coventrycat

    Neat piece of automotive history. Looks good, and in proportion.

    Like 7
  9. Avatar Darrun

    I was a fan of the Pinto, had several, including one with a 351W. Just never cared for this. Maybe if they had done something to the rear of the car to balance it out.

    Like 2
    • Avatar Injuhneer

      How about an enormous boy-racer spoiler?

      Like 1
    • Avatar Jamie Palmer Staff

      MPC had the right idea…

      Like 10
  10. Avatar Gene Parmesan

    Hah, I like how the car is alternately called a “Pangra” and “Pangera” throughout the entirety of the article. Even the BF writers are confused about this old machine!

    Like 5
  11. Avatar Wrong Way

    I am only thinking one thing! Was the fuel tank relocated somewhere else or was it left alone? I always liked the Pinto and the Vega I was really wanting to buy one until the big explosion happened over the fuel tank for the Pinto! I was young and looking for fuel economy!

    Like 3
    • Avatar JBD

      Were better cars than Vegas and rear explosions were rare. Later models got steel reinforced bumpers and supports.

      Like 4
    • Avatar George

      They got a plastic guard between the bumper and the tank. It kept the bumper from piercing the tank in a rear collision.

      Like 0
  12. Avatar scottymac

    Somewhere, I’ve got the AMT model of this. Or was it a Pintera?

    Like 3
    • Avatar David

      Pintera

      Like 2
  13. Avatar Chris

    A Pinto is a Pinto is a Pinto…….

    Like 4
  14. Avatar boxdin

    It looks better now than it did 40 years ago. Bumper regs might have helped doom this one.

    Like 3
  15. Avatar Little Cars Member

    To all you modelers out there (scottymac/Jamie Palmer) AMT released the Pintera kit which was modeled after this car. I have it in red like the photo. MPC made superior kits of the stock Pinto each year beginning in 74 and for a time both MPC and AMT did annual releases. They almost never sold off the shelves like the muscle kits and trucks. I recall picking up several years worth in one stop at a hobby shop going out of business in Annadale, Virginia sometime around 1976-77.

    Like 2
    • Avatar Jamie Palmer Staff

      Thanks for sharing, LC! I saw one of those kits while I was doing research…they wanted $150 for it (in the wrapper)! I remember putting together the Monogram Poison Pinto, but not a stock one.

      Like 2
  16. Avatar JBD

    A rare car for sure! NO Pantera! I have travelled to S. &Central America and have seen some nice entry level Pintos, Mavericks and early 70s Fords customized and decent looking cars.

    Like 1
  17. Avatar Miguel

    I would love to have this.

    Had I known the car was in vegas when I was there, I would have.

    Like 2
  18. Avatar That Guy

    I remember reading an article or two about these when they were new. I didn’t recall that a turbo’d engine was part of the deal. That’s uncommon for the early 70’s. The styling has aged surprisingly well, too. This would be a fun and really unusual project, though probably not worth a whole lot when you’re done.

    Like 3
    • Avatar Steve

      36 were built with turbos & sold by huntington ford. 1 wagon was built ( no turbo) by huntington ford.
      Body kits were sold by huntington ford & freight container corp.

      Like 1
  19. Avatar RP

    When I was a youngun’ (dating myself here), I enjoyed the five different Pintos I owned. All of them fun to drive, never had a problem, and (being a kid) I managed to wrap one completely around a telephone pole and walked away from it. When the dust cleared it was still running. That whole blowing up thing was because the Pinto was plowed into by a land yacht travelling at a high rate of fuel consumption. Anyhow, great little cars.

    Like 4
    • Avatar JohnH

      I agree, RP, they were good cars, for the time and for what they were.

      I owned three of ’em; owned one of ’em twice. I bought it lightly wrecked, fixed it, sold it to my uncle, who got in a minor accident, and sold it back to me for $1.00. Fixed it again and we drove it for awhile before selling it.

      Like 2
  20. Avatar Tim

    Local guy here in central PA has a pristine Pinto with the vanity tag…KAABOOM

    Like 3
  21. Avatar Santo Lumby Sheilds

    You put lipstick on a pig it’s still a pig you put wheels and square lights on a pinto it’s still a pinto.

    Like 1
  22. Avatar scottymac

    Still, way better than a Vega or Gremlin. Detroit (Dearborn) was learning. I take it you’re a connoisseur of Datsun B-210s?

    Like 1

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