I hope you’re sitting down, I’m about to refer to this 1971 Ford Pinto Runabout as a beautiful example! I know, most of you just rolled your eyes but there it is, it’s out there and let the chips fall where they may. This l’il green Runabout is listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Oakley, California and they’re asking $5,500. Here is the original listing, and thanks to MisterLou for the tip!
This is a classic 2024 photo for an online listing. I don’t understand how such an odd variety of photo sizes, closeups, zoomed-out, wide angles, cropped-off photos, anything and everything are thrown into the mix here. It is what it is, and no matter how unusual the photos are, this car appears to be in great condition and that’s all that matters. My apologies to the seller, because on the other hand, kudos to them for providing such a variety of images! Back to this light green Pinto Runabout.
That being said, no matter how nice the car looks in the photos, and it looks amazing, the seller says it needs tires and a few other things in order to be “road safe”, so there’s that. 1971 was the first model year for the Pinto and the Runabout/hatchback model came out a few months after the version with a trunk, in early 1971. It’s hard to tell, but I don’t really see any alarming flaws in the car’s exterior at all, do you?
It’s nice to see a wide view rather than a cropped view of the interior. and it looks as good inside as the exterior does. The all-important four-speed manual transmission is right there on the hump as the car Gods intended, even for cars with 100 horsepower. It’s always fun to shift for yourself if you can, or almost always fun, maybe not going uphill, stuck at a red light with an inattentive person parked 2.7 inches behind your rear bumper. People just don’t have a clue anymore that someone may be driving a car with a clutch, not that they would care anyway. “Enough preaching, Gilby, how’s the back seat area looking?” Great, other than a seam separation; the rear cargo area looks good, too.
Whoa, I did not expect the engine compartment to look like this after how nice the rest of the car looks! I usually think that a good weekend of detailing will take care of almost any engine compartment woes, but this one may take a bit longer. This is Ford’s 2.0-liter OHC inline-four with 100 horsepower and 120 lb-ft of torque when new. Sending power to the rear wheels through a four-speed manual, this one apparently runs and goes around the block, but needs some work in order to be a daily driver. This car was $2,050 new in 1971, which is around $16,000 today, how much is this Pinto worth?
Good write-up Scotty. A Pinto in good shape, with a manual transmission, and it’s even green!! I see a few oddities and deficiencies like the grungy engine you mentioned and the mismatched armrests (??), but it’s hard to find any Pinto which hasn’t already meet the crusher. I think this one has the Luxury Decor Group interior trim. It even has a “racing mirror” (that’s what Ford called it), but just one.
Could be a fun little car to run errands around town and take to local shows.
The carpet is supposed 2b green too.
I still can’t get over how you Barnfind crew find these extremely clean what was once an every day ( disposable, but I dont like using that word) vehicle. That K car the other day, and this Pinto now. The early bumpers look better to me. We had a family friend that had an early one with a stick for many many years. What unfortunately finally killed it was a broadside accident ( passenger side Ron walked away fortunately). Great color like Bob said. I just can’t get over that this thing survived all these years and looks this good. Seats, carpets door cards, look great.
Great write up Scotty. And another great find. I wouldn’t change anything other than some underhood detailing. And preserve it for future generations to see.
The oil breather cap blowing soot all over certainly doesn’t help matters…
No, no, preach on, brother, my “sediments” exactly. I get that on the 1-2 shift with my Jeep, people right on my tail. Big plus there is I’m retired, they’re late for something, so speed on,,,
Put me in the “Pinto was a great car” club, if any. The 4 speed had funky ratios, but it was exactly what America needed at the time. It wasn’t a chopped Hornet, or a car with some God forsaken motor, this was USA, USA, over 3 million were made, and kept the great folks of Joisey busy. The Pintos biggest hurdle? Replacing the old mans LTD. In ’71, Asian cars were still these feeble tin cans that surely had no chance( cough) and the Pinto was like familiar, but new, inspired by Britain. They sold a whopping 352,000 Pintos in ’71, half a mil by 1974, and a base Pinto was cheaper than the VW. Pintos sold well through the 70s, but 80s, was when Asian cars really kicked in, and good-bye Pinto.( hello Escort?) The Pinto was a great car.
Oh yeah, almost forgot, the stick will kill the deal. Even the author seems to realize that.
All the screens 🖥 💻 📺 📱 got everybody worked up in a frenzy Howard 😵💫.. Good message to tell these folks.
” Hurry up, and slow down ” lol.
My father made me practice that “hill start with someone on your a$$” maneuver. He would line us up on a hill, me in my 4-speed Citation X-11, him in his beater 1966 Ford pickup, close enough that I’d crack my taillights if I screwed it up. When I sold it, it had its original taillights.
Needs a 302
Saw a Pinto wagon at a car show at Moosehaven in Jacksonville several years ago. Had a blown flathead Ford V-8 in it. Very unexpected, but clean and well done. Not as odd as the Toyotacamino wagon, but odd enough!
Moosehaven Florida? Kind of funny. I once saw a flathead Ford engine in an early Bronco. Very neat.
Makes me want to build another one, I had a blue pimto 1972 bought a small block Ford conversion kit from Jack Roush racing. Fun times 😄
Same green as my 71′ Meteor Rideau 500,paint and interior,my car had the joy of a green vinyl roof also for the triple whammy 3-green cruising machine..due to me being 17 when i had the Mercury i have a deep love for this green.
When they first came out a buddy of mine went to the local Ford dealer and wrangled a deal for 2 of the basic models with the 1600 motors and manual transmissions- He carried 3000.00 cash in his pocket and came home with 2 of them.
The Pinto I’ve been looking for. Unbelievable body, and a rare hatchback from the first year. But that engine compartment and that it “needs work” to be driveable, makes me a little leery of buying it sight unseen from 3000 miles away. I guess I’m too skeptical anymore.
Don’t get “rear ended”
If there’s any doubt as to whether the fix has been performed on a 1971 through 1976 Pinto, remove the gas cap and look at the filler neck fasteners. If there are Torx fasteners, that’s the first sign the job has been done. If there’s a plastic shield on the front side of the tank, that’s the second sign. There were also shorter bumper mounting bolts and a longer filler tube but they would have to be compared to the originals to discern the difference.
Or get hit in the back by another car!
Matt, this is a lot of reading, but the Pinto wasn’t any worse than any other small car at the time, that’s fake news that’s lingered for five decades.
“A Rutgers Law Review article by former UCLA law professor Gary T. Schwartz (see Section 7.3 NHTSA Investigation above), examined the fatality rates of the Pinto and several other small cars of the time. He noted that fires, and rear-end fires, in particular, are a very small portion of overall auto fatalities. At the time only 1% of automobile crashes would result in fire and only 4% of fatal accidents involved fire, and only 15% of fatal fire crashes are the result of rear-end collisions.[144] When considering the overall safety of the Pinto, subcompact cars as a class had a generally higher fatality risk. Pintos represented 1.9% of all cars on the road in the 1975–76 period. During that time, the car represented 1.9% of all “fatal accidents accompanied by some fire”. This implies the Pinto was average for all cars and slightly above average for its class.[145] When all types of fatalities are considered, the Pinto was approximately even with the AMC Gremlin, Chevrolet Vega, and Datsun 510. It was significantly better than the Datsun 1200/210, Toyota Corolla, and VW Beetle.[144] The safety record of the car in terms of fire was average or slightly below average for compacts, and all cars respectively. This was considered respectable for a subcompact car. Only when considering the narrow subset of a rear impact, fire fatalities for the car were somewhat worse than the average for subcompact cars. While acknowledging this is an important legal point, Schwartz rejected the portrayal of the car as a firetrap.”
Thank you.
Scotty: You say the safety record of the car wasn’t any worse than any other small car at the time but the Wikipedia article on this subject notes Schwartz says, “The safety record of the car in terms of fire was average or slightly below average for compacts, and all cars respectively” So it was worse by some small percentage & not fake news.
Owned 4 Pinto coupes. And I’m still standing. Nice fable, though.
Lima x-flow? check; weber 32/36? check; wagon? nope – pass.
Those “F” ers on the bumper? I just roll back 2, 3 times (using
parking break). The ‘score’? if I getta beep or panic-y headlght flash.
Hatch is 2nd best. I guess this one’s got the chrome onit for a ‘trunk rack’?
Love the color – it was ubiquitous on the fords in the day. Not for my vehicles (white, silver, sompin light for the ‘few-wash special’). I see this holly 5200 or weber progressive on all sorta rigs. 1stV for movin around, 2ndV doesnt open till WOT. Gas miser yet there for the hills, merging, passing, ‘light to light’.
This is more a Gilby sz car, no?
I know I am quibbling over a minor detail, but I thought the tailgate glass in the Runabout was longer from top to bottom, i.e., it went lower. Anyone know? Am I mistaken?
On the later models, ’74 and up for sure. (Aunt Mildred has one).
I believe the larger glass on the Runabout started in 1972.
I’d been a mech for 35yrs at the time my GF went to look at a used dealership Pinto. Did not want me coming along. She comes back raving about her deal, ‘And it has air conditioning!’ Looking under the hood I asked; ‘Could you show me where the compressor is?’ Well, the air is coming out cold she says. I reply; ‘Its also February.’ I showed her on the window sticker, ‘No Guarantees’ Didn’t have it 20min when she drove it back…..they told her something about taking a flying leap at a rolling doughnut. I never once did any maintenance on it…..
Amazing. I’ve been rough on a couple of these in the early 80s. Forest roads in Northern Arizona can be rough with washes and washboard roads. The lack of rattling was quite impressive.
Almost perfect. The 2.0 pinto engine has unlimited potential. It is the small block chevy of Britian.
This is the closest we can get here in the states to the MK1 Escort.
I commuted to college when these were new and the parking lots were full of them and of course VW beetles. Certainly a car that fulfilled its intended purpose. This Pinto sure brings back memories for me of the days when even a student with a part time job could swing a new car like this. The four speed would be a plus for me. Much more fun to drive than a slush box. True story. My dad taught me how to use a clutch using his tried and true method: take the student to the steepest hill in the neighborhood. Require student to achieve ten acceptable starts in a row from a stop on steep hill. No slipping, bucking or stalling allowed. If any start is deemed unacceptable to the teacher; the student starts back at one again. If you don’t pass the Dad test; you don’t get to go take your driving test. Trust me this method works. You will never care again how close the driver of the car behind you gets.
Tough little car ! I had a 73 Runabout in a Lime Green and black guts and 4sp. Run the living daylights out of it…..no problems other breaking the shifter off from all the speedshifts and busting the cluster gear in trans by accident.
I had a 71 wagon that served me well. cost me $900 in 1976. My shifter also broke off at an inopportune moment. Thank God for vice grips.
My first car was a 71 Pinto in blue, otherwise identical to this example. I thought the half-window hatch was a better look than the later years, and totally agree with the previous comment about the early bumpers looking a whole lot better than the late ones. Bought the car for $50 in 1981, at which point Ohio winters had reduced the quarters and floors to Swiss cheese. But it ran and stopped and for a go-to-college car it was perfect…
Bought one new, in ’71. One of the early ones with a trunk lid. Yellow as a school bus. When I signed the papers the dealer/salesman got a gleam in his eye like a tom cat that had just bi**h slapped a mouse. Be that as it may, it was not a bad car at all. That 4-speed manual was made in Germany, and was one of the slickest-shifting transmissions I have ever owned. The car had its flaws of course, one was how the body was configured. If you drove it on a gravel road the front wheels would throw little rocks at the doors until the paint was ruined below the waistline.
My favorite bumper sticker was on a Pinto:
“Don’t hit me! I’ve got a full tank!”
I had a 71 wagon that served me well. Cost me $900 in 1976. My shifter also broke off at an inopportune moment. Thank God for vice grips.
My friend bought one of these, new, in 1971, and drove it and drove it. He parked it outside, and he never washed the winter salt off. He changed the oil only when he remembered to, and he put nearly 200,000 miles on it. By about 1984, it was more rust than vehicle, the floors had gaping holes, the dash pad was cracked and split open in a dozen places — but the car never gave up… until the day that it structurally collapsed from the rust-through of critical supports. Toward the end, you could not shut the doors without hoisting up on them, and riding in that car was a lawsuit waiting and ready to happen. He built wooden supports over the vanishing floor, to hold the front seating from falling down onto the pavement below. But all things, I suppose, eventually come to am end — and so did his Pinto — though not because it wouldn’t still run. I felt sad for that car, and I almost would like to get this one.
Great little cars. Buy this one, swap out a 2.3 with a 5 speed, improve the tires and wheels and add some sway bars. It would be a great, fun little car!
My mother bought one of these new in 72. With that short wheelbase it wasn’t very pleasant to drive on a bumpy interstate I borrowed it to return to college in upststate NY after Thanksgiving (my 70 Volvo had a broken
rear caliper). In a blinding snowstorm at night along Rt 3 I hit a drift where the plow had turned around and headed back the other way. Threw me into the guardrail and spun the car around repeatingly hitting the rail. Trashed all four sides of the Pinto. One headlight was hanging loose but still lit! Had to do a little side of the road body adjustment, but the little beast got me home that night. Needless to say, mom was not pleased when I called the next day. Insurance totaled the car, but it still ran fine. After seeing the car she did not buy another one!
My young friend had a white one back in the later 80’s. He couldn’t kill it! And not for lack of trying.
Driving along at 45mph or so it would suddenly begin to have an engine miss. He would pull over, raise the hood, remove the valve cover, and slide the loose rocker arm back on the valve it slid off of, and drive on.
Had a bad master cylinder. He would use the gears and emergency brake to stop. Good times. Ha!