On the surface level, daily driving a Ford Pinto wagon may not seem like a thrill. But any car, no matter how humble, can suddenly seem a bit more endearing when you consider its history. In the case of this Ford Pinto wagon, it previously lived on Martha’s Vineyard, an island off the coast of Massachusetts. Like any island community, cars take on a slightly different purpose: they have to be fairly resilient and not prone to constant break-down. Parts need to be somewhat affordable and accessible, too, because you can’t be stuck waiting for a brake caliper to show up. This Pinto has survived in incredible shape and is listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Exeter, New Hampshire, for $7,500.
The Pinto wagon is a sharp design, all these years later. I wish the three-door wagon configuration had taken off, since the final result is still quite attractive. The seller notes that this Pinto was purchased new and relocated to the Vineyard not long after, and it sounds like it remained there ever since. While the concept of living in a place like that now is immediately accompanied by images of private jets and spacious estates, it used to be far simpler. Ordinary people lived there while kids from the mainland tried to get summer jobs as life guards and camp counselors. That’s all changed now, obviously, but it doesn’t surprise me at all to see a Pinto wagon pop up as someone’s former daily driver who lived there year round.
And boy, did they keep it in mint condition. The Pinto was a wagon, yes, with loads of space behind the rear seat. It doesn’t surprise me, however, that the backseat is folded down, since it wasn’t a particularly nice place to spend time with the transmission hump cutting into usable seat space. So, seeing the rear seat collapsed in favor of showcasing the usable storage space in the wagon version of the Pinto makes sense. There are no cracks in the dash and seats appear to be in mint condition. The automatic wasn’t particularly efficient and the manual would have been a far better choice, in retrospect, but for something to putt around the island in, who cares?
Engine choices were limited to the 1.6L Kent 4-cylinder and the SOHC 2.0L 4-cylinder, the latter of which made around 86 horsepower and 102 lb.-ft. of torque. The 2.0L was an upgrade over the base model, so combined with the automatic transmission, someone clearly wanted to drive a loaded-up Pinto (that being said, it’s not a Cruising Wagon.) The seller notes that while it’s in outstanding condition, there are some flaws, and that if he can’t sell it now, he’ll bring it to the New England Dragway swap meet. Be sure to check out the photos in the listing of all the additional documentation that comes with it, too.
Very, very nice Pinto Wagon. The mint green/green colors are great. Not perfect, but one can tell it has been well-kept. It is not rusty or beat to death, the demise of most basic cars. I too would prefer a four-speed. The seller’s note that of all the cars he owns, this one gets the most smiles and attention (because “everyone has a story about a Pinto”) is probably not an exaggeration. That’s a fun part of the hobby.
Good job Jeff.
It’s so nice to see one of these w/o the park bench bumpers!
’71-72 have the smaller bumpers and make the car much more attractive.
Too bad it’s not a 4 speed,but I guess you can’t have everything.
These are very practical cars for daily use,& I don’t see it losing
value.
Another of those “IF I had the money & space for it” cars.
Very similar to my 71, same color interior. Mine had a third pedal and that car served me well.
These were pretty tuff, beaters, and could haul stuff’ on top of it. This one is in pretty amazing shape, kinda worth the asking price.
Looks like a great Pinto. I agree with Bob, the colors are great. I’m with 8banger, I preffer the early bumpers hands down. Even though I’d want a stick, I’d consider this one simply for the great condition.
If you compare these to the Chevy Vega, Pintos were the better car all around. It helped that English and German Ford was supplying their engines in the early years. Pintos can still be found in good shape but one as nice as this is rare indeed. As a side note, if you wanted to swap the 1.6 with the 2.0 or vice versa, it’s a job. The mounts, wiring and exhaust (opposite sides) are all different.
Later models got the 2.3L four and a 2.8L V6. The 2.3L was later turbocharged in the SVO Mustang and T-Bird Turbo coupe, so a relatively easy upgrade for more power is possible. For the truly well-heeled a 2.3L Ecoboost crate motor is always an option.
This one is almost too nice to mess with though. A Pinto Cruisin’ Wagon would be a better choice to hot rod/restomod, as those came with the optional Sports Package, which included the optional tachometer and oil pressure, water temperature and voltmeter gages. The Cruisin’ Wagon wasn’t available until the ’74 model year, though, IIRC. These all came with floor-shifted transmissions, so a manual transmission conversion is also a possibility, Just add the third pedal and the correct transmission and you’re good to go!
This must’ve seen summer use only to be this nice after over half a century in Massachusetts.
True. And garaged through the winter, to boot, because this one looks like it never saw snow! Pintos are so rare today because most of them rusted away after a few years here in the snow belt, where they were crushed and recycled as Toyotas, LOL! The few survivors are usually Southern cars, where they never saw snow or road salt. Salt eats cars!
I’m surprised it isn’t rusted badly, with the salt air environment. Must have been in a garage. The 2.0L used to eat camshafts and it came out the back, so you had to remove the cyl. head. The 1.6L was and OHV engine and would go virtually forever. Couldn’t get the automatic with the 1.6L though. Same engine as the Ford Fiesta subcompact.
The 1.6L engine in the early Pintos was the British Kent engine from the Cortina, not the Fiesta.
In this shape if it came from The Vineyard you’re right-it has to be the “summer” car.
Wow sometimes the island cars look great but after getting into them of the island, I know had a couple it seems the salt finally catches up, but good luck, I’m even tempted nice money and 50 minutes away!
Driving one of these, the cop pulls me over and says “where’s the fire?” I reply, IN THE CARBURETOR!!!
I have owned a ‘72 Pinto Station Wagon before and they are fun cars to take out. Every stop I would have someone comment or tell me a story about one they knew of or had owned. This one seems very nice but would be good to know if there is rust below given its location.
Wow, this one looks better than my 1973 Pinto Squire did after 5 years and 128000 miles, which I bought new. It brings back a lot of memories.
If I buy the wagon do I get the MG behind it too?…
Looks like a nice clean little car, I just can’t bring myself to pay that kind of money for a pinto
I have a friend who has a couple of these, but the very high end ones. I would love to have one. He has LOTS of cars and I might be able to talk him into selling one to me. But it will be a little harder to talk my wife into it!
I car-pooled to college in the coupe version, my buddy had a coupe with a trunk that had the same color interior, but the exterior was a much darker green, like a British Racing Green, or Forrest Green. Good times!
looks like a good clean honest 6500.00 wagon. tint the rear windows and find some later model factory mag wheels and your in.
I completely agree, a set of the stock slotted aluminum rims that came later would look perfect on this car.
As noted it needs a 3rd pedal and a 4 or 5 spd. The automatic sucks the life out of these.
None the less a great wagon in amazing condition! And yes to the slotted factory mags please.
My wife drove a ’73 Pinto wagon and we loved it.