Chevrolet and Ford fielded entries in the subcompact market for the first time in 1971. Ford’s contender against the VW Beetle and other imports was the Pinto, which was in production for a full decade. The changes were few by 1974, mostly the addition of bigger bumpers that tended to look out of place. The seller’s edition presents quite well for 50 years of age and is said to have only seen 50,000 miles. It even comes with a trunk full of spare parts – in case you need them. Located in Moreno Valley, California, this survivor is available here on craigslist for $8,400. Our compliments to T.J. for another great tip!
Ford was into naming cars after horses. First there was the Mustang (1965), then the Maverick (1969), and then the Pinto. Oh, let’s not forget the Bronco (1966) either! The company would go on to sell nearly 3.2 million Pintos before they retired the rear-wheel-drive runabout in 1980. That doesn’t include the 225,000 Mercury Bobcats (a clone of the Pinto) that were peddled as well. The 1974 model year proved to be the Pinto’s most successful sales-wise thanks to the OPEC oil embargo that sent buyers scrambling for gas-sipping transportation alternatives. All Pintos built before 1975 were powered by an inline-4 engine that was considered thrifty by the standards of the day.
Not many Pintos are running around these days and their low initial price didn’t usually motivate their being collected. But in this case, the car is a one-owner vehicle that has the documented mileage you might expect from a three-year-old automobile. It’s the coupe version rather than the hatchback which had also become popular. We’re told this machine is original and everything looks tidy, though we wonder if anything is afoot under the seat cover that only resides on the driver’s bucket.
Other than the seat cover question, there doesn’t appear to be anything amiss with this Pinto. Though the seller refers to it as a daily driver, that’s probably not how it’s been treated over the last five decades. For a Pinto, it has a fair number of options, like an automatic transmission, air conditioning (factory?), and a vinyl top (I don’t remember seeing too many of those back in the day). If you like what Ford did with the Pinto and want to buy the best one available, this ’74 gas sipper could be the one.
The ’74-75’s rotted out quickly, here in the rust belt. The rumor was that Ford was using cheap imported Asian steel. This Pinto is in amazing shape, and “loaded” with options, for the day. But, this was the start of the 2.3 engine, which was absolutely strangled by the gub’ment EPA regulations. With that automatic and air? This one would be stone slow.
I have heard “cheap Asian steel” in relation to every American made rust bucket ever built.
Any idea if there is any truth to it?
C’mon, you know what they say about facts vs. good stories…
As opposed to the all the Asian rust buckets? Seeing as the Japanese cars from the 70’s disintegrated pretty fast? Maybe it was true.
Nope. They didnt rust out any different than previous years and I lived on the East coast as well as running a junkyard in the 1980s when these cars would be coming in . If that was the case there would be a lot of 73 cars compared to 74 and 75 which isnt the case. Certain cars rusted out a lot more than others, but it was the actual car, not the year. All square bodies Chevy trucks would have severe rust on everybody panel when they came in, but the same could not be said for the Ford and Dodge trucks of that era – Pintos ? pretty solid for what they were, but the Vegas rusted faster than an Asian car . Mavericks of all years though were severe rusters, but their bretheren Granadas were not . 76 and 77 Volare/Aspens are legendary for rust, but the 78-80s were not.
Not true about American made cars in the 70s, the cars from Japan used imported steel.
A Maverick isn’t a horse it’s a type of cattle like a bull
I thought a “maverick” was sort like a wandering cowboy, the lone-wolf type who followed his own rules.
A maverick is an unbranded bovine….Samual Maverick ran unbranded cattle on an island off the Texas coast in the later 1890’s. Thus the name.
There, your bit of unrelated and irrelevant info on this great automobile site.
You mean it has nothing to do with Brett or Bart :(
Where’s the A/C compressor?
KC maybe it’s in that trunk full of parts, because no a/c condenser either.,
A friend of mine drove a 1971 Pinto until it fell apart from structural rust. You had to be ultra careful over where you put your feet — or you risked having them ripped off from you by the open road moving underneath the rotted-out floor. I hope someone continues to preserve this one, but in a relatively dry Southern climate: DON’T BRING IT UP HERE TO THE NORTHEAST, unless you are going to keep it only as a “garage-queen”!
This car does not have A/C. Pintos with factory air mounted the dash vents where the HVAC controls are on this car, and moved the HVAC controls to immediately below the radio, between the radio and the cubbyhole that’s on top of the transmission tunnel. Also my parents had a Pinto from this approximate time period and that is not an A/C HVAC control head. The bottom lever obviously only has “OFF – HEAT – DEF” positions. The open spot in the dash was where they put the dash a/c vent if you ordered the car with both air and the optional “Sport Gauge Pack” which put the auxiliary gauges where the A/C vent would be.
Looking at the heater controls, i dont think this pinto was ordered with a/c.
How hard is it to put in a 5 speed manual & put on 1971 bumpers?
What would be the purpose of a five speed in this slow poke car?
My friend’s MUCH lighter ’71 was very fast with 4 speed manual, holley, offenhauser, headers & 3/4 race cam. If 1 could get the wt down, etc. in this pinto, a 5 speed would be even better.
It would make it “much less slow”, fun to drive, and improve fuel economy considerably.
Night and day, Al.
Why would you change the transmission and put the wrong bumpers on it????!!!!
A friend of mine drove a 1971 Pinto until it fell apart from structural rust. You had to be ultra careful over where you put your feet — or you risked having them ripped off from you be the open road moving underneath the rotted-out floor. I hope someone continues to preserve this one, but in a relatively dry Southern climate: DON’T BRING IT UP HERE TO THE NORTHEAST, unless you are going to keep it only as a “garage-queen”!
A friend of mine drove a 1971 Pinto until it fell apart from structural rust. You had to be ultra careful over where you put your feet — or you risked having them ripped off from you by the open road moving underneath the rotted-out floor. I hope someone continues to preserve this one, but in a relatively dry Southern climate: DON’T BRING IT UP HERE TO THE NORTHEAST, unless you are going to keep it only as a “garage-queen”!
Got it. We understand.
Hey, it’s a Mustang II in Pinto clothing.
Just kidding, of course. Poking a little fun at the fact that every single time a Mustang II is posted, at least one person posts that it’s a Pinto – completely incorrect.
What’s the spec on a 3/4 can???
My boss would say when someone asked for a 3/4 race can you pick a cam that’s 3/4 of the way down the page. There were cams in the 1950’s advertised as 3/4 race, but that was gone at least by the mid-60’s, I’ve got several mid-60’s through early-70’s Crane and Isky catalogs that don’t use that terminology.
Steve R
When my father would refer to 3/4 cams I never knew what he was talking about. I’d be like 3/4 of what?? Never made sense to me, but I can see how in the ‘50s looking down the page 3/4 of the way was how guys would have made an assumption about how radical the cam was…
Oh, let’s get real, here, with the pricing. For $8,400, the current owner needs to have the driver’s seat professionally reupholstered. Geez, these people selling Pintos and thinking they’ve got a Chevelle SS…SMH
if they weren’t nice new, how can you ask if it’s the nicest one left? total garbage then, and I would be afraid to drive it now.
To be fair, the Pinto was not complete garbage when new. HOWEVER, that fairly said, it was NOT a car for winter driving. Period. But, within its limitations, the Pinto ran well and reliably, as well as economically. But body structure is important, where salt and snow/ice are concerned — and this was where the Pinto couldn’t cut it. As an “econo-car”, outside of its rust proclivity, the Pinto generally was okay.
Not saying much, but it was better than the Chevy Vega, which was little more than a beer can on wheels and a drive train to match. The Pinto, in its first couple of years, was a decent little car. It shared its engine options with the Capri that was still offered in those years.
Drove my ’74 Pinto through the blizzard of ’78. Studded snows and cement bags in the trunk. You just had to know how to drive.
You said it, C. In my ’71 wagon I had a 150 pound pneumatic vise casting in the back, directly over the rear axle and of course snows mounted.
Throughout those long NY & VT winters, never got stuck.
Yes they were ugly bumpers but part of me wishes that the 5mph impact bumpers was on today’s cars instead of the 2.5mph
Today’s bumbers are useless at anything over 0 mph – u got damage. & with a good bump, u got thousands of $s damage.
Overpriced for what it is, with an $8,400 asking price it’s priced for perfection and should need nothing.
Steve R
To Terrry: “a beer can on wheels” — I laughed out loud on THAT one! How about the Chevette? (a female college student’s car).
A nice Pinto. Probably not perfect, but in the world of Pintos where few have survived, it’s hard to find one which is perfect. They do have a following.
My friend who ran his ’71 until it fell apart from rust when it still was mechanically sound, used to call it his “PINNNNNN-toe” — but you had to see the expression on his face when he said it. We had a blind friend who would explore its open rust-ulcers with her fingers and declare, “interesting”. Those were carefree days indeed, when we still were crazy and I still drove the 1946 Ford Super Deluxe V-8 I’d had for years and years, to the amusement of others and the disgust of my still-living parents (though my mother found it “most comfortable” to ride in). But with their new cars every two or three years, they could not see the point in my driving something they had long since relegated into their (not missed) past. My father asked to drive it once, and I thought I was about to be entertained as he would figure out how to start it. But he turned the key, flipped-on the ignition-switch, then reached under the left side of the dash to hit the start-button. I expressed astonishment, to which he responded, “What? — do you think I was born yesterday? I drove the 1942 version of this exact Ford as my officer’s car all during the War — there isn’t one inch of this vehicle that I don’t know in my SLEEP! (but I STILL wouldn’t have one of these NOWadays) — you’re NUTS!” I plead guilty.
Once again, we find common ground, Bob_in_TN; I am sympathetic to anyone who likes this car. I even like this car, a little bit. I don’t mind that it’s slow. For a town commuter or Cars ‘N Coffee, it would be a hit.
Sadly, the most trouble free car I ever owned. Drove it for 5 years. It was beige. In that car you could pass a cop speeding. They never saw me. That was the longest time period of my life where I never got stopped by the man.
Drove my ’74 Pinto through the blizzard of ’78. Studded snows and cement bags in the trunk. You just had to know how to drive.
My friend who ran his ’71 until it fell apart from rust when it still was mechanically sound, used to call it his “PINNNNNN-toe” — but you had to see the expression on his face when he said it. We had a blind friend who would explore its open rust-ulcers with her fingers and declare, “interesting”. Those were carefree days indeed, when we still were crazy and I still drove the 1946 Ford Super Deluxe V-8 I’d had for years and years, to the amusement of others and the disgust of my still-living parents (though my mother found it “most comfortable” to ride in). But with their new cars every two or three years, they could not see the point in my driving something they had long since relegated into their (not missed) past. My father asked to drive it once, and I thought I was about to be entertained as he would figure out how to start it. But he turned the key, flipped-on the ignition-switch, then reached under the left side of the dash to hit the start-button. I expressed astonishment, to which he responded, “What? — do you think I was born yesterday? I drove the 1942 version of this exact Ford as my officer’s car all during the War — there isn’t one inch of this vehicle that I don’t know in my SLEEP! (but I STILL wouldn’t have one of these NOWadays) — you’re plain NUTS!” I plead guilty.
Could be the pics but it looks like the driver’s side quarter panel had some not so great body work done
you could buy a pretty nice used Lexus for the price of this thing.
To JCA: I can’t get it clearly enough to discern that — but if so, poor body repair would be a “bummer” (as they say these days)
Nope. They didnt rust out any different than previous years and I lived on the East coast as well as running a junkyard in the 1980s when these cars would be coming in . If that was the case there would be a lot of 73 cars compared to 74 and 75 which isnt the case. Certain cars rusted out a lot more than others, but it was the actual car, not the year. All square bodies Chevy trucks would have severe rust on everybody panel when they came in, but the same could not be said for the Ford and Dodge trucks of that era – Pintos ? pretty solid for what they were, but the Vegas rusted faster than an Asian car . Mavericks of all years though were severe rusters, but their bretheren Granadas were not . 76 and 77 Volare/Aspens are legendary for rust, but the 78-80s were not.
Everyone on here commenting on how SLOW these cars were, we didn’t know until we bought ours. We bought it, planning on busting Camaros, Vettes, and Mustangs. We actually thought we might even bust a Hemi or two along the way. Man, were we disappointed !!!!!!! Ours was a brand new 74 with the automatic and the ”big” 2300 engine. Thank goodness we did not get the 2000 engine. Now they WERE sick. These cars should have been sold as economy cars, not race cars, as people on here think they were. Ours was a super neat ”little” car that had no problems and went everywhere we wanted to go, until the snow got over the bumper in the winter of 78. We should have opted for the four wheel drive version, instead of the high performance version. We did beat my buddy in his new Vega, though. His was a 4 speed and he jumped us out of the hole, but we whizzed around him at the end of the quarter. (true story) If I had the extra cash, I would jump on this, or is that jump in this. Neat little car, regardless of the price. PS the aluminum radiator is a little suspect though. Hmmmm, this may be a souped up Corvette killer.
I had a brand new Pinto in 1978 with a four-cylinder four speed and it was bare bones and it drove fine for what it was. I had a set of four bolt SS Crager mags on mine, which made it look pretty sharp.
All I can say is, for a car people love to treat with disdain and disrespect, this Pinto surely generates a lot of INTEREST, here! To “bone”: I observed that 1969 Ford L.T.D.s seem to hold up fairly well against the winter salt; however, the nicer-looking 1970 version surely did not!!! They rotted-out behind the rear wheels and into the trunk — and eventually the rear ends of the rear springs rotted off the frame and collapsed into the trunk. Too bad: I liked the look of the 1970 L.T.D.. I would see them around 1985, still shining like showroom, but with their rear ends terminally collapsing from rust: sad. “bone”, please contribute MORE information on this subject! I drive a 1988 Mercury Grand Marquis with 378,000 miles, which has slogged through 36 Adirondack winters and still manages to be rust-free: the underside still looks excellent (of course, I wash any salt off right away). But we have three 1986 Mercury Grand Marquis on the road as daily drivers in my small city, and none of them are rusty. So, SOME cars definitely endure the wet salt better than others. But, “bone”, YOU have valuable information we ALL could use if we intend to DRIVE our vehicles where WINTER is. Thank you so much!
Interesting design of that vinyl top. Hard to believe that’s factory.
A radio was not std in a 2nd gen firebird & my ’74 does not have one, yet oddly, i never remember seeing a 2nd gen camaro or even pinto with a fact radio block off plate.
My ’81 Camaro had a radio block-off plate. I ordered it from the factory without a radio. It still came with the windshield antenna though, thankfully.
My first new car was a 71 four speed. Forest green metallic with a black vinyl top… And green vinyl interior, was a cool little car and ran well
I lived in Iowa, born in 1953 and left for Florida in 2008. I owned several econoboxes. I never put on snow tires but did put 2-40 lbs bags of salt over the rear axle. I never had a problem. As someone here mentioned, it helps if you know how to drive.
I always read the entire article and comments once clicked on, I can honestly say this car got some attention.
1 thing this car did well was get the attention of many readers.
When I graduated college my first car was a new 1971 Pinto. Coffee brown, unfortunately. 19 mpg city driving. Maybe 25 mpg highway. Or maybe 23. Rust? Heck yes. Would not start when it rained, dealer repaired that. When at work one day when car was quite new, the horn started blowing and would not shut off. I put on 4,300 miles the first year and brought it to the dealer for a tuneup. The service writer laughed, saying tuneup is done at 10,000 miles. I replied that the owners manual said 10,000 miles or 12 months for each tuneup. He laughed again. But this pictured Pinto is a beauty because of the vinyl roof. I had no power steering, lousy suspension, trouble climbing the Green Mountains in Vermont until I realized that is what the number 2 stood for on my automatic shift selection. At least that is what I think the other gear selection was labeled. Sold it in 1978 for $400 when I got tired of the head gasket leak. Put on 63, 000 miles. Never missed that car. No one is paying $8,400 for a Pinto. Mine cost $2,400 with tax and license. My father somehow came up with a figure he wrote down for $2,400 and handed it to the salesman while I was still at home sleeping on a Sunday morning. What kind of negotiation was that? I was bummed when he told me he chose brown as the color because we saw that color on the Pinto billboard the night before. I was too unskilled in those days to call the dealership to change the color. Father knows best.
I dated a girl (way back when) who just bought a brand pinto. Can you say really small back seat?
The only passenger I can remember in the backseat was my small dog who never complained about it.
I survived a Pinto crash… 🤣
We had one just like this one in El Salvador in the 70s. Same color, same vinyl roof…