We’ve been seeing a lot of Ford Pintos lately. Has it become the collector’s car of the year? Or is it just a plain coincidence? I’d go with the latter since out of the three million built more than 50 years ago, and the surviving population has gotten small. This 1978 edition is a station wagon that looks okay and has a lot of new parts, though the seller doesn’t outright say how well it runs. Located in Los Angeles, California, this orange transport is available here on craigslist for $7,000 OBO. Our thanks to Rocco B. for another tip from yesteryear!
Born in 1971, the Pinto was Ford’s answer to the onslaught of imported small cars led by the VW Beetle. With their light weight and smaller engines, it was at the right place at the right time when the OPEC oil embargo arrived in 1973 and brought higher gas prices. Three body styles were offered: the coupe, hatchback, and station wagon, like this one which has an abundance of orange inside and out. It’s a well-used machine with 129,000 miles before the odometer quit working.
Sitting on a pallet with a cover by its side, this Pinto looks to have been off the road for a while. Yet, the seller has had a long list of work done, which includes: the automatic transmission, brakes, alternator, rear end, stereo, and repainted door panels. The driver’s side bucket seats may need some work. The tires are good, and they come with two extras (studded, aka snow tires?). The seller provides few photos and doesn’t actually say if it runs.
Three pictures and a rebuilt oil pan, that’s all I need to know.
A Pinto. That’s all I need to know.
$7,000 for a beater Pinto wagon? That’s all I need to know…
I really didn’t need to know any of it….
Orange you glad I started off knowing slightly more than I know now.
7k that’s all I need to know
Unless there’s 6500 in the glove box!
LS? I need to know!!
Know way.
This vehicle is actually listed for sale in Port Angeles, WA, on the Olympic Peninsula, according to the ad.
Thanks for correcting its location that really doesn’t look like LA.
Steve R
About twice the original sticker price.
The ad cracks me up:
*New stereo (so you can listen to the crappy sad music that’s out there now, great);
*Door interiors repainted (I guess that’s the part of the door the driver sees, so, cool);
*Rebuilt oil pan (Those tended to fail on the later Pintos);
*Plus two studded tires (From ’78, and the air in them is also from ’78);
Has two dents (otherwise we assume it’s in concours condition)
Remember back in ’78 when you could go to the county fair and for 50 cents you could hit a beater car with a sledge hammer? Step right up!
At first glance I said to myself omg it can’t be that POS I owned in 1983. And then i had a flashback of how bad that car was, the worst car I ever owned. I only had it for about six months and had to pull the motor to replace the starter. By the end I had to tie the doors shut with ropes. Better ideas from Ford LOL
Who gave you that advice? LOL
An abundance of orange, but not as much abundance as you could get of red, blue, green or brown – every other interior color on the Pinto came fully color-matched but for some reason the orange interior had a black dash and carpets.
I would expect seven grand worth of ’78 Pinto wagon to look like the typical example might’ve in 1979.
Surely someone will have a crush on this car…