One of my favorite recent opening photos, this Pinto wagon does need a bit of service after having been stored since 2005. Ahhhh, 2005, to go back 20+ years. What’s the first thing you’d do? I mean, other than buying this 1973 Ford Pinto Wagon and keeping it maintained. The seller has it posted here on craigslist in beautiful Scottsboro, Alabama, and they’re asking $2,950. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Tony P. for the tip!
Ford called this body style a 2-Door Wagon, adding a couple of extra words as if their marketing department was being paid per word. It’s a wagon, no? Yes. They didn’t make a 4-door wagon, did they? No. I made one a while ago. You can see some work will need to be done to and/or on this Pinto wagon. The hood is clearly a brighter “White” than the rest of the body, and there are dings, scratches, and a bit of rust to deal with. I think it would be a really interesting daily driver as it looks now, but I’m weird.
The Pinto was made from 1970 for the 1971 model year until the end of 1980 in one generation. I’ve always wondered what a second-generation Pinto may have looked like. According to a 1973 Ford Pinto brochure, “Ford is a very experienced small car manufacturer. We’ve been building small, dependable, economical cars from the days of the Model “T” and Model “A” down through the current Cortina, Taunus, and Capri of Europe.” Now there’s a blast from the past. No pun intended.
A wagon with a manual transmission is always cool, no matter what it looks like. There is so much work to do here if a person wanted to restore this car, for some odd reason. I’d look for a much nicer example for two or three times this asking price if I were in the market for a Pinto wagon. The seller is a bit light on photos, mainly interior and engine photos.
The only back seat photo we see is this one showing the rear cargo area. And there is no engine photo. This one has a 2.0-liter OHC inline-four with 83 horsepower and 97 lb-ft of torque when new. Sending power through the four-speed manual to the rear wheels, the seller says this car has been in storage since 2005, and they “drained the gas, cleaned the tank, installed new brake master cylinder, new spark plugs, newer tires, and new carpet set, and drove it.” It runs great, shifts perfectly, but needs to have the carb rebuilt. For a general eye-catching driving around town car, this would be fun to own. Would you daily drive a Pinto wagon in this condition?
I daily drove a ’73 Pinto wagon, back in 1980’s. Paid $150, and drove it home from college, then to work for two years. Sold it to my uncle, and he delivered newspapers in it for a couple more. Indestructible engine and transmission, not so the body.
The early Pintos definitely have the nicer looking non 5 mph bumpers. I know this needs a lot of work however, it looks like it has good bones. A wagon with a stick? Yes all day long. A full restoration would probably be cost prohibitive but, if you’re doing the work yourself, and if its complete maybe a DIY restoration. And Scotty, that 4 door wagon looks fantastic!! Ford should have built it. Seriously…. It looks like it came from their design studio. Love it.