I don’t think we need much more in the way of evidence to prove that Ford Pintos can be fun projects than this 1973 wagon here on eBay. I’ve felt like these once-despised cheap classics were mounting a come-back in popularity, and seeing one converted into a surf wagon puts a smile on my face. Who needs an overpriced VW Bus when you can just as easily take one of these to the beach? With all that airbrushed woodgrain trim adorning the sides, this Pinto wagon is closer to the original surf Woodies that dotted California beaches than those rusty buses anyway. Throw in this Pinto’s mint interior and low mileage and it’s not hard to see why this could be an easy way into classic ownership. Does anyone else like what they see in this surf-ready wagon?
the inside and underhood look good, no underside photos on this now in california with texas tag car. if the miles are true this would make a nice driver. i would try to undo the woodie look without damaging the car or paint. interesting find
It is wonderful. The only thing I would do is lose the surfboards and add a set of dog dish hub caps. It would garner more attention than any muscle car at a show. great looking car.
Living in the Midwest I would also drop the surf scene look, drop a 302 or maybe a beefy 6 banger under the hood as those 4 bangers of that era were known to eat timing belts, ask me how I know as my folks had one of these. Then put a set of cragars on it with some flowmasters exhaust and go cruising.
Stepping up to a Cologne V6 would be a really good fit in this car, preferably with a stick shift. I’m assuming that this car has the 2.0 4-cylinder, which as JW mentioned chewed through timing belts if you tried to stretch the mileage too far. It also relied for the overhead cam lubrication upon a small oil tube that ran along the cam with little squirter holes to shoot oil onto the lobes. If you weren’t diligent about changing the oil, the holes plugged up and the cam wore down–fast. How do I know? Don’t ask. The 2.3 liter that replaced the 2.0 in ’74 was more ruggedized to deal with the neglect of people that think you could neglect a four-cylinder like it was a ’60s straight-six, and eliminated the troublesome tube.
Never had a problem with the timing belt with the one I bought new back in 1973.
One of the several Pintos that my father bought to fix was a ’73 runabout with the 2.0. It was moderately wrecked and the timing belt had shredded as well. We replaced the belt, and it gave no further trouble. I don’t know why the belt had broken, since it had happened before we bought it. I believe these were non-interference engines–if the belt jumped, once you changed the belt and aligned the timing marks, it forgave you and started running again. They were pretty good little engines.
Nice shape over all, but it looks a bit to pimped up. Tried to hard to make it into a surf wagon just to sell it. Wonder what the reserve is?
all this needs is a set of killer rims/white lettered BFG T/A’s (50 series) a port injected turbo charged V-6 with a 6 speed manual. than, it would be PERFECT (to me)
I would love to have it.
Drove a ’72 Pinto wagon yellow with di-noc pn the side as a result of a girlfriend owning it. If not the worst car on earth , pretty close.
A header and dualport intake livens these up, at least with stickshift..