The Pony Express’s motto was “The mail must go through.” It’s apparent that this 1980 Ford Pinto Pony’s owner has the idea that “the sale must go through” as the price for this find is pretty low! Check out the advertisement here on eBay, where the buy it now is a low $2,500 and bidding is even lower than that! The Pony is currently located in Iowa Falls, Iowa.
While the seller has had the car for 14 years, they state they have put less than 10,000 miles on the car in the last 10 of them. I’m not even going to get into the odometer reading of 34,518 miles; to be honest, after this much time condition matters far more than the distance traveled. The seller also tells us that the driver’s side rear wheel well has some rust although they include a close up picture of the passenger side that shows some rust there too. There is also some surface rust on the rocker panels. Apart from the minor dent in the driver’s front fender, I don’t see any other substantial dents or dings.
The faded original paint is a distinct contrast to the areas that have been repainted for some reason. I wonder what a good detail shop could do buffing the original faded paint to try to get it close to the newer repainted areas. It’s nice to see someone keeping the original graphics and rally wheels too, although I couldn’t find any listing of a Pony “Express” model anywhere; my assumption is that it is a dealer or distributor-added tape stripe only (feel free to prove me wrong).
The interior lends some credence to the low mileage claim, and I can tell you from personal experience that Ford seat fabric of this vintage doesn’t hold up well. The car’s mainly covered life in Ohio under prior ownership may well account for the condition. The seller is including a vinyl cover for the dash for the new owner to uncover some unsightly splits.
We’re told that the engine runs well and has a new starter and “generator” (alternator). If it’s the original engine it will actually be a 2,300 cc rather than the 2,000 cc spelled out in the ad. I know not all of you like Pintos, but I’d sure give this Pony a ride — what about you?
I was just think to myself that “I really need a
two tone Red Pinto”.
I also resisted the urge to stop & look at a White
Bricklin on the side of the road in SW Virginia today.
I had a Mustang that was a high mileage original and the paint on the hood and fenders were faded like this car. The roof and quarters stayed glossy. I thought it had to have been something to do with the way they were painted at the factory.
I don’t usually believe low mileage claims but this one seems legitimate. because no pinto ever went 134k miles.
With many engine changes they can go much more than that.
Had a 1979 Mustang with a 2300 engine and it went 255,000 miles. Same engine (no rebuild) I drove it 130,000, sold it to a friend and she
drove it 85,000 miles and the rest was a teen ago boy.
The manufacturers engineering was Not designed to last for that many miles on a 2300 engine….maybe the odometer could of been bad in your Mustang…Or maybe the vehicle was towed behind a motor home for 180,000 miles….I know this because the engineering team knows what the engine limits are!! So when I hear claims of such I have to chime in and call bull.
90 HP with an automatic transmission, manual steering and brakes, and no a/c? A bicycle would be more fun and probably faster. These cars were supposed to be run into the ground and then thrown away. Not sure he’s going to get anywhere close to the $2500 Buy It Now price but at least the seller is in the realistic ballpark on it’s value. BTW — 11 hours left and bids at $1125.
They left the factory in rough shape….lucky you passed on it!
a faded Pinto with a slusher..yay…
Pull the 2300 and drop in a 302 or 351 and have some fun.
My 78 Mercury Bobcat that was put on this site by someone who came across it about a year or so ago was way better than this Pinto Pony Express. The Bobcat that I used to own also had its critics of what I had it listed for which at that time was 5k. But at least it didn’t look run down like this one does. I did a lot of repairs on the Bobcat to include rebuilding the engine. The interior and body were in pretty good shape. The only major rust area that I ever saw was under the doors. It took me a while to find a buyer who would give me a descent price. In the end, it was his gain, and my loss financially. The Bobcat sold for 3k with only 500 miles on the rebuild which costed 3,700. I think the price of this Pony Express might be worth the current bid of just over 1k. I paid 1,400 for my Bobcat with it’s motor issues back in 2014. The car always had carb issues that I couldn’t remedy so frustration is what led me to sell it. And looking for a mechanic who works on carbs has never been easy. Another car that I got rid of for the same reason was my 76 Chevette after owning that one for 6 years. I currenty have a El Camino with a crate 350 carbed. Yeah a lot more HP, but its 4 barrel Edelbrock carb has issues! Though they are nothing as dramatic like the Chevette and Bobcat that I had! Engine wise, my 84 Cougar fuel injected 3.8 Essex starts up every time the first time! At the end, it doesn’t matter what they are – Maserati, Lambourghini, Datsun, VW or what not – they are all hunk of junks that will eventually be crushed somewhere someday. But in the mean time we love them. But lets try to concentrate and love more the people around us.
I bought it !!!
@Kent – Awesome! Please keep us updated.
Sweet! Hope all is going well with it Kent. Bobcat sedans in descent condition are not easy to find! The only ones I ever came across here locally were in the junkyard or (one that was in junk yard condition) ended up in the junkyard. I actually tried to save that one, but the guy would not sell it to me for $150. He was firm on $250. But in the end, it would have been a ‘barrel fool’ of money to have brought it back to life! I’m glad I didn’t buy it. It was a ’77, and had the 2.3, standard trani, ac, and the big glass window. But it was in rough, rough shape.
Sil had a Pinto. She worked at a large bank in Seattle for 25 years and commuted from N.E. Seattle to downtown daily. Not saying she had that car that long, but she did drive it from 71 to 78 and put a lot of city miles on it. She traded it in on a new Chevy Impala in 78, a car she never really liked.
God bless America
My mom had a Brown Pinto 73 or 74 I think.
Was parked in front of our house under the street light where she always parked it. One night around 1am ( technically morning) we heard sirens and saw police lights. Seems a young kid who was the son of a Colonel at the nearby army Base ran square into the back of the pinto and pushed it about 25 feet down the road. Whole back end smashed. But it didn’t explode ( the gas tank issue we remember)
Car totaled Kid arrested Colonel embarrassed
( he was the 2nd in command at the time) but he and the insurance paid it all. And he made a personal apology. It was a fun car while it lasted for mom. I think she got a Maverick after that.
I hope that people would take these little Pintos/Bobcats to their local car shows. I go to car shows here sometimes, and I have yet to see one. The closest thing that I ever see to one of these cars is the Maverick, but that’s not exactly the same. I am the only one I ever saw driving one. lol. Weeeell, except once I saw one in the You Pull & Pay parking lot that looked cool. It looked like a 75ish with fatter tires in the rear, side pipes, and faded green paint; however, I have never seen that one again since then.