UPDATE – Firemedic2714 just let us know that the seller has reduced their asking price on this oddball Pinto!
There wasn’t a lot special about the 1971 to 1980 Ford Pinto – until Huntington Ford in Arcadia, California, created the Pangra, which was a physically and mechanically customized Pinto. The Pangra’s goal was to compete with faster imported sports cars like the Porsche 914, but no more than 50 were sold as complete. This 1977 Pinto was customized to resemble the Pangra, but it’s not the same car that Huntington Ford produced. Located in Imperial, Missouri, this one-off hot Pinto needs a bit of work and is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $7,000. Hats off to Rocco B. for another nifty tip!
The sales manager at the California dealer cooked up the idea of the Pangra. But between 1972 and 1973, as few as 20 may have been built/sold, with 50 at the outside. That excluded a bunch of kits that were sold for folks wanting a DIY version of the car. Most Pangra’s were either 2-door sedans or hatchbacks with a few wagons thrown in. The novelty of the vehicle caught the attention of Motor Trend, which put it on the cover of their publication in ’73. The Pangra could be distinguished by its long, sloped front end and a turbocharged version of Ford’s 2.0-liter 4-banger.
This Pangra tribute is a custom build on a 1977 version of the Pinto hatchback, with a 2.3-liter turbocharged engine lifted from a 1979 or 1981 (the seller says both) Ford Mustang Cobra. We’re told the build was done in 1980 using an 8-inch Ford rear end and (we think) a 4-speed manual transmission. The vehicle has had two owners, and paperwork on the conversion has been kept for more than 45 years.
Since 1994, the Ford has lived in a climate-controlled basement without annual registrations. To get it going, you’ll need to install a new fuel pump and a brake master cylinder, but the car will start off a separate fuel source. The front clip is made of fiberglass, and TR7 headlights were employed in the build. There is some rust in the floorboards, but the body and paint appear to be fine. If you make this Ford roadworthy again, you’re going to draw far more attention than any regular Pinto ever would.
Waiting for the fella’s to start whining about those speakers in the door panels! Looks like a good job on the conversion, and I’ve only seen one of these in the wild. Many moons ago.
Even on an otherwise stock ’77 Pinto, I’d consider that a period touch, since the late 70s through turn of the millennium were the Golden Age of Aftermarket Stereo.
Cool car! I had never heard of it and I like it. The old Ford 2.3 has a lot of upward potential so this could be fun. The chances of finding an original are pretty small so this is a way to have a hopped up Pinto with old school vibes.
I avoid rust like the plague but if I find a clean Pinto I have a(nother) idea on what to do.
I saw two crated 2.3s on a loading dock at O’Hare Airport back in 1980. The dockmaster said they were marked as refused and had been sitting there for months. They had dual Webers, wild looking bag o’ snakes headers, aluminum cam cover and what looked to be dry sump oiling. I wiggled the paperwork out and they had dynoed over 500hp. I asked if I could have them to go with the Rolls Royce turbine engine I was picking up and he just laughed and said NO
Interesting. My thoughts are similar: “learn something every day.” If you acquired this car and started showing it, you had better enjoy talking, because everyone would want an explanation of what it is, and its history.
“You’re going to draw far more attention than any regular Pinto ever would.” I think the word you’re looking for is laughter
Fuel filter is on backwards..
The back looks like it fell down a flight of stairs, and…Wait! The stairs are on it!
bottom line, its a Pinto!
Just when I thought I’d seen everything…
These are interesting little cars. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen one in person, but I have seen versions of this car in 1/24 scale model cars. AMT made a Pinto model that had the extra parts to turn it into the Pangra.
Their version didn’t have the 5mph bumpers and was more smoothed out. Guess the model car versions didn’t have to worry about safety equipment! 😂
MPC also made a Pinto wagon kit, a Pangra wagon would be an interesting kitbash.
Just when you thought a regular Pinto is nothing but ugly, then you see one of these.
You’re lucky! It could have been a Vega..
Vegas were great looking cars. They just fell apart.
It looks more like a Stiletto than a Pangra. Pangra reused the Pinto grille and the Stiletto’s hood went all the way down to the bumper.
And yet, it doesn’t quite look like the Stiletto pics I’m finding either, so either the Stiletto went through some styling evolution over the course of its production, or there was a third, even more obscure outfit making slantnose Pintos, unless this was a totally custom one-off.
If the Pinto B and C pillars weren’t burned into my memery I’d say that’s a pretty neat little car.
Ugly then,even worse now.
No matter what you do to a pinto, it will always be nothing but a pinto. And before all the ford fans jump in, the same thing goes for the Vega.
Interesting car. it appears to use a 73-up El Camino/station wagon rear bumper and an upside-down front bumper I don’t recognize. Remove the anodized side window trim and paint the B pillar black, it may help to distract you just a tiny bit from it being a Pinto…
I don’t know but that, if you chopped the top 2-3 inches, dropped a 289 in there, you’d have…a Ford Pinto still!
Different enough that it could be cool with different wheel/tire treatment. It must have one of those “draw through” turbo setups. Which typically heat up the intake charge too much. (Hello spark knock!) The fake SVO style scoop could provide hood clearance for a T-Bird/SVO turbo setup. Scavenger all the pieces from a Turbo Coupe (including the T5 transmission) And you can transform this into a nice driver with the correct suspension upgrades. I did that with a 1984 “stripper” Mustang and ran 17psi boost for a lot of fun for several years.
Looks like a SAAB Sonnet 3 front end.
You may not like it but it is sure getting a lot of comments here.
I was thinking it had a Jensen sort of look. I’d take it I guess. Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
I agree with fogline and although I LOVE pintos, there’s still a blue wagon in my driveway, I think this is ugly as heck. I’m sorry but this thing wreaks from everywhere. Stupid looking front end, ridiculous butt end.
I don’t understand the high price for something that looks like you could have made it in your backyard.