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.
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! 😂
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.
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.