Even as the Ford Pinto was scoring high in the school of hard knocks over safety concerns, buyers seemed to like what they were seeing in spite of it, with the car staying in production all the way up through 1980. And while most people drove off the lot in a fastback, Ford also offered a 2-Door Station Wagon model, like this 1978 Ford Pinto Squire Wagon here on Craigslist. That fake wood paneling down the side really makes it stand out, and if you’ve been in the market for an unusual compact from the seventies this one might fit the bill nicely. If you want to check it out in person, Rockaway, New Jersey is where this Ford calls home, with the seller’s asking price set at $12,000.
Thanks go out to reader PRA4SNW for the great tip here! We don’t get much information as to the background on this one, but the owner does say it looks great and is wearing a fresh coat of blue paint. No word on whether or not the faux wood is original but new or old it’s looking pretty decent plus there are body-side moldings as well to help protect against future door dings. The white letter tires and chrome wheels give the car a sporty look, and the roof rack would make a nice place for a surfboard should the next owner decide to cruise the nearest beach this summer.
The Pinto is said to run and drive with no issues and is powered by a 2.3-liter 4-cylinder engine. It’s claimed to have only been driven 47,000 miles during the last 45 years, so hopefully, there’s plenty of good life left in the motor. The only recent maintenance mentioned is that a new timing belt has just been installed, but oddly the cover wasn’t put back on, although the seller says he’s got it. This one’s equipped with a 4-Speed manual transmission, which should help out a bit in the performance department and also add to the fun factor.
The interior consists of some original components plus a few new parts and looks pretty good overall. A couple of new items include the carpet and headliner, with the seats and dash said to still be in really nice condition. It’s also stated as solid down below, with the pictures we get from underneath appearing to show a reasonably solid floor and frame, with nothing glaring jumping out as an immediate cause for concern that I could spot. I’m kind of digging this one, and in these days of $12k for well-preserved Pintos, I guess the price is in the ballpark. What are your thoughts on this 1978 Ford Pinto Squire Wagon?
Good color combination with the desirable 4-speed. For 12 grand this car better be mint with no rust. I would have never thought I would see the day when a Pinto would become a collectible.
I am not surprised, although I’d expect (and probably it’s true) that the pre-bumper-car Pintos are preferred.
I always thought the styling was a winner. We forget how different, really how fresh it was – compared to the Falcon of six years earlier; compared to its contemporary Vega. The Vega was a fine retro interpretation, with headlights in fender pods, a simple egg-crate grill; but the Pinto, with its dough-loaf roundness, its extreme tumblehome on the greenhouse…was a radical departure for its time.
At the time it seemed light, fresh, and those first years, it even drove peppy. Laws added those bumpers, smog stuff…and Ford had to drop the simpler Kent and Cologne engines in favor of a heavier, more tractorlike Lima translation of the German four. I’d owned, at different times, a 2-litre Pinto and a 2.3. The German engine had over 100,000 miles, with no oil consumption, compression within specs, and – with a new Holley carb – a fair amount of pep, even with the heavier wagon body. The Lima unit in a lighter hatchback had 60k miles, smoked like a sailor, had same-day throttle response.
Both had the same manual box, so the poor performance wasn’t from that.
This one looks nice, but the lack of cover over the timing belt – and that it’s an early-years iteration of the Lima engine – would have me asking some questions.
That’s especially true given just how dated it was in 1980 when Ford finally pulled the plug. Rabbit clones were the thing, and the Pinto’s response besides the surprisingly thorough (and expensive for Ford) square-front facelift was the “Rallye” model’s racoon-like makeup around the side windows to try to make the DLO seem bigger like the new, more upright small cars.
Smoked like a sailor & same day throttle response wins my vote for best description of a power plant bar none! Love it !
Put the timing belt cover on.Why wouldn’t you before you take pics and advertise it for sale? High priced imo.Neat little car though.
I knew I was going to sell it and wanted to show buyers the new belt.
Always thought it had a Timing Chain, shows what I know. Only time my 78′ Pinto left me stranded was busting a Timing Belt, I think the Tow cost more than the repair. That primitive 70’s technology where losing a Timing Belt didn’t destroy the Engine. Had a big Sun Tach on the Column, 4 Speed, Clarion AM/FM Cassette with Jensen Coax’s in the back, stupid 85mph speedometer and some horrible low numeric final drive, would get 27mpg on the interstate, but accelerated like a snail, with a good tailwind could get her just a little over a 100mph (using a stop watch, stupid 85 mph Speedo)
Timing belt failure costing an engine means the engine is an interference engine and so poorly designed.
Many interference engines are of superior design.
I’m really replying to maggy.
If an engine can’t have a simple failure like a timing belt or chain slip without causing catastrophic failure that’s a poor design, no matter what other virtues the engine has.
These were not interference engines.
Not sure I believe the 47,000 miles, bought mine in 1979, first owner put 27K on it in a year (!) and only wanted $2,500 for it (Commuted from Dallas to Atlanta) I put another 100K on in in the next 6 years before it bought the farm in a head-on, and it looked better than this one (up to the crash) I think the Sound system was worth more than the car at the end.
Looks like a nice Pinto Wagon. And nice ones seem to be fetching five figures. I think that, for me, given today’s traffic conditions a four-speed would be much preferred… even if used mostly for cruising.
Guy that sold me mine had a sense of humor, at 27K (in a year!, how many oil changes was that supposed to be in 1978? I changed it every 2,500 miles) you’d have to hold the shift lever in reverse or it’d pop out (other gears were fine) “No Extra Charge” he joked.
Never saw one, but the 2.8L V6 was an option.
Had that V6 in my 78 Squire wagon named the Road Jackal, the mustard yellow paint color with wood stickers, just like the featured car.
Nice looking Woodie wagon😄. It would be cool to drop a SVO 2.3 Turbo into this wagon. Nobody would know since it would sound the same. Until you lay into the right pedal!! 😂 It’s would be so much fun surprising a Mustang GT at light!! 😄 And it would not need a whole lot of work. Good luck to the next owner. 🐻🇺🇸
It would be almost as much fun, and maybe easier to use the same motor from the late 80’s. When they went to Full EFI they got a bunch more torque, and were pretty peppy…. 88 Base Mustang 5 speed would go nicely, and maybe allow a gear change to help pep!!
I always liked the Pintos. My sister had a new one. You had to grip the steering wheel to beep the horn. On a very cold night the horn would blast until someone got up and unhooked the battery. The wagon version was known as the Country Squirt.
Blue and brown is not exactly my favorite color combo. Yuck.
$12,500 seems ok when you see some of these wagons on FeeBay asking $20g’s. That said, anyone with a car from the 70’s seems to be thinking that they can retire on the money they’re asking for their strangled, EPA neutered Malaise Machines.
Looking at that engine bay I’m not sure I believe the mileage figure, but I could totally drive a car like that. Woody wagon, stick and AC!
Lovely car. This is my favourite year for the Pinto and my favourite body style.
Listen up sports fans! I saw different pictures of this car on a different site and by looking directly at the gauge cluster, you could see that the entire speedometer has been changed out. It’s supposed to have an 85 mph speedo. It didn’t. When I sent a message to the owner he said that he bought it that way. So, 12k? No thanks! Its not accurate and needs way to much for this money.
The car needs nothing. According to research I did, the 85mph speedometer was not mandated until 1979 for use in 1980 cars.
Well, I can tell you that ALL FORD products had an 85 mph speedometer starting in 77. I used to detail cars on the overnight at a Ford dealer. 77 was the first year you could get rally instrument cluster which included the tachometer and gauges over the radio. This came standard in the cruising wagon and could be ordered as a separate option. All other Pintos got the standard set up like the wagon you have for sale. I can also tell you that I have owned/restored/sold many Pintos and Bobcats. I restored 2 77 Pinto wagons-One was a squire, like yours, the other, a plain brown V-6 wagon. I also did a78 Bobcat Viilager wagon. All 3 had an 85 mph speedometer. Prior to 77, they had higher numbers on the speedometer. I have also restored sedans and runabouts from the early 71 half trunk through the last in 1980. The square cluster arrived in 79 with green needles as standard. You could get the rally instrument cluster from 77-80. I’m telling you and everyone else, that somewhere along the line, the speedometer was changed out. That being said, it calls the mileage into question because the odometer sets in the speedometer in that Pinto.
You are definitely an expert. If you drove this car you could tell it is a low mileage vehicle. Still has original hose clips and factory markings on the valve cover. Seats are original too and in excellent shape.
The 85 MPH speedometer wasn’t required when this car was built, with the excretable 55 MPH speed limit and the automakers getting pressure I expect that’s why Ford started using those speedometers.
Then on September 1, 1979 the Federal Highway Traffic Administration decreed that speedometers only read to 85 MPH. This was due to the ill advised national speed limit of 55 MPH.
The speedometer rule was recinded a few years later, but by then automakers had changed their speedometer design and it took years for them to change back. My 96 Cherokee has an 85 MPH speedometer, and it was built fully 10 years after the rule was repealed, but those vehicles were being designed in the early 80s’
Had one, loved it. Even when the shifter broke off in my hand, a great little car.
Ecoboost swaaaaaaaaaap!?
This one has the interior decor option. I think that was a $350 option back in the day, big money then. Yuppers, the motor isn’t put back together before this posting, but hey, at least it was washed and cleaned. If I see so much as one more old estate car asking crazy prices without the seller giving it at least a wipe down, my head will explode! The nerve of some peoples kids LOL.