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  • May 30, 2011 9:38 p.m. lewbud Reader

    Pintos convoy to Carlisle My sister sent me this, knowing my affectioin for the little lump. I still miss mine.

  • Lesley

    May 30, 2011 9:41 p.m. Lesley SuperDork

    Whoa, those are cute! Always liked the Pinto and the Capri.

  • JoeyM

    May 30, 2011 9:41 p.m. JoeyM SuperDork

    Nice!

  • stuart in mn

    May 30, 2011 9:43 p.m. stuart in mn SuperDork

    A bunch of them came through Minneapolis today, I saw it on the news.

  • Toyman01

    May 30, 2011 9:50 p.m. Toyman01 SuperDork

    I miss mine. Of all the cars I have sold I regret that one the most. Rust free, 2.3L and a 4 speed. Slow, handled like a truck, but it was a really fun car. I sold it for $400. I still check occasionally Craigslist for them, but everyone thinks they're gold around here. That, or the only thing holding the rust together is the paint.

  • May 30, 2011 10:02 p.m. TRoglodyte HalfDork

    First brand new car I ever drove, Flogged wagon and 2 door to within an inch of my life when I was invincible and they were'nt flammable. " Hey sis, can I borrow the car?"

  • Lesley

    May 30, 2011 10:34 p.m. Lesley SuperDork

    Ooooooooh... this one is nice:

    http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CLEANEST-PINTO-HAVE-EVER-SEEN-ONLY-44K-NO-RESERVE-/...

  • jimbbski

    May 31, 2011 11:15 a.m. jimbbski Reader

    The pre big bumper Pinto's were good handling cars. With a 2.0L & a 4 speed trans they handled as well stock as anything else in their class and you could get a good bit more power from that engine. They barely weighed a ton with out the heavy bumpers..

  • RossD

    May 31, 2011 11:24 a.m. RossD SuperDork

    The 4 speed gearboxes attached to the 2.0L bolts nicely up to a DOHC 2.0L Zetec.

  • 1988RedT2

    May 31, 2011 12:20 p.m. 1988RedT2 Dork

    My Dad had a 4-speed wagon back in the day. I drove it once or twice. It drove a whole lot bigger than it looked, and I don't mean that in a good way. Goes to show that people can have an affection (affliction?) for just about anything.

  • stuart in mn

    May 31, 2011 12:24 p.m. stuart in mn SuperDork

    There was a guy at my old office building who had a early Pinto with the Kent engine, all souped up with Weber carbs, a cam and headers. That was a neat little car.

  • kpm

    May 31, 2011 2:46 p.m. kpm Reader

    They have their own class at Summit Point GTPinto

  • integraguy

    May 31, 2011 3:54 p.m. integraguy Dork

    I once owned a '76 very similar to the stocker in JoshM's post. I foolishly bought a 2.3 with automatic thinking that I would swap the 4 for a small block Ford and the auto would make that an easier job. Never happened.

    Before the Pinto, I owned a '72 Vega and a '74 Audi Fox. The Audi felt like it was made of aluminum, compared to the cast iron that it felt like the Pinto was made of. The Vega fell between these 2 (like it was made of steel?). Of these 3, the Pinto was the best assembled, and the LEAST fun to drive, mostly because of the automatic. It's not a car I would go out of my way to replace, but if a nice one came along, I'd be somewhat tempted...but only if it had a manual transmission.

  • May 31, 2011 4:00 p.m. fasted58 Reader

    kpm wrote:

    They have their own class at Summit Point GTPinto

    I seen 'em, they look like fun

  • Graefin10

    May 31, 2011 5:01 p.m. Graefin10 Reader

    I'm watching the local news and they just showed "the Pinto Stampede", i.e. a convoy of Pintos headed from Denver to Carlisle. That blue one that Joey posted was in the que.

    I'd love to have a Pinto with a warmed over Ztec in it. Or a Chevette w/a Cosworth Vega.

  • Curmudgeon

    May 31, 2011 6:54 p.m. Curmudgeon SuperDork

    jimbbski wrote:

    The pre big bumper Pinto's were good handling cars. With a 2.0L & a 4 speed trans they handled as well stock as anything else in their class and you could get a good bit more power from that engine. They barely weighed a ton with out the heavy bumpers..

    I had two 2.0 4 speed cars, a '71 and a '74. I bought them because they were cheap but like you say they were pretty fun to drive, particularly the '71. I put headers, electronic ignition and a Weber DGV on that one and drove the dogsnot out of it.

  • May 31, 2011 7:19 p.m. ApxAnimal New Reader

    Just b4 I turned 16 and got my license I saw a Pinto for sale that I wanted. Dad said no. Not sure why he wouldn't want me to have a small call with a V8 stuffed in it and set up for the drag strip.

  • wlkelley3

    May 31, 2011 9:07 p.m. wlkelley3 Dork

    I've had 2 in the past. A 72 w/1.6 and a 74 w/2.0, both 4-speeds. The 72 was a sedan with the small back window and a trunk deck and the 74 was a hatchback. I thought both cars handled pretty well but didn't have anything to really compare it too other than the 63 Rambler I had before the 72 or a 65 Chevelle w/6-cyl & powerglide. The 74 I bought for $250 and put $250 parts into it and drove it a year and sold it for $800.

 
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