An American Classic Turns 40
 One of the cars I lusted after as an uninformed kid was the Pinto, from Ford. That was before we knew a rear ender could send you to eternity faster than warp drive on the Enterprise. But that didn't matter. People thought this car looked cool and you wanted it. You even wanted the station wagon with the fake wood grain on the side. And if the car was orange, that was even better. This year the Pinto turns 40. Here's a nice story on the classic. And yes, this is one of those early Ford ad photos showing a cheerleader mom hauling the kids around.  What was the first car you wanted as a teenager fresh from the DMV with your newly minted license? Labels: cars, Ford, Ford Pinto |
posted by Dave Miller at 6:31 AM
Comments on "An American Classic Turns 40"
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BB-Idaho said ... (7:10 AM) :
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Dave Miller said ... (8:52 AM) :
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dmarks said ... (3:28 PM) :
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Shaw Kenawe said ... (7:38 PM) :
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Scotty said ... (9:01 AM) :
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Z said ... (12:24 PM) :
post a commentGosh, that's a long time back to remember! We highschoolers were impressed with the Pontiac
Bonneville and Chrysler 300F in the late fifties.
(convertible version of course). Most of my work
money went towards college, but my jr. year,
I scraped together $100
for my very first motorized transport; a
1951 Ford coupe with flathead V-8 engine. The floorboard was rusted and you could see the highway beneath your feet, the tires went flat on a weekly basis and a pin
in the front steering fell out once in awhile. The brakes failed and I ran into a fire station. Finally found a girlfriend
that tolerated such nonsense...and later married her. In hindsight,
pretty good deal for $100!
I'll say BB... $100.00 for a car and a wife!
My first ride was, and no laughing, an AMC 2 Door Hornet. All brown. Like a turd. Ran like one too.
I had one when I was in high school. What a piece of junk!
I always thought these rolling bombs were hideous. myself.
And the worst years of the Mustang were they they made it look like a Pinto.
You are right on that dmarks... those mustangs sucked... ford was horrible then...
other than the country squire, what car did ford have then??? the LTD...
My first was my dad's old Dodge Dart. It came with the classic 225 slant six engine.
That car ran for ever!
Before that, I thought the ol' El Camino was the coolest car.
Actually part car / part truck.
First car was a '72 LTD. 351 Cleveland engine. Big, but also a "tin can". The '70's were not a good decade for cars in general.
My first car was a Dodge Dart. I know nothing about what engine it had or pistons or universal joints or carburators or anything under the hood.
It got me to where I needed to go and that's all I remember. I think it was maroon and black, or green and yellow--maybe it was brown.
My last car was a Honda [I live in the city and don't keep one here.] I don't care that much about cars--to me they're just another room to keep clean.
Pintos are a collector car now too. Especially the one like in the picture that's a station wagon. Wagon like that in pristine shape would easily bring ten grand and up. Anything with woodlike siding aka woodies.
The Pinto delivery vans are tough to find and the prices on those are going up too.
Many years ago I had a Pinto coupe that I used to drag race. It was a reliable Ford, powered by Chevrolet!
I got rid of it, the short wheelbase made it a hand full to drive. But the plan seemed to work well on paper tho'
thanks Scotty for dropping by... a pinto delivery van is funny... i hope the delivery is not a life saver...
i hope the delivery is not a life saver...
My hot rod Pinto had a fuel cell....they did get a bad rap with the fuel tanks but, that was the technology of the day. There were others vehicles back then that were a lot less safe than the Pintos.
Back in the early eighties
I worked as an explosives chemist at an ammo plant.
There was a young lady that
worked in the propellant charge ammo loading
lines She got a lot of attention for her lil red
Pinto with the 'vanity license' plate....
A BOMB
SOunds great Scotty... BB, I am sure she did... la bomba... was she???
my first car was a beautiful white 1969 Mustang high school graduation gift...all my friends were green because they had their licenses and no car; i had a car and hadn't got my license yet! But I DID! I wish I had kept that car.
Dave, I'm so sorry you stopped the comments on your Memorial Day post.
Very interesting conversation.