Ford Pinto: The 70s' import fighter with a unfortunate burning reputation.

Welcome to Auto Chatter! Todays episode is about the Ford Pinto! I did the Gremlin, Chevette, and Pacer already, so it makes sense the Pinto gets the Chatter treatment! Ford 70's import fighting subcompact definately has some stories to chat about! Join me for this groovy trip and lets find out if the car could be hazardous to your health...Or sensationalized then to appear that way.

[@P_RO_]

Ah yes, I've been waiting to see your well-balanced and excellent coverage of the 'exploding pony' as I humorously call them 🤣These were actually good cars given their pricing, certainly better than the Vega and Chevette. Iacocca pulled off another major coup with the Pinto, especially by using engines from Germany which had a proven track record of reliability. However in the effort to keep costs down, he had several competitors making the carburetors which were not equally good, and those who bought the 1.6 with an automatic trans ended up with a 'slug', as that engine lacked power and was agonizingly slow to accelerate. Plus it didn't offer that much better fuel mileage than the 2.0 IRL. The 2.3 was stellar, the basic design continuing to 97 which is a darn good run at life. Europe also got a 1.3L version in it's cars; I cannot fathom how slow they must have been. The Gremlin also had a proven drivetrain, but outdated and the Vega (produced when John Z DeLorean was Chevy's president 😮) was a disaster (not of his making). These were stylish cars for the time, and the many different body styles and trim packages made that even moreso, miles ahead of the Vega and bettering the Gremlin which faded from public favor rather quickly. They all had spartan interiors at base-model level, but again with options Pinto surpassed all but the "Levi's" Gremlin with the denim interior. Certain versions like the "Cruising wagon" have become valuable collectibles now. IMHO the Pinto also had the most comfortable seating, especially the rear seats. People who didn't live through the oil crisis days (especially the first one) cannot understand just how big of an issue that was, immediately making the old big American cars obsolete dinosaurs almost overnight, and causing buyers to flock to these small cars, still being leery of the Japanese models which many had never even ridden in, and not wanting a VW for various reasons including quality. The fuel tank issues were more of a failure of Ford to handle it well, putting in writing that which everyone else only spoke of or hid. The exact same problem (but without the written 'cost v benefit' analysis) persisted into the 2000's with several vehicles. Ford's fix was adequate, but should have been implemented without so much of a fight. In the end, most buyers were satisfied with the fix, and the Pinto didn't lose too much popularity over it in the long run. It lived much longer than the Vega and Gremlin which pretty much says it all- this was a good car for sure. I don't know about the rest of the places, but here in the south dirt-track racing is a big thing, and a special entry-level class was developed generally being called "Baby Bombers" where almost all the cars raced were Pinto's. This has led to it being almost impossible to find a Pinto now in any condition which can be made driveable, and certain engine parts like distributors have become unobtainium. You never see one on the road anymore but they used to be everywhere in droves. Also being the lowest end of the car market led to them having been driven 'till the wheels fell off' or rust eating them away to nothing with hordes of them being scrapped due to low value, a sad end to the story I guess. More sad is that like the Corvair, the Pinto will always be mostly remembered for it's one big corrected fault instead of the many successes. It is destined to always be "the exploding pony" and more's the pity.

[@mbenz64]

Thank you! I owned a 1975 manual pinto wagon back in 1984, I loved it and knew back then the wagons were basically exempt from the gas tank problem, simply because it was 10" longer in the rear. I ended up trading it in for a Ford Escort!!

[@autochatter]

Glad you enjoyed it! I almost did Escort this week...Doing Crown Vic and Grand Marquis instead.

[@frankiemck40]

I learned to drive a manual transmission in a Pinto. Memories. Thanks.

[@autochatter]

Your welcome!

[@ryankenyon5010]

My first car was a 1978 Pinto wagon. It had plaid seats and the "sport" package, with an AM 8 track. It was so uncool, it was cool. I cashed in some skee ball tickets for some purple fuzzy dice to finish the motif. It was pretty reliable, but consumed oil and timing belts.

[@autochatter]

Had to go all out with the dice on the mirror! I really liked the Cruising wagon ones.

[@CPTDoom]

It's ironic the "Top Secret" clip with the exploding Pinto you showed used one of the later models with the larger and sturdier bumpers required to meet the 5 mph standard, which I believe were less prone to fuel ruptures during accidents. I remember a lot of folks with this as a second car during the 70s, and I always preferred the style of the wagon over the coup or hatch, because I think the longer body was aesthetically more attractive. I can attest the relatively weak power from the Ford engines were standard for subcompacts of the time. My sister drove a '72 Datsun 610 while in college, with a 4 speed manual (and black vinyl interior that would take your skin off in the summer) and it was not, shall we say, the fastest car I've ever driven.

[@autochatter]

I'm sure the 5mph bumpers helped, but 76 and older models were subject to that recall. That means some big bumper models were effected too. A average Pinto was hardly the slowest thing you could buy then for the class that's true. The Datsuns were advertising being MPG Champs then, so makes sense the trade off was speed. Ive owned a few Datsuns, but they were 240 and 260z cars.Of all the subcompacts from that era, I have the most experience with aircooled Beetles.....They were SLOW.

[@user-gw4rz7mk7q]

My sister's first car was a 2 door Pinto. Dad had a Pinto wagon. He painted it forest green.

[@autochatter]

Those Earth tones were big then.

[@domjohnson8723]

Ah, Auto Chatter. Back at it again.

[@autochatter]

I had this scheduled to launch later today!!! LOL.

[@MotorMaster_Stunticon]

Great chatter. I admit I couldn’t care less about the Pinto but you always make them interesting to learn about.

[@autochatter]

Thanks Rob! Some of the vids I've made and enjoyed chatting about are cars I never wanted!

[@autochatter]

I love when I do a vid that tickles your fancy! I actually knew a few people who dirt track raced some Pintos too...You can do alot with that 2 3 liter. Of all those Domestic subcompacts then styling wise, I think the Vega looked the best...Too bad it was junk. I think the Monza in the mid 70s that kinda replaced it were on the same platform,but improved alot. I didnt love Pintos, but do think it became a posterboy for lack of safety then....and prob shouldnt have carried all that weight on its own. I wouldn't mind owning one of those Cruising Wagons though! Thank you for the continued support! P.S. The AMC Gremlin did basically outlast the Pinto, as the Spirit was a refreshed one with a new name...and old architecture underneath still. It went another 3 model years till 83, but never touched Pinto sales numbers and was a relic by the end

[@davidclark7770]

Do a video on the Pontiac Sunbird

[@autochatter]

@@davidclark7770 Its coming. The only J body I've made so far was the Cadillac Cimmeron.

[@davidclark7770]

@@autochatter my grandma had a 78 gold hatchback sunbird. She loved Pontiacs back then. She also had a 80 Bonneville and a 83 TransAm which still is my favorite.

[@autochatter]

@@davidclark7770 My parents 78 Sunbird was the hatch and it was red. I loved the Firebird front end look of it.

[@tomtbi]

I built the AMT Coca Cola 77 1/25 scale Pinto Model Kit about a year ago... Came out pretty nicely I think....

[@averyparticularsetofskills]

7:08 If I had a tank of gas for everytime I see that " _Sorry No Gas_ " spray painted on that sign I'd have enough to sell everyone waiting in line for some back then.

[@autochatter]

I was barely on the planet during the first crisis and single digit aged by the second. I can't imagine how much of a pain those ordeals had to be. Closest to me would be times my area ran out of gas due to Hurricanes.

[@ericwhitehead6451]

The Pinto wasn't any worse safety wise than any other car back then as most cars had the fuel tank behind the rear bumper. What made it infamous was the Ford memo putting a dollar value on lives lost in the event of a gas tank rupture and fire. Plus the unwillingness to spend the extra few bucks to take care of the problem on the assembly line.

[@autochatter]

It got the spotlight because of the memos I agree.

[@anthonyrivera4735]

The ford pinto looks a lot like the 1970-1977 Ford Maverick and 1974-1978 Ford Mustang.

[@autochatter]

Not a coincidence as you want familiarity with other models.

[@TheOzthewiz]

Actually the Pinto was NO worse in catching fire during a crash than the other econo-boxes of that era! All those small cars were (literally) death traps in a crash! Ford was singled out to take the hit.

[@autochatter]

Yes..I mentioned somthing to that effect in the vid.