Be On-The-Go In A 1980 Pinto

[Blake Noble]

http://lexington.craigslist.org/cto/1476436383.html

Daddy-o, I think she quit making car payments for a reason ...

[ocnblu]

Those seats look awful fancy... I wonder if they're out of a Mustang II Ghia?

[BigPontiac]

Probably the best transportation option you've posted so far.

[ocnblu]

omg burn

[A Horse With No Name]

A black paint job, a screaming chicken on the hood...park it out in the tall grass in front of a trailer...perfect car for Berea!

Seriously, my teenage daughter took one look at this over my shoulder and yelled "hey Mom, come look at this, someone actually built an uglier car than the Nissan Cube!"

Chris

[Blake Noble]

Probably the best transportation option you've posted so far.

That best be sarcasm, boy.

[Intrepidation]

Probably the best transportation option you've posted so far.

[Satty]

Probably the best transportation option you've posted so far.

+1

+1

[Intrepidation]

Call me crazy but I think it's kind of cool.

[Satty]

Call me crazy but I think it's kind of cool.

+1

+1

+1

[Blake Noble]

Such a warm and loving bunch you guys are.

I'll start ranting about B-pillars next so that, you know, you can keep up dishing out the shit.

[Satty]

Such a warm and loving bunch you guys are.

I'll start ranting about B-pillars next so that, you know, you can keep up dishing out the shit.

+1

[Intrepidation]

Seriously though, why do people hate the Pintos? Were they just really $h!ty cars or what?

[Blake Noble]

Uh ... b-pillars suck?

You put me on the spot here.

[Satty]

Seriously though, why do people hate the Pintos? Were they just really $h!ty cars or what?

+1

[Blake Noble]

Seriously though, why do people hate the Pintos? Were they just really $h!ty cars or what?

It's an American subcompact car from the '70s. Of course it's shitty.

Edited November 22, 2009 by whiteknight

[Satty]

It's an American subcompact car from the '70s. Of course it's shitty.

+1

[Drew Dowdell]

It's an American subcompact car from the '70s. Of course it's $h!ty.

fixed that for ya

[bobo]

Pintos were best known were exploding when rear-ended. Shades of Crown Victoria. They fixed it in later years. Pintos garnered about as much respect as Vegas.

[Blake Noble]

fixed that for ya

O RLY?

[Justin Bimmer]

Good find WK!

You should totally buy this. This car will allow you to haul around motors and trannys for your other broken cars.

[Blake Noble]

Good find WK!

You should totally buy this. This car will allow you to haul around motors and trannys for your other broken cars.

Why thanks for asking. The $500 307 in the Buick is doing excellent.

[A Horse With No Name]

Glad to hear the 307 is doing so well in the buick, knight.

And I really do hope you hold onto that Buick. Something about that car...

But I do also remember when the four college girls were killed in Indiana in a Pinto that got rear ended. IIRC that's what started the whole thing with the pinto. It happened between Goshen and Elkart Indiana. My mother grew up in Elkart and my father grew up in Goshen and we were visiting gradparents at the time...came upon the scene of the wreck just after they hauled the burned Pinto away. BIG black mark on the pavement...remember it being on the evening news that night.

The Pinto had a decent front suspension and a decent iron block 4 cyl. motor. It wasn't a complete crapbox like the unloved Vega.

But then again...I've always had a fetish for the Cosworth Vega. Not far from here on a farm next to a barn a Cosworth Vega and first gen RX-7 are both resting, been there for years along with the remains of a vintage Alfa Romeo. Would love to rescue all 3.

I am as hopeless as knight, actually methinks.

Chris

[Blake Noble]

Glad to hear the 307 is doing so well in the buick, knight.

Thanks.

I will eventually have to buy a new intake manifold for it, though. Not that there is anything wrong with the stock one or that it absolutely has to be replaced, but it has a lot of unused, blocked-off mounting holes where all of the smog equipment used to be and an aluminum one will nudge the performance up slightly.

Other than that, it sounds as good as the old 350 that was in it, surprisingly has similar acceleration to the 350 before it almost threw a rod, and holds oil pressure at 50 psi while the 350 only held 20 in its last days.

And I really do hope you hold onto that Buick. Something about that car...

You sound like I did when I first had the car offered to me.

I don't know what that something is, but that something made me choose it over a T/A that was also offered up for trade.

But I do also remember when the four college girls were killed in Indiana in a Pinto that got rear ended. IIRC that's what started the whole thing with the pinto. It happened between Goshen and Elkart Indiana. My mother grew up in Elkart and my father grew up in Goshen and we were visiting gradparents at the time...came upon the scene of the wreck just after they hauled the burned Pinto away. BIG black mark on the pavement...remember it being on the evening news that night.

The Pinto had a decent front suspension and a decent iron block 4 cyl. motor. It wasn't a complete crapbox like the unloved Vega.

Saying the Pinto was a better car than a Vega is like saying amoebic dysentery is a better gastrointestinal disorder than Crohn's Disease.

But then again...I've always had a fetish for the Cosworth Vega. Not far from here on a farm next to a barn a Cosworth Vega and first gen RX-7 are both resting, been there for years along with the remains of a vintage Alfa Romeo. Would love to rescue all 3.

The Cosworth is sort of like the Cobalt SS Turbo's great-grandpa. I'd never buy one, but I can sort of understand the appeal. Why they made it almost as expensive as a Corvette at the time and four times as slow is ludicrous.

I am as hopeless as knight, actually methinks.

Chris

Welcome to the Dark Side. Enjoy the cookies and beer.

Edited November 22, 2009 by whiteknight

[SAmadei]

Call me crazy but I think it's kind of cool.

Well, you ARE crazy.

Of course, so am I. I like the 2-door wagons... even the unloved Pinto and Vegas. Especially the rarer ones towards the end of the production run.

There is more style in the Pinto wagon than all of modern Toyota can muster.

Seriously though, why do people hate the Pintos? Were they just really $h!ty cars or what?

Its the whole rear end fireball thing. Just like the Vega was vilified by the awful 2300 engine. These things got fixed... eventually. Otherwise, they weren't so bad. I know of many that survived for decades and 200K+ miles on nothing but duct tape.

Most people here love looking down their nose at the Pinto, Vega, Gremlin, Pacer... but then again, thats only because they are spoiled by the modern crap. There was a time where this was BETTER than walking or taking the bus. Mostly.

These are the same types that brag about their Prius, because they have no idea that a 20 year old Metro they would never consider good enough for a third world family beats them in mileage.

[Blake Noble]

Most people here love looking down their nose at the Pinto, Vega, Gremlin, Pacer... but then again, thats only because they are spoiled by the modern crap.

Wait, what? I probably bash these cars just as much as anyone here and I haven't owned a "modern" car in months.

I will swallow my pride and admit that the good luck I've had with the Cutlass's reliability and maintenance probably made me underestimate certain issues that other older model cars might have, but I'm not spoiled by things like fuel injection, or power windows and locks, air-con, sat-nav ... well you get the deal.

These are the same types that brag about their Prius, because they have no idea that a 20 year old Metro they would never consider good enough for a third world family beats them in mileage.

I won't argue about the Metro vs. Prius deal, but I don't own a Prius ...

Wait a second ... oh, never mind. I get where you're driving at now. I'll step aside.

Edited November 22, 2009 by whiteknight

[ocnblu]

The Pinto was a better car than the Vega, although I prefer the Vega's styling, generally, especially the first-gen's "baby Camaro" look. I don't see too much wrong with the wagon in the ad, as a cheap entrance into the old car hobby and a weekend runabout (Pinto joke). I'd never try it as a daily driver, however.

Edited November 22, 2009 by ocnblu

[ShadowDog]

My grandfather had a two-door Pinto... bright freakin' yellow. It wasn't even close to ten years old and it was developing a whole lot of rust.

But Jebus brown is even worse!

He traded it in for a nice, metallic-blue Malibu exactly like this one:

Four wheels, a steering wheel and an engine

[Intrepidation]

I like the Vega too, the coupes anyway, before they uglified them.

Then again, perhaps why I like these cars that other peopel consider $h! so much is because when I was little we had a olive green Dodge. I didn't know what it was called, my dad just always called it the "green bomber". I loved it though and was sad when we got rid of it (this was when I was like 5 or 6). Turns out it was a Dodge Aspen.

I want one though...maybe like this:

[Drew Dowdell]

O RLY?

Ya RLY!

I like the Toronado right up till 1969. 1970 rolls around and BAM a minor update completely uglifies it just in time for the super ugly 1971-1978 versions. Even my favorite generation Toronado, which started in 1979, didn't get pretty again till 1980.

[Camino LS6]

The worst thing about the Pinto and the Vega was rust - really, really, bad rust that showed-up early in the life of the car.

As for a sweeping generalization of '70s cars being bad, umm no, not even close.

You need to be very specific when criticizing cars from that decade.

[Robert Hall]

Some cars are probably best left in the '70s. I remember those--my sister had a '76 Pinto Runabout back then, my Dad had a '77 Vega and later an '81 Chevette Scooter. Best forgotten. My folks had some really sweet Mercurys and Lincolns in the '70s, though. I generally like most of the big cars and midsizers from the Big 3 from that decade, and the pony cars (excluding the Mustang II).

Edited November 22, 2009 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[Camino LS6]

The 70s were a decade of massive change and upheaval in the auto industry. The cars reflected that reality and ran the gamut from what would become priceless legends to abject embarassments - and everything in between.

Like I said, you need to be specific when talking about 70s cars.

[Blake Noble]

Like I said, you need to be specific when talking about 70s cars.

+1

I don't think anyone here would call my Cutlass shitty. Actually, I can just about guarantee that.

[Intrepidation]

I think the better way to put it is mid to late 70's had a lot more junk than they did good cars, even from design standpoints things went downhill.

[SAmadei]

The worst thing about the Pinto and the Vega was rust - really, really, bad rust that showed-up early in the life of the car.

Again, I feel that was a early problem, later brought under control as they were built somewhat better. IIRC, the rust was less of a problem in either wagon than the other models... but this was not a problem limited to Vegas and Pintos. Our '74 Nova hatchback had early rust problems... and later, the hatchback caused a lot of rust problems.

I sometimes think that the earlier cars (pre-'70) didn't have the fenders and seams sealed as well, so they didn't hold the water and muck, causing rust as much. the '74 Nova and '74 Vega both used to get a lake in the back... no wonder these cars rusted.

[Robert Hall]

Again, I feel that was a early problem, later brought under control as they were built somewhat better. IIRC, the rust was less of a problem in either wagon than the other models... but this was not a problem limited to Vegas and Pintos. Our '74 Nova hatchback had early rust problems... and later, the hatchback caused a lot of rust problems.

I sometimes think that the earlier cars (pre-'70) didn't have the fenders and seams sealed as well, so they didn't hold the water and muck, causing rust as much. the '74 Nova and '74 Vega both used to get a lake in the back... no wonder these cars rusted.

The later Pintos and Vegas rusted also...3 winters of Ohio salt left the doors and rear quarters of my Dad and sisters' cars pretty holey by 79-80, IIRC. They were cheap, disposable cars not built to last.

Edited November 23, 2009 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[Intrepidation]

I remember our Aspen had rust problems. It was patched several times with sheet metal.

[Blake Noble]

I think the better way to put it is mid to late 70's had a lot more junk than they did good cars, even from design standpoints things went downhill.

That would be the better way to put it.

There were bright spots, though. At GM you had the Colonnade coupes, the Trans Am and Can Am, and a handful of Chevys like the Laguna S-3 and the Z/28; Buick first introduced the T-Type cars in the late '70s, and Olds kept the 442 name afloat off and on. At Chrysler Corp. Dodge had the first-generation Magnum coupe replacing the Charger (my dad had two of those and from what I understand it had decent performance for a late '70s car) and Chrysler had the Cordoba. Ford, though, didn't really seem to have much of anything nice like that going for them. The Mustang II King Cobra was close to being something interesting, but it fell pretty short (it wound up as a desperate response to the T/A; look at the two cars back to back and you'll see what I mean).

Edited November 23, 2009 by whiteknight

[Camino LS6]

As far as the rust issue goes for back then, the short answer is that everything rusted much moreso than today.

There were, however, worse than average offenders.

Notable among them:

Vega

Pinto

All Japanese cars

All domestic cars made with Japanese steel (was a big scandal back then)

And as much as I loved them: all Internationals

[Robert Hall]

As far as the rust issue goes for back then, the short answer is that everything rusted much moreso than today.

There were, however, worse than average offenders.

Notable among them:

Vega

Pinto

All Japanese cars

All domestic cars made with Japanese steel (was a big scandal back then)

And as much as I loved them: all Internationals

For some reason, the mid '70s full size Fords and Mercs were notorious rusters also-..esp. the rear bumpers and trunks...saw many in Ohio as a kid, my brother had a couple. The Lincolns of that era seemed to be less so...I don't recall my folks' Lincolns rusting, but they kept them pretty clean all the time.

[SAmadei]

The later Pintos and Vegas rusted also...3 winters of Ohio salt left the doors and rear quarters of my Dad and sisters' cars pretty holey by 79-80, IIRC. They were cheap, disposable cars not built to last.

Everything rusts eventually... my frigging '99 Bonne had a damn hole in it I had to fix after a few years... luckily it was an isolated problem.

The early Vegas and Pintos rusted AT THE DEALERSHIP. The '74 Nova had rust around the taillights in its first year. Back then, the expectation was only that a new car would not have rust-through for at least 3 years... these cars didn't have galvanizing, undercoating and many internal surfaces didn't even have PAINT. In retrospect, its a wonder any of those cars survived.

For every rusty four year old Vega and Pinto, I can recall a similar Aspen, Cutlass Supreme, Impala. I still feel that GM fixed alot of these problems by hiding them under chrome trim and later, plastic cladding. Look at the late '80s Astros... awful... but they look great until the rust finally creeps up 3~4 inches and the trim falls off.

[Camino LS6]

I remember our Aspen had rust problems. It was patched several times with sheet metal.

I remember many a patched Aspen and Volare.

Bondo was a big seller in the 70s.

[Camino LS6]

Everything rusts eventually... my frigging '99 Bonne had a damn hole in it I had to fix after a few years... luckily it was an isolated problem.

The early Vegas and Pintos rusted AT THE DEALERSHIP. The '74 Nova had rust around the taillights in its first year. Back then, the expectation was only that a new car would not have rust-through for at least 3 years... these cars didn't have galvanizing, undercoating and many internal surfaces didn't even have PAINT. In retrospect, its a wonder any of those cars survived.

For every rusty four year old Vega and Pinto, I can recall a similar Aspen, Cutlass Supreme, Impala. I still feel that GM fixed alot of these problems by hiding them under chrome trim and later, plastic cladding. Look at the late '80s Astros... awful... but they look great until the rust finally creeps up 3~4 inches and the trim falls off.

That '73 re-style of the Nova tail light panel was a disaster for rust, and it was about the time of the Japanese steel fiasco.

[Robert Hall]

For every rusty four year old Vega and Pinto, I can recall a similar Aspen, Cutlass Supreme, Impala. I still feel that GM fixed alot of these problems by hiding them under chrome trim and later, plastic cladding. Look at the late '80s Astros... awful... but they look great until the rust finally creeps up 3~4 inches and the trim falls off.

The last 12+ years living in the dry, salt-free West has made rusty cars a distant memory for me, even when I travel back to the Rust Belt to visit family I don't see many rusty cars..certainly nothing like how I remember the late '70s-early '80s, even the late-80s-mid 90s.

[Camino LS6]

I think Ohio was the rusty car capital of the world back a few decades - the worst rust I ever saw was on cars with Ohio plates.

Though Maine was pretty bad too...

[A Horse With No Name]

Like I've said before, as a kid growing up in Wisconsin, I remember the snow turning pink under cars when you slammed the door. Almost like the car bleeding to death.

And speaking of bleeding to death...just had a wierd thought about Jesus and cars. If Jesus was real and he died, he took upon the sin of the whole world, right?

I wonder if Dodgefan's Shadow took on the rust of all of the automotive production for North America for everything since 1989. That would explain why we don't see cars rust as much anymore...

Just a thought.

Chris

[Camino LS6]

[CARBIZ]

There are very few cars of the '70s that stand out today. Detroit got hit with 2 oil shocks, bumper crash ratings, unleaded fuel, pollution control regulations, virtually all at once. One of the solutions to reduce a vehicle's weight (and save gas) was to lower the carbon rating of steel, which resulted in most vehicles of the '70s rusting out pretty quickly. The only Ford my father owned, a '76 LTD had rust on nearly every square inch of that car within 3-4 years. His '69 Chrysler 300 had not fared much better.

I will say this again, for the umpteenth time: critics like to harp on Detroit because while GM and Ford sold millions of cars each year in the '70s throughout North America, Datsun, Honda, Toyota and Mazda combined didn't come close to even what Ford would sell in a single year. Undoubtedly, rusting Fords, Dodges and Chevys would be found far easier than the Japanese crap of the day. Of course, the critics conveniently forget the rotting Civics and harp about the rusty Fords and Chevys of the day.