Ford Pinto: the smallest Ford car of the 1970s (19 photos)

Launched in 1971, the Pinto was the first subcompact a car made by Ford in North America. It was the most small American Ford from 1907. In 1972, Ford introduced station wagon, as well as a two-door hatchback Runabout.





Americans and subcompacts - sounds strange, doesn't it? whether? In fact, the Yankees had them from the very beginning of the industry. vehicles, but serious attempts were not made until the 70s years. Prior to this, auto giants offered just enough of them to attract young customer and then get him to stay loyal to the same brand, but starting in the 1970s, Detroit companies made money on life with such models.



We are talking about cars such as Ford Pinto, Chevrolet Vega, AMC Gremlin and Pacer and many more. But let's take a look at the first one, produced from 1971 to 1980 along with a twin named Mercury Bobcat.





3,173,491 copies were produced, and in 1974 Pinto became American bestseller with 544,209 cars produced. To him the oil crisis helped, but chances are good that it would sell well and without it, since it is often described as "the Ford Model T of its era". It served as a cheap and simple means of transportation for majority, and its platform was also used for the second generation Mustang models, but that's another story.



Unfortunately, a major safety scandal kept the Pinto from retiring as one of Ford's most successful models.

In short, the problem was the location of the tank just behind rear bumper, so if the Pinto crashed into a larger and heavier machine, often leaked and caught fire. The company was filed in court set of car owners, and the company had to answer for it.



The Pinto was usually offered in four different configurations. by the most the two-door version was popular, followed by the station wagon in passenger and commercial options, and there was a so-called option with sports spirit.

















The American automaker offered a wide range of engines with four and six cylinders, but by 1980 only one remained. The famous 2.3-liter 88 hp. and maximum torque torque 160 Nm. Power was sent to the rear wheels through four-speed manual or three-speed automatic gearbox. Factory information says that acceleration from standstill to 100 km/h took 12.6 seconds and a top speed of 154 km/h.



The Pinto was primarily used as a vehicle in which owners drove until they paid off the loan, and then sold or exchange it for a new model. Find it in original and preserved state is an almost impossible task.







We can say that this unremarkable model was an ordinary a car delivering from point A to point B. Values ​​today are not represents none, so if an instance comes across in good condition, then the cost of its maxim is 5000-6000 dollars. But worth it note that the car was very reliable.