I have finally got the article translated from Swedish to English, but first a disclaimer. To avoid hurting any ones feelings, remember I did not write the article and the author took certain editorial liberties writing it. As for the "last survivor" with these options, does any one out in "Pinto land" own a 1977 V-6 Silver striped black interior Cruising Wagon? If so please let me know.
Here are the words....
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1977 FORD PINTO CRUISING WAGON
The Last Survivor
People point and grin when they see Dale Jacobsen’s Pinto among other parked cars. But they look a little closer at the craftsmanship and change their tone. "So cool!" The engineer from Owatonna, Minnesota is accustomed to this reaction to his somewhat odd cruising wagon.
This Swedish descended Minnesotan has a mouth full of funnel cake, a kind of dessert that resembles rosettes in taste with a lot of powdered sugar on top.
“It’s mine”, he says nodding proudly in front of the colorful Ford Pinto that is more reminiscent of a toy car with round bubble windows in the back.
It was once meant as daily driver but it fell out of style, and this led Dale to park it many, many years ago. During the 70's Studebakers were the engineer's passion, but his collection was later to give way to a 1965 Mustang. This was partly because Mustangs give better returns.
Young people do not choose Studebaker when they buy classics. They choose muscle cars so I service and maintain the Mustang instead, says Jacobsen who is thinking about his retirement.
The Mustang has now been relegated to the background so the cruising wagon can have a place in the limelight. An odd choice one might think, but…
The Pinto is much more fun to drive, thinks Dale and tells this story about his odd utility car choice in his youth.
There were many who shook their heads when Jacobsen ordered a brand new Ford Pinto from the factory in 1977. This special option Cruising Wagon, including the V-6 and the decal package that makes the car look like a firecracker for all of $5,500. People thought he was crazy. An ordinary little Pinto did not cost more than $2000 new. Who spends that kind of money on a vehicle that you will scrap in a few years? Ford’s quality reputation was bad at the time, but Dale did not hesitate a second. He had been waiting to mark all the boxes on the ordering page.
However, I could not jump from the Mustang’s eight cylinders to a straight four, so I chose a V-6 2.8 liter when I ordered the car. Otherwise it would not have happened. Dale is the first and only owner of this little oddity. It has a lot of charm and attitude, despite people's prejudices.
Low Milage
Although the Ford is 37 years old, the odometer has not even reached 8000 miles. There is an explanation. It did not take many years for his wife to tell him to get rid of the miserable thing. She no longer wanted to be seen together with it. Jacobson on the other hand, had developed a real love for the car and to get rid of it was out of the question. However, he decided to park the car with the utmost care. All of the interior was removed and covered with plastic. The body was put up and the tires were stored separately. Years passed and the Pinto waited.
One reason for the cruising wagon’s bad reputation came from the fact that when it should have gone into production in 1977, a severe snow storm broke out and production was delayed by a full six days. To catch up with the orders, Ford’s leadership prioritized quantity over quality. And so it was, that the factory was spitting out cruising wagons that would be scrapped in just a few years.
Balance and symmetry were not Fords strong suit during the 70s, argues Dale who has some experience in the subject. An additional reason for the bad reputation of the 1977 model was a false alarm about the gasoline tank being poorly designed and downright dangerous. It was hushed and Ford sold Pintos really well during the ten years that it was on the market. It was small, inexpensive to operate and patriotic people brought the US model home before the European counterparts such as the VW Golf and even the Japanese Toyota.
Drag Racing Material
The little light Pinto was also excellent for drag racing and went through many engine modifications. Straight fours that were overtaken by old folks with walkers were replaced immediately with more powerful engines.
Many young people bought the cheap Ford Pinto to race with. One crash and they were scrapped. The large number of Pintos made it a throwaway car which everyone could afford several times, adds Dale.
But it was not just young people who liked the small car. Anyone who is versed in drag racing’s magical world probably knows Bob Glidden's Pro Stock Pinto in the 70’s broke all records by winning the NHRA twenty times and the World Cup three, a total of 78 victories. The record has remained until today. Only in September this year, the 65-year-old John Force, a different race legend, equaled Glidden's profit record. Even now in a Ford, however not a Pinto.
Jacobsen has first-hand experiences with the factory workers' stress. This he discovered when he started the total renovation project. Every millimeter has undergone restoration after a minor collision which messed up the front end. And that wasn’t all. Every millimeter of the car, he renovated himself. He redid the sheet metal, electrical system, engine and even paint. The only thing that was still in new condition was the interior thanks to Dale’s careful storage and elaborate wrapping twenty years earlier.
Why spend so much time and attention on this relatively inexpensive car? The engineer answers promptly: "My cruising wagon is probably the only one remaining in the world with this set of options."
Fewer than 50 cars were manufactured with the V-6, in silver and with the decal kit that this car has. He also has documentation on all of its history. Today it is in better condition than when it left the factory.
It no doubt took time to get it in the shape that the body is in today. “It has kept me away from the bars”, he says jokingly.
Renovations are his hobby, and his work is incredible in craftsmanship and detail. So good, that people hire him to paint their cars. Right now he is working on a friend's Camaro and many more cars over the years.
Jacobsen has a relaxed attitude. Things will take the time it takes, but the painting of the decal kit caused headaches. He masked every stripe after a blueprint and photographs of the original. He measured and scratched his head. The stripes from the factory were off by five centimeters from one side to the other. He couldn’t have that and corrected the mistake himself. It needed new tires on the 13 inch rims, which was not the easiest thing to locate in a country where almost everything can be found. Dale laughs a little when he says that the tires it is sitting on now are "a little hard". They were made in 1982. These, he only uses when he shows at a meet. Another set goes on when the car is not being judged.
The chances of a Pinto winning the first prize among Cadillacs and hot rods are limited but pride shines through Dale Jacobsen. The word Pinto makes the audience laugh at first but they leave silenced and impressed with thumbs up after a look at Jacobsen's phenomenal renovation. Believe it or not, but people turn their heads when he arrives. It may be a good thing or a bad thing. His possibly one-of-a-kind Cruising Wagon deserves in all cases, all the attention. Unlike some of his previously mentioned Studebakers, this becomes Sweden’s first printing of the story of perhaps the world's only surviving Ford Pinto Cruising Wagon V-6. It's as fine as snuff, it is! (Apparently that is a Swedish expression for “As good as it gets”.)
Photo Captions:
Dale himself has masked the stripes and painted what once was affixed with decals.
Next on the wish list is a matching Cruising Van.
The ideal of the 70’s. But for us Scandinavians, the pattern seems a little like a cardigan sweater.
Dale’s V-6 has 93 horsepower net, more or less.
The Pinto, created in order to compete with models like the AMC Gremlin and the Chevy Vega, won the race by horse lengths. Pinto is, speaking of color palettes, the spotted and white color of wild horses.
Forty years ago this was the hottest fashion in the West. Bubble window!
In 1977, there were 225,097 Pintos produced, fewer than 50 were cruising Wagons with Dales equipment package.
FORD PINTO CRUISING WAGON
Motor: I69-V2 (V-6)
Transmission: C-3 automatic
Duraspark Ignition System
Color: Silver metallic Ford #5299 with “tape treatment”
Furnishings: fabric and vinyl seats including folding rear seats
Mini console
Deluxe Bumper Group (shocks)
Power steering
Disc brakes
3 speed
AM/8 track stereo
Tinted glass
Alloy wheels
Made in Metuchen, New Jersey, March 21, 1977