Some of us with photos of our cars in this years calendar have written our autobiographys in the topic General pinto talk/calendar. It has been very interesting. I hope you will read it. I would like to keep that thread for the calendar cars only,  It would be great to hear your pinto stories as well. I hope you will print your story and a photo here. Join in the fun.
Hope to be reading yours soon.
Bill

The Pintos of days gone by... I have owned a few in my time, here' a story about one of my favorites.



After I moved back to Minnesota from California in 1990? I was in search of a good used cheap car. Always the case back then I didn't have much cash so cheap was the key, used was necessary and good was only if I was lucky...

 A friend told me about a Pinto wagon that I knew and it was for sale. A few years previous a Pinto wagon I owned had a small under the hood fire and the electrical was burned and needed replacing. Another friend agreed to help me change out the wiring harness, so a trip to the junk yard to get a used one and there we stood... wire harness in hand and no idea what we were doing, I needed help.

 I knew there was a Pinto that lived down the street from me, it was a 1980 and mine was a 1975 but they were both Pintos so... I knocked on the door. After explaining my problem to the owner she agreed to let me borrow it to park the two side by side for comparison. Somehow we managed to get everything hooked up and my Pinto was back on the road.

 Since I knew the owner and car and hearing the price of $200 I was interested. It needed a bit of work but for $200 it was in my price range and with a little work and a new carb it was street-able again. I think this was my 4th Pinto wagon and the one with the best stories to remember.

 That little 1980 wagon with 2.3L, 4spd and trailer hitch and I had a bit of fun together. I used to do a lot of river fishing for big catfish and well... wagons can haul the gear and still have room to sleep in the back for them long nights on the river bank.

 The hitch was a welcome and a well used option. I had a 1973 Ski-Doo TNT silver bullet snowmobile and trailer that made a few trips behind that wagon for some winter fun. I remember my first trip with the snowmobile and Pinto well. A bunch of guys from work traveled up north for a weekend of drinking, fun and snowmobiling at a cabin in Grand Rapids, MN. The first time we all left the cabin to hit the trails my TNT blew the drive chain and had to be towed back off the trail. Lucky for me there were extra sleds around and I was able to ride one of those for the weekend. I recall the trip well, It was so cold the heater in the Pinto had a hard time keeping the windshield clear, frost around the edges, a trailer behind I couldn't see, heavy traffic going home and snowing... all that made for an interesting ride home but the dead sled, trailer and pinto arrived back home safe and sound.

 I also had a small flat bottom river boat with motor that was hauled to a few spots. The flat bottom was a smaller 12 footer with a 9 horse on the back. A friend of mine and I jumped in the wagon one day and with boat in tow it was a road trip to a large reservoir a couple hours from home I wanted to check out and this turned out to be quite the adventure. Let me say again, it was a small 12 foot flat bottom duck/river boat. The 9 horse that was on it was older and heavy. I only weigh about 165lbs but my friend Bob that came with... 6' 6" and close to 400lbs... after all the gear was loaded and boat was in the water, Bob and I jumped in the boat we found an unexpected surprise. The boat was only about 3 inches out of the water! to much weight! And not enough boat! but hey, what's that they say about young and dumb...

 Anyway we didn't drive all they way to let something like safety get in the way of our fun so off we went out on the big reservoir to get us some fish. As luck would have it and since neither of us were familiar with the local fishing it turned out to be a nice day in the sun, out on the lake and we did get to see and travel most of the reservoir... no fish to brag about but fun none the less.

 The adventure started on the way back in to load up and head home. Like I said the boat was barely out of the water and it wasn't hard to end up with water coming over the side. All it took was any boat passing close by and the wake would get our feet wet and if we were not careful and leaned to one side, again... wet feet. As we were within site of the landing we got goofy and started rocking the boat! As we kept it a-rocking the ankles got wet, then the shins, knees and finally... well you get the point.

 As we finally got back to the landing the boat was almost completely under water, my fishing gear was floating away and the two of us were laughing out butts off! The people on shore were watching in amazement, some shaking their heads at the idiots but we had fun and the belly hurt from all the laughing as we finally made it back to shore. I jumped out, backed the wagon up to the landing and proceeded to try and pull the boat out of the lake with all that water inside. Best the little Pinto could manage was pull it a little way, let more water drain from the boat, pull a little further, let more water drain, you get the point. It took quite a while to get that boat out of the lake but again, Pinto and boat made it home safe with another story to add to the memories.

 There was also that company fishing trip... most loaded up in the companies old bus for the trip but I knew the condition of it, what a mess and I hate unreliable vehicles, break downs and what not so I decided I was going to follow in the wagon. One of my friends from work joined me and together we followed, waited for them to fix problems with the bus along the way when it broke down (good thing I had the wagon to go get parts!) but all eventually arrived safe and sound. That night after to much beer for everybody it was found out that there wasn't enough beds for all. By the time I was ready to call it a night the only spot left was a chunk of floor under a kitchen table. Nobody could drink me under the table back then (another story, not Pinto related) so in the back of the wagon I went. Next day, worse hangover ever... I managed to catch the largest fish and received the award, I still have that trophy, wish I still had the wagon...

 Now the final story I will tell is the one nearest and dearest to my heart...

 When I was married and we were expecting our son it was the wagon that got us to the hospital and brought him home. At about midnight I was awoken by my wife to "my belly hurts" to which I replied... of course it does dear, you ate that whole quart of double-chunk chocolate Haagen-Dazs you made me go to the gas station for! A couple hours later and my explanation for the belly ache wasn't good enough so in the wagon and off to the hospital we went.

 At 10:10am Sunday morning, Mothers Day and opening fishing weekend my son Steven was born. I was to go with friends for opening fishing but stayed home for fear the blessed day could arrive anytime, The nurse that helped us in the delivery room had to come off the lake to help as we were not the only ones that night to come in for an expected bundle of joy.

Moving forward quite a few years, my son turned 18 and we finally got him his drivers license. After much practice and taking the test for the first time I was excited to see him pass on the first attempt. The driving examiner reported that he did well and the only struggle seemed to be the manual steering but that he should get used to that with more time behind the wheel.

 If you haven't guessed by now... the kid took the test in my 1978 Pinto wagon.



and so the story continues....

 Brian Campbell
 The Cookieboy
 from: www.cookieboys toys.com