Dave,

I would say that was definitely the purchase of a lifetime!  You can't imagine how many times I've wished I'd kept the 1974 Pinto that I purchased brand new back in '74, but I was young and foolish and traded it away a couple years later, not realizing that it had actually sparked what has become a lifelong fascination with Ford Pintos.  I was lucky enough a few years ago to finally find and purchase a car that is virtually identical to that first one, but even that can't compare to the joy I would be experiencing today as the proud owner of a 45-year-old "one owner".  My hat is off to you and your enviable wisdom!  Congratulation s on your long, long relationship with your Cruising Wagon and thank you for sharing it so freely with all of us!  

Dwayne

Bought ours almost 33 years ago now. Drive it almost daily!

we bought a silver w/red interior pinto new in 1980.my parents had a 1976  baby blue woody wagon t hat i drove  a lot.one day in 1992 i came home from work and there was a new sentra with 20 day tags.what the heck! my wife had gone and traded my baby what really made me mad was the pioneer stereo cost a lot more than what she got on trade in.i said one day i would own another and i do it gets more comments than any car i've had.  now she understands.

Hey Flash041!!!

Utica, NY?  Don's Ford???  Imagine my surprise learning that you had lived in Utica, NY!  Glad your Pinto did not suffer from the Tin Worm that all cars in Syracuse/Rome/Utica area suffers from!  Is it safe for me to assume that you were there for Griffis AFB?  I grew up in Syracuse, NY, while my dad was retired from NORAD at Hancock AFB.  He did work in Griffis as well as the NYS Police in Utica, NY.  My wife of 30 years was born in Utica, NY, and we met at college in Geneseo, where I attended a class while I was an undergrad student at Rochester Institute of Technology and later graduated from Syracuse University grad school.

My 1979 Ford Pinto was my first car that I drove back and forth between Rochester, Syracuse, and Utica, NY! I purchased it when it was a year old from my father's colleague at the base.  It was originally purchased at Steve Aloi's Ford in Mattydale, NY, which later became Courtesy Ford and finally went defunct in 2007.  It was Ziebarted as it was critical to do whatever you can with all the salt that Syracuse was famed for!  Looking at your Cruising Wagon, it is amazing you were able to keep it rust-free considering being a New York car!  You must have garaged it during the winter, or was transferred out of state by uncle Sam?

Thanks for sharing your invoice...it brought back many memories!

Happy Motoring!
Dan