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Author Topic: what was your light bulb momment when you decided pinto's were awesome?  (Read 3192 times)

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Offline gt mayoh

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mine would be june of 1983. it had been a month since the coalinga earthquake,6.5 devastated its quaintness forever.any who's my older cousin had come down from sac to check on my grandmother and i. at these time i am a month from being 15, i open the door and there's my cousin. hey let me talk to grandma and then we got things to do. after his breif visit with granny, he leads the way to a powder blue 72 sedan.this to my eyes was just comical, lets see if i can describe this scene better.at just 19 my cousin dave was6'4"235lbs he could squat lift the rear of the pinto with little effort(which he always did for everybody's amusement, he would lift the damn thing then fold in to it and drive) the pinto had already been customized,it had a smaller steering wheel from a monarch. it also had a weber carb and a header but still retained its hub caps. we headed up los gatos canyon where he scarred the crap out of me at first. it was here that i could feel the quick reflexes of the pinto. after arriving at the park at wich time we ran into more cousins. dave then whipped my cousin terry's brand new trans am so bad so many times that by monday cousin terry had a toyota 4x4 no shizod funny. the little powder blue pinto got turned into a go cart a week later,two months latter it was mine. i drove it the crap out of it for all most 2 yrs in the creeks and motorcycle trails around coalinga .parked it for two years.moved to port angeles wa, came back pulled the engine and put it in a 73 wagon. i said it before as well as today pinto one of the best cars ever made. i use to say ford ever made but now its all

Offline DBSS1234

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In the winter of 76-77 when I wanted a new Mustang Cobra II but sticker shock made me face reality. After looking at the rest of Ford's line up I fell for the new crusing wagon, and I could afford it too!

Offline D.R.Ball

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Driving my salvage title 1979 Pinto (it had no straight panels anywhere)  every where and being able to change the clutch in the gravel driveway. I'm my second one a 1976 Wagon soon to be a turbo cruising wagon...

Offline dga57

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For me, it would have been in January of 1974, on the day I took delivery on my very first car: a brand new Ford Pinto Runabout - orange with black interior, 2300 cc engine with a 4-speed manual transmission.  I special ordered that car from Daniel Motor Company in Craigsville, VA mainly because my dad always bought Fords there, it was one of the few new cars I could afford (I was sixteen and had a part time job after school), and because orange was my favorite color.  I didn't fall in love with it until it was actually in my possession but once I did, I never quite got the Pinto out of my system.  So even though I've moved on up the ladder to owning Lincolns, Cadillacs, Rolls-Royces, BMWs, Jaguars, etc., there is still a Pinto in my driveway!
Dwayne :)
Pinto Car Club of America - Serving the Ford Pinto enthusiast since 1999.

Offline Pinto5.0

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I was about 10 years old in 1976 & I can remember walking to school every day & passing a house with a bright yellow/black hood '71 Pinto sedan with a 289 & aluminum slots sitting in the driveway. I can still see that car when I close my eyes & 35+ years later the car is still in the area, well cared for & driven occasionally.  I have been chasing that car ever since & my '73 sedan will be bright yellow/black stripes when it hits the road some day.
'73 Sedan (I'll get to it)
'76 Wagon driver
'80 hatch(Restoring to be my son's 1st car)~Callisto
'71 half hatch (bucket list Pinto)~Ghost
'72 sedan 5.0/T5~Lemon Squeeze

Offline chrisf1219

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 my wife had a 74 runabout ight brown  4 speed.this was before i knew her she drove it alot went though 3 more waterpumps and drove it to the wrecker when the engine was readt to go.fast foward married and kidding around started looking for a pinto for us with ac.found it on this website drove to utah and brought it back to ca.after start a restore project i really started to like this little wagon alot.owned it for 6plus years now.oh its offically mine now its my toy and gets garaged at all times. ready for the spring car shows curise ins etc. chris
77 wagon auto 2.3  wagons are the best and who knew I like flames on a pinto!!!!

Offline JoeBob

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When I was 16 I bought a new 72 trunk model. I drove it two years. I moved on to many other cars sense then. In about 1998 I started having this repeating dream. I would open my garage and there was a car under a tarp. I would pull off the tarp and wow!!!!!! It was my pinto. I still had it after all these years. As I was doing my happy dance I would wake up to find out I had the dream again. I would go from happiness to despair in just moments. I did not realize that I loved the car when I owned it. This dream happened over and over. In 74 I had sold the pinto to my younger brother. I mentioned to my brother that I was having this dream. He told me that he had the same pinto dream too. That was just crazy. We both started having the dream at about the same time. I decided to make my dream come true. I could not find a pinto in good shape so I bought a 77 bobcat. To the best of my memory it drove just the same as the pinto. After buying the bobcat I never had the dream again. Why should I? I owned the dream.
Bill
By the way. My brother is is still dreaming. He did not get a car.
77 yellow Bobcat hatchback
Deuteronomy 7:9

Offline dga57

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That's interesting, joebob.  When I said, "I never quite got the Pinto out of my system," what I actually should have said is that it reappeared over and over in my dreams, much like yours.  It always popped up as a garage find or barn find that had somehow completely slipped my mind until I discovered it; always in pristine condition!  When I bought my brown '72 sedan in 2008 I thought it might lay the dreams to rest but they continued to occur.  More recently, I acquired a gorgeous, all original, low mileage '72 gold glow Squire wagon and, for whatever reason, have not had the dream since.  I'm not convinced that it's gone forever... I really connected with that orange '74 Runabout and I truly believe it will live on in my dreams until the day I finally find one like it.  In the meantime however, I'm thoroughly enjoying my Squire.  It is completely roadworthy, licensed, and driveable whereas the sedan was a project that never quite got off the ground due to family health issues.  Who knows?  Maybe the simple fact that I'm actually driving this one will, in fact, keep the dreams at bay.  Thanks for sharing your story!
Dwayne :)
Pinto Car Club of America - Serving the Ford Pinto enthusiast since 1999.

Offline Pinturbo75

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i went toa turboford meet in charleston s.c. and had a turbo tbird at the time... curtis (aka) scratch on here... had a turbo pinto and was giving out rollercoaster rides.... i got in, we pulled out on the main road and the light turned green... i saw sky, road, sky, road, sky and road.... i was hooked and had to get one... found 2 a couple miles from my house and paid 95 bucks for both of them...swapped in a turbo motor and that was it.....now i  have 2 turbo pintos and enjoy them thoroughly.... .thanks curtis,, i think?
75 turbo pinto trunk, megasquirt2, 133lb injectors, bv head, precision 6265 turbo, 3" exhaust,bobs log, 8.8, t5,, subframe connectors, 65 mm tb, frontmount ic, traction bars, 255 lph walbro,
73 turbo pinto panel wagon, ms1, 85 lb inj, fmic, holset hy35, 3" exhaust, msd, bov,

Offline bbobcat75

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DIDNT REALLY HAVE A GREAT LIGHT BLUB MOMENT TILL LATER IN LIFE!!! GOT MY 75 BOBCAT AS MY FIRST CAR AT 15, HAD BLOWN HEAD GASKETS GOT TO LEARN HOW TO TURN WRENCHS AND FIX THE CAR, DO A LITTLE BODY WORK.
 
DIDNT WANT A BOBCAT WANTED A 1964 IMPALA THAT WAS THE CAR TO HAVE IN 1999-2000 FOR ME WITH HYDRALICS AND CUSTOM PAINT!! NOW AT 30 WOULDNT SELL MY BOBCAT UNLESS IT WAS LIFE OR DEATH LOVE THE CAR AND GET WAY MORE ATTENTION AND COMPLAMENTS ON HOW COOL AND RARE THE CAR IS!!!! A 64 IMPALA WOULD JUST BE ANOTHER CAR ON THE ROAD, PLUS WOULD RIDE LIKE CRAP!!LOL
 
GREAT STORIES GUYS AND TAKE CARE!!
1975 mercury bobcat 2.8 auto
1978 mercury bobcat wagon 2.3l - soon to have a 88 tc drive line - SOLD - 🙁
1975 ford pinto - drag car - 2.3l w/t5 trans - project car

Offline Stubby350

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My parents owned a 72 coupe when I was young and this was the car I learned to drive in. Bought a 75 wagon when I was 17 and drove everywhere. Bought a 79 Cruising Wagon in 89 with 65K and haven't stopped since. Have rescued quite a few over the years and have come up with several modifications which would be cool for customs. Now own a 79 Rally Cruiser I rescued from a crusher in 95 and am in process of putting this car back to original after storing the car for years. I am looking for a complete factory installed or dealer installed air conditioning unit and would be willing to purchase an entire wagon for parts to do it. I get crap from the know nots all the time, but I've been loyal since the beginning. Pinto's ROCK!!!!! (I even got my wife of twenty years to come around-she hated my bright orange Cruiser when we first got together and is asking me now when my baby blue Rallye will be ready to drive. I have the V6 motor and C4 trans ready to go and most of the interior is done. I want to move the electrical wires out of the engine bay and will then rebuild the body and give it a fresh coat of the original color, keeping all the original striping true to form.  Thanks for looking and don't forget the people who have kept and continue to keep you all free here in America. God bless!!!

Offline blupinto

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I think it was when I was 6 or 7 or 8... for me then it was all about the horse emblem.  ;D Like Dwayne, the love of Pintos never left me.  :)
One can never have too many Pintos!

Offline johnbigman2011

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Mine happened when I purchased my 23 T bucket from my father in law. I had asked him what engine was in it and he said that it was a 2.0 Pinto motor. I looked at it and said surly you can modify this little motor with upgrades. Low and behold while searching I found this site and went totally crazy with the help of a lot of you guys for sure. Intake changes, carb set ups, C4 repairs, and the list goes on and on. After looking at the cars here I said, I have to have one.... Right. 72 was found, and brought home... 79 turbo wagon, gave me a road trip to remember and now the madness has ended and I will be bringing home, one mean green machine here shortly.

Thanks fellow Pinto family for this wonderful adventure. 8)
1972 Trunk Model..... Yeller Feller
1979 Wagon Turbo.... 85 2.3 Turbo
1923 T- Bucket ...... 2.0 Pinto Powered
F 250 Redneck Lincoln .... Pinto Picker upper

Offline Srt

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what was your light bulb momment when you decided pinto's were awesome?   
When, in 1971, I smoked a BB Vette from stop light to stop light for over a mile in my little green turbo Pinto!
the only substitute for cubic inches is BOOST!!!

Offline gt mayoh

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what was your light bulb momment when you decided pinto's were awesome?   
When, in 1971, I smoked a BB Vette from stop light to stop light for over a mile in my little green turbo Pinto!
thats bitchin i did the same thing to a early porsche 911 with my 78 2.8 4spd overdrive coupe on highway 1 .aahhh the look on guys face when at 90mph i pulled the shifter in overdrive i smiled and waved