I've been looking for a pinto for a while now. Why are the majority of them located up north? I would have figured there would be a bunch down here in the south.
I must not be looking in the right places.
I was looking for a wagon, but now I'm just looking for somthing decent.
Most of them have been chopped up for race cars, dirt track, demo derby, etc......
:( :-[ :'(
Many are up north perhaps due to the fact that many were manufactured by the St. Thomas (Canada) plant. Of course, these cars were sold throughout the U.S.
Keep in mind that the Pinto was a response, in part, to the VW Bug—a car that due to it's weight distribution (engine over drive axle) does better on slick roads than its contemporary counterparts. The Pinto sits lower and wider than the VW. While the weight distribution isn't quite the same, the low weight of the Pinto and lower center of gravity makes the Pinto more controllable than a bigger, heavy car in both preventing a skid and recovering from a skid (strictly speaking of the laws of physics and objects in motion and so forth—once a heavy car's tail gets moving in a direction not concordant with the central velocity [direction + speed], it's tougher to realign than a lighter car that you can "snap"). Also, the Pinto suspension has a respectable design for keeping the rubber on the road (traction). So up north is a logical place for the car to sell well, and a higher chance that 25-30 years later there are more still around.
My suggestion to anyone actively seeking a Pinto is to advertise. Take out a classified ad in the paper. If you have a "tradio" type radio program where people can buy and sell items over the radio, utilize that as well.
I just picked mine up from a salvage yard right around the corner from where I live. He had four to choose from all 200 each. None of them run, but they all had decent bodys. I'm pretty sure he had a baby blue wagon sitting there too. I didn't really look at it all that well. I know two of them were 1980 models and mine is a 72, not sure of the wagon.
Where might you be from where a yard has 4 sitting in it?
Georgia.
Click on his user name.
just look in Scott's driveway......he owns them all! :o
salvage yard with a wagon? in warner robbins? if you could check if it is still there and the body in a useable condition, i will be driving that way soon. i live in marietta and my parents are in augusta.....warner robbins would be easy. please give it a check for me, or even post the name of the yard so i can call.
thanks,
Matt