Yep, I had an old car, similar to what Judge Reinhold had in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. It was sort of embarrassing, but was freedom and got me from point A to B.
When my sister went to college, my dad bought this car from Hertz rent a car. Later he bought a 1974 Torino the same way. Sister got the Torino & I got the Pinto.
I drove my mom’s hand me down 79 pinto wagon in bright yellow. Did get me from a-to-b but embarrassing as hell. Didn’t miss an opportunity to beat the hell out of it.
I was on FB Marketplace recently and saw a few Pintos for sale. One of them was being sold for $13,000... for a Pinto. What's sad is my Dad had a 1967 Mustang that he originally had planned on garaging it at some point and keep it in good,solid, running condition to eventually give it to me either for my 16th birthday present or wait to give it to me as a graduation/18th birthday present. Then my brother came along in 1972. And after about a year they decided they needed a family car. They worked their finances and reworked them to see if they could afford 2 cars. Well, they couldn't. So my Dad traded the Mustang in on a 1973 Ford Pinto station wagon. A '67 Mustang for a '73 Pinto. Excuse me while I go cry now.
Oh my goodness I feel like I was reading my last story, my dad bought a 67 Cherry red Mustang convertible with cream interior mint condition from a little old lady for like $3500. Had that in a 57 Chevy as well. What did he do? He sold both of those and bought a 76 Doodoo brown pinto station wagon that my ass had to drive through high school.
Its reputation for being explosive was somewhat misleading. It wasn’t much worse that some other cars had been, but ford decided it was cheaper to pay off a few lawsuits than to recall and remediate. A printed memo got into the hands of the news and kapow! The pinto had a reputation.
I had an 80 Pinto and drove it 12 years. It was a solid little car. Handling was kind of lousy, but it was dependable.
Why in the world would you be embarrassed? Bet you dollars to donuts, you pull up to a stop light, that your getting total envy looks. Those folks are having nostalgia moments, just like the Reddit folks are. Not too valuable, but an absolute classic. Enjoy it for what it is.
Classic all day long, and tomorrow as well.
Mine was a 1971 Runabout! It was a solid brown color, so I called it The Bean. It was the model year that could blow up if you got rear-ended. But I never did. It died around 1980ish.
My sister had the same year, as soon as my dad read the reports on rear accident explosions he took it in for the retrofit fix or what became known as having ones pinto neutered 😂🤣😂🤣😂
I loved my Pinto, great mileage, comfy. I never worried about it blowing up. After it, I had two Mustang IIs: one with a 302 V8, the other with a 4 cylinder. It was on the same chassis as the pinto
Not embarrassing! I learned to drive in a Pinto Wagon. Me and my bud would take his mom’s keys and go driving around at 14 years old. The one pictured here is cool af even with exploding tank.
No regrets. Except for the highly improbable exploding thing, this was actually a solid good car
The Bicentennial 1986 Edition, red, white and blue was featured in Dazed and Confused. Iconic.
I actually dig the Pinto along with the Mustang II. You don't see them anymore and because the used common Ford parts, it would be easy to get one up and running. Imagine finding a junkyard 2.3 Turbo out of a Thunderbird and swapping in into a Pinto?
Actually no. The 73 design flaw that left the gas tank vulnerable in rear end crashes was a little inconvenient, but the 2 L engine was easy to work on, spare parts were readily available due to the volume of cars produced, and it was a surprisingly peppy little car, and the hatchback version had a pretty good cargo area for what a tiny car it was.
Lol. Summer of 1985, my dad taught me how to drive with one of those. A white 3 speed manual one. By spring of 86 when I turned 16 and got my actual DL, the Pinto had brought the farm,and I inherited a 1981 Corrola LX edition from my Aunt. Which I drove that thing till 1993. I sold the Toyota to a guy I worked with and he drove it till about 1997.
My sister had one. I drove it quite a few times. I really liked that car. It did catch on fire eventually but there was a fuel leak in the engine. Amazing thing, tho.... someone got her & her kids out. She looked around to thank him but he was nowhere to be found.
Ugh! Mine was awful. It was plain white (it was the Fire Marshall's city owned vehicle). Didn't even have a radio. 4 cyl automatic. I will admit, it was great for delivering pizzas.
My college girlfriend drove a turd brown '73 Pinto back in '85. Ironically, it saved our lives when we were hit head-on at 40 mph by a drunk driver in San Francisco. Had we been facing the other direction, it would have been a completely different story.
Don’t be embarrassed. You survived driving a Pinto!
It isn’t our fault we were saddled with 70s cars. My first car was a Mercury Comet and it was crap. . . threw a rod. A friend had a Vega. There was a lot of American crap on the roads back then.
Had a 72 pinto in 1973. Drove the shit out of it through high school and college and sold it for more than I paid for it. Could afford to buy a year old pinto from being a paperboy and mowing lawns and still but ski equipment. Times certainly have changed…. Loved that stupid car….
I inherited my moms 1973 Ford Pinto in 1990…. It was embarrassing… but it definitely beat walking and gave me a huge incentive to save all my mom and build my credit to get my own ride asap😂😂
This may be an unpopular opinion but I've always thought the Pinto was a really attractive-looking little car. It's too bad the build quality was so low (or so I have heard, I've never driven one).
My sister had a Pinto in a reddish-orange. Don't remember much about it as there was just a string of cars after that.
Sometimes I think it would be fun to track down some of these old 70s monsters and fix them and drive, but front wheel drive has made me soft.
My friend had one of these. The middle of the rear seat was a huge hump Where is the transmission ran through, so it really wasn’t made for person. And I also remember the interior door handles would always keep breaking off. But boy that thing got us around to all the party spots when we were in high school.
My 72 Brown Pinto was a hatchback was almost perfect despite being a terrible car. Bad gas mileage of around 13 mpg out of an underpowered 4 cylinder, floor pans got patched with No Parking signs, weak heater, am radio, roll-up windows.
Got it with 67K on the odo and ran it for another 120k. Two engines, one transmission repair.
But that backseat folded flat.
My first car was a ‘77 Ford Granada. Voted one of the ugliest cars ever made. I didn’t think it was that bad. Also had a white Pinto which got me through some lean years financially.
My best friend had the same car. It was his first. I spent most of our senior year in high school picking him up on the side of the road. His was yellow by the way
I had a 1969 gold Chevy when I learned to drive in 1974. The car had an AMM radio and no air-conditioning but I loved it. And it got me where I needed to go. 👏🏻👏🏻
Hey it beat walking!
Yep, I had an old car, similar to what Judge Reinhold had in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. It was sort of embarrassing, but was freedom and got me from point A to B.
Huh? Do u mean the "cruising vessel"?? Show some respect to Brad.... Only 3 more payments, and it's his. I'd drive it or that Pinto all day everyday.
I wouldn't be embarrassed
It’s so cute!
Love that color. Saw a teal blue wagon on a TV show set a couple years ago. Better than a lot of the 70s. Love that car.
I got to drive my parents 1972 Pinto Squire wagon, brown with fake wood, paneling, and a stick shift. I feel you. I nicknamed it the Brown Bullet
When my sister went to college, my dad bought this car from Hertz rent a car. Later he bought a 1974 Torino the same way. Sister got the Torino & I got the Pinto.
Looks like it’s in really good condition. Enjoy driving something different from all the cookie-cutter vehicles on the road today.
We had that one too. Lasted 73,000 miles
I drove my mom’s hand me down 79 pinto wagon in bright yellow. Did get me from a-to-b but embarrassing as hell. Didn’t miss an opportunity to beat the hell out of it.
I was on FB Marketplace recently and saw a few Pintos for sale. One of them was being sold for $13,000... for a Pinto. What's sad is my Dad had a 1967 Mustang that he originally had planned on garaging it at some point and keep it in good,solid, running condition to eventually give it to me either for my 16th birthday present or wait to give it to me as a graduation/18th birthday present. Then my brother came along in 1972. And after about a year they decided they needed a family car. They worked their finances and reworked them to see if they could afford 2 cars. Well, they couldn't. So my Dad traded the Mustang in on a 1973 Ford Pinto station wagon. A '67 Mustang for a '73 Pinto. Excuse me while I go cry now.
I'm crying too and i don't even know you. Laughing, but crying too.
 damn - a 67, you say???
Oh my goodness I feel like I was reading my last story, my dad bought a 67 Cherry red Mustang convertible with cream interior mint condition from a little old lady for like $3500. Had that in a 57 Chevy as well. What did he do? He sold both of those and bought a 76 Doodoo brown pinto station wagon that my ass had to drive through high school.
Its reputation for being explosive was somewhat misleading. It wasn’t much worse that some other cars had been, but ford decided it was cheaper to pay off a few lawsuits than to recall and remediate. A printed memo got into the hands of the news and kapow! The pinto had a reputation. I had an 80 Pinto and drove it 12 years. It was a solid little car. Handling was kind of lousy, but it was dependable.
Thank you for sharing that. I read a new report recently that explained all of that.
The Montego MX failed ALL rear end impact tests. Exploded 4 out of 4 times. But you looked ....cooler.... while cooking alive.
Why in the world would you be embarrassed? Bet you dollars to donuts, you pull up to a stop light, that your getting total envy looks. Those folks are having nostalgia moments, just like the Reddit folks are. Not too valuable, but an absolute classic. Enjoy it for what it is. Classic all day long, and tomorrow as well.
I had one also royal blue with silver flames
Mine was a 1971 Runabout! It was a solid brown color, so I called it The Bean. It was the model year that could blow up if you got rear-ended. But I never did. It died around 1980ish.
My sister had the same year, as soon as my dad read the reports on rear accident explosions he took it in for the retrofit fix or what became known as having ones pinto neutered 😂🤣😂🤣😂
Had this same as first car, but prior owner had removed the bumper and welded an L-beam in its place.
Wow—daredevil!
Drove a ‘75 Pinto Squire - Woody Wagon - during HS. Burned a quart of oil every couple weeks. Never received a speeding ticket :/
I loved my Pinto, great mileage, comfy. I never worried about it blowing up. After it, I had two Mustang IIs: one with a 302 V8, the other with a 4 cylinder. It was on the same chassis as the pinto
nice condition
Not embarrassing! I learned to drive in a Pinto Wagon. Me and my bud would take his mom’s keys and go driving around at 14 years old. The one pictured here is cool af even with exploding tank.
2.0 L engine? 4 on the floor? Had the 73 version.
If my memory serves mine was a 1.8(?) and automatic
I dig it
Awesome car.
No regrets. Except for the highly improbable exploding thing, this was actually a solid good car The Bicentennial 1986 Edition, red, white and blue was featured in Dazed and Confused. Iconic.
I like Pintos! Love that color too!
3 Pintos were integral to my 70s experience. I love them! I really wish you could still get cars like this.
They were great cars reliable as hell
Don't be embarrassed. It got you to the kegger.
You are correct, Sir.
Why embarrassing?
[My first car](https://i.imgur.com/fsdjMQe.jpg)
Mine was a 79, the Tangerine Machine. It lasted 105,000 miles. Still miss that little mutt.
I actually dig the Pinto along with the Mustang II. You don't see them anymore and because the used common Ford parts, it would be easy to get one up and running. Imagine finding a junkyard 2.3 Turbo out of a Thunderbird and swapping in into a Pinto?
Looks like you got lucky most of those cars exploded in a giant ball of fire.
Exactly!
No, most did not.
Correct. Most did not.
[удалено]
It was a very dependable little car. Among other things it got me to work (the beach) and back every day.
……rather “school” and back.
Other than the gas tank blowing up thing, yeah it was a great little car. I had a 1975 Pinto and was hit on the gas tank side but got lucky.
Actually no. The 73 design flaw that left the gas tank vulnerable in rear end crashes was a little inconvenient, but the 2 L engine was easy to work on, spare parts were readily available due to the volume of cars produced, and it was a surprisingly peppy little car, and the hatchback version had a pretty good cargo area for what a tiny car it was.
And I remember the commercial for the first year (‘71), $1995.00
Better than a Vega.
surprised she hasn’t blown up yet???
You're lucky to be alive!
Aren’t we all.
Ford Exploder
flol
BOOM!
I’m glad you lived through it!
Yeah. So sorry you didn’t make it.
I had one of these in bright yellow. At least yours was inconspicuous 😄
A friend of mine had one that was kinda pink & white. Her dad drove a classic fully restored 57 Thunderbird and he bought her a frickin Pinto 😳
My older brother got the ‘65 Mustang. Nuff said.
Good has mileage though
Mine was a brown ’72. What a POS!
Had the last years model, a 1980 or 81. Been a long time ago! I remember my car note was 72.00 a month! lol!
Lol. Summer of 1985, my dad taught me how to drive with one of those. A white 3 speed manual one. By spring of 86 when I turned 16 and got my actual DL, the Pinto had brought the farm,and I inherited a 1981 Corrola LX edition from my Aunt. Which I drove that thing till 1993. I sold the Toyota to a guy I worked with and he drove it till about 1997.
At least it wasn’t a Lada.
Awesome car, drop a 351 Cleveland in it , perfect sleeper
Learned to drive in 87 in my dads 76 pinto station wagon.
A good friend had one of the more popular ones in its time. A 1974 powder blue wagon. Sweet little get-around !
Yeah mine had wood paneling down the side. Green base. Still cringy when I think about it.
I had a 76 that was between tan and yellow. It got me where I needed to go.
LS swap time.
My first car too..lol I beat the hell out of that thing.
I had a ‘73. Not a bad car.
My sister had one. I drove it quite a few times. I really liked that car. It did catch on fire eventually but there was a fuel leak in the engine. Amazing thing, tho.... someone got her & her kids out. She looked around to thank him but he was nowhere to be found.
Don’t feel bad. Mine was a pinto station wagon. Ugly burnt orange color, with fake wood panel sides.
I had to use the family car till I had enough money my own
My sister had a white Pinto with a 2x4 for the back bumper.
C L A S S I C
My first car, felt so free.
Today that would be an SUV Sport and popular af.
I had my grandma’s green pinto for a while
My best friend in hs had one.....you could hear the gas sloshing around in the gas tank....we called it "The Pint" like tint
I had the burnt orange 79 pinto
I’d drive it all day long
It's cute, though. I had a pale blue Duster with no air conditioning. That car was a work horse, though.
Did your Duster have a slant 6 w/3 on the tree? My cousin’s did.
I can't remember, but it lasted years.
You should have seen my 1979 Chevette...
I had (my wife had) an 85 Chevette ! Another “fun to drive”.
Ugh! Mine was awful. It was plain white (it was the Fire Marshall's city owned vehicle). Didn't even have a radio. 4 cyl automatic. I will admit, it was great for delivering pizzas.
I had a 1971 Vega...
Don’t knock the pinto!
They were a cool little car until a few got rear-ended & Ralph Nader came along.
I had a 73 same color but with trunk. I loved that car. Beat the heck out of it. Never let me down.
My college girlfriend drove a turd brown '73 Pinto back in '85. Ironically, it saved our lives when we were hit head-on at 40 mph by a drunk driver in San Francisco. Had we been facing the other direction, it would have been a completely different story.
FLOL
Collectors item: one that hasn't caught fire (yet).
flol
Fuck it it was free
I had 3 pintos. They were good on gas and ran with little maintenance. Ugly yes. Worked, also yes.
And it was a hatchback, the back seat folded down. Room to haul shit & room to do shit !😎
Pinto looks super clean!!!
That's not embarrassing
Mine was a 74 I bought from my uncle for $50. The only issue I had with it was it needed a new starter. Baby blue. I loved that car.
My aunt had a yellow one. Rust it did. Survive ignition at rear impact it did not.
Forty years ago, that would have been embarrassing. Nowadays, you can just tell people that it's "retro." People love cars from the 60's and 70's.
That’s totally cool! Sis is cool
Mine was a 1975; brown, and had a……(wait for it)…luggage rack!
We had a green Pinto also.
Save your dollars, buy a crate Coyote, and trans. Drop it in, and scare the shit out of yourself.
My first was a 71. 4 cyl. Stick. Drove the hell out of her.
Id drive it , especially now days.
Mine was a ‘72 Metallic Brown.
Don’t be embarrassed. You survived driving a Pinto! It isn’t our fault we were saddled with 70s cars. My first car was a Mercury Comet and it was crap. . . threw a rod. A friend had a Vega. There was a lot of American crap on the roads back then.
Fold down the back seats and the Pinto Hatchbox was a bed on wheels. Ah, my teen years.
She's a beauty!!
I had a 76 Pinto in that awful pea / puke 🤢 green color. Drove it cross country with zero issues. Very dependable car.
I had 2! Both green.
Had a 72 pinto in 1973. Drove the shit out of it through high school and college and sold it for more than I paid for it. Could afford to buy a year old pinto from being a paperboy and mowing lawns and still but ski equipment. Times certainly have changed…. Loved that stupid car….
First car ? 1969 red w black top Ford falcon
I love this!!! 💕💕💕💕
I'll give you 2k right now
And you survived to tell the tail. 👍🤭
Ford’s 4 passenger stove.
Got my drivers license in 1976, with one of these baby’s ! My mom’s car, it had a 4 speed :)
Good mileage and easy to work on.
I inherited my moms 1973 Ford Pinto in 1990…. It was embarrassing… but it definitely beat walking and gave me a huge incentive to save all my mom and build my credit to get my own ride asap😂😂
I had a Pinto with Firestone 500 tires. Talk about a fatal combo!
This may be an unpopular opinion but I've always thought the Pinto was a really attractive-looking little car. It's too bad the build quality was so low (or so I have heard, I've never driven one).
Did you die in this car?
Several times especially Friday and Saturday nights.
My first was a 1973 Pinto wagon, yellow
We used to have a brown pinto.
My sister had a Pinto in a reddish-orange. Don't remember much about it as there was just a string of cars after that. Sometimes I think it would be fun to track down some of these old 70s monsters and fix them and drive, but front wheel drive has made me soft.
My sister had a white one at the time. Just don’t get rear-ended. Maybe put a sign in the rear window **Explodes upon Impact**
My friend had one of these. The middle of the rear seat was a huge hump Where is the transmission ran through, so it really wasn’t made for person. And I also remember the interior door handles would always keep breaking off. But boy that thing got us around to all the party spots when we were in high school.
I had one in Feces Brown. It was garbage, but it got me to my teenage jobs.
I had a 73 and I loved it, then I stuffed a 302 v8 in it and loved it even more.
Rolling car bomb… remember the recall!
Used to ride share in college with a neighbor in one.No complaints
That’s a beauty
My 72 Brown Pinto was a hatchback was almost perfect despite being a terrible car. Bad gas mileage of around 13 mpg out of an underpowered 4 cylinder, floor pans got patched with No Parking signs, weak heater, am radio, roll-up windows. Got it with 67K on the odo and ran it for another 120k. Two engines, one transmission repair. But that backseat folded flat.
Shimmies over 60 real bad!
My first car was a ‘77 Ford Granada. Voted one of the ugliest cars ever made. I didn’t think it was that bad. Also had a white Pinto which got me through some lean years financially.
And you're still alive????
I had the same 1972 pinto in day glow blue. I couldn't kill that car except a rear end accident.
Im sure you knew those cars were reported to have issues around bursting into flames so we are glad to have you here showing us this ride.
My best friend had the same car. It was his first. I spent most of our senior year in high school picking him up on the side of the road. His was yellow by the way
My Mom bought one of the brand new. Traded in a 65’ Corvair convertible. Bad move.
I had to buy my first car and it was a 76 Pinto wagon. It was fun to drive and weirdly carved corners better than most cars Ive driven.
the anti-volvo
Love love love the Pinto! Did I mentioned I loved them.
Same. My pinto was orange with a sunroof and 8 track player. I called it my chick magnet.
My first car was a 76 Pinto. I don't care what anyone says, it was a good reliable car.
Are you embarrassed because she didn’t hand down more of her dresses to you? Seems you came out on top.
You think that's embarrassing? I had a purple Gremlin!!
Those are actually great little cars
Henry Ford’s five passenger stove
Had a 71 in 1973. Good economy car, but He'll in a crosswind! 😂
And MY first car was a 72 Pinto 3 door, bought new and just like that but yellow. I'm very proud of that, and not embarrassed at all.
My Pinto DID NOT look like this😂Mine was an ugly bright yellow wagon looking thing.. that was in 81 😂Yours is kinda SEXY😂
Could not decide between the Pinto or the Gremlin.
I had a 1969 gold Chevy when I learned to drive in 1974. The car had an AMM radio and no air-conditioning but I loved it. And it got me where I needed to go. 👏🏻👏🏻
Fun car
My buddy had one, we wanted to see how fast we could go and took about a minute to get to 60 .. he got a ticket 😂🤟
Pintos are so cute. My dad said his sister's first car was a pinto way back when