Retro Ford Pinto

[donzuchowski]

I think ford should kill mercury and replace it with a new division with no bagage called Pinto. The first car would be a modern version of the much beloved Ford Pinto with the ecoboost V6. It would be rwd and a hybrid of course.

[fxcomet]

I think ford should kill mercury and replace it with a new division with no bagage called Pinto. The first car would be a modern version of the much beloved Ford Pinto with the ecoboost V6. It would be rwd and a hybrid of course.

 

Change Mercury to "Pinto"? Yepper, there's a brand name with no baggage whatsoever....Tell me, you gonna be first in line for a fire engine red one? You gonna ask for a flame thrower option? How about a target decal on the rear bumper?

[NickF1011]

Maybe it will inspire GM to replace the Pontiac brand with a new brand called Corvair!

[fxcomet]

Maybe it will inspire GM to replace the Pontiac brand with a new brand called Corvair!

 

Now there's an idea. It could single handedly resurrect both GM's business and Ralph Nader's career in one fell swoop.

[Mark B. Morrow]

Maybe he's too young to remember the Pinto.

[lfeg]

Kind of funny. In its day, the Pinto was pretty good. Sure the press hung the whole fireball thing on it, but the incedence of fires was about the same as the Honda Civic at that time.

Had a 75 Pinto wagon. Good economy, good handling, comfy for me. The old 2.3 would even keep up with most V8s back then, especially it you kept the engine wound out above 5500 RPM. Great exhaust note if you had a Corvair turbo muffler.

[Ford Jellymoulds]

It was a big hit with the fireman Stateside, it's a shame we never got them in Europe l would have brought the mother-in-law one.

 

I bet T-Stag imported one to the UK at the time to back up his Triumph whist it was broken down for 9 months of every year, T-Stag is a connoisseur of rubbish cars

Edited November 19, 2008 by Ford Jellymoulds

[Bleed Blue]

It's funny how everyone automatically associates the Pinto with fire(s). The Chevy trucks with the side-saddle gas tanks were the real BBQ's on wheels. I guess it's a selective memory type thing huh?

[fxcomet]

It's funny how everyone automatically associates the Pinto with fire(s). The Chevy trucks with the side-saddle gas tanks were the real BBQ's on wheels. I guess it's a selective memory type thing huh?

 

For certain. I personally never witnessed a pinto gas leak, much less a fire. I suspect that's true with 99.9% of the populace who ever saw one. It's simply a very early case of the media creating news rather than reporting it. I never had any problem with the Pinto either, but none can deny the name isn't damaged goods.

[NickF1011]

It's funny how everyone automatically associates the Pinto with fire(s). The Chevy trucks with the side-saddle gas tanks were the real BBQ's on wheels. I guess it's a selective memory type thing huh?

 

That's exactly our point though. Pinto is a tarnished name. People will always associate them with fires, regardless of how many actually occurred. Bury it and move on.

[Edstock]

You're right. The gas tank problem got "burned" into the general memory.

 

I forget the movie, but there was a scene where a car rolls into the back of a Pinto at about 1/3 mile an hour (barely rolling) and the Pinto explodes. Yuk, yuk.

[retro-man]

Somebody in this area had a purple Pinto with a great flame paint job - painted on the rear end - and a custom license plate that said "KABOOM". That and a pale green VW Beetle with an "APHID" license plate were my 2 favorites.

[2b2]

back the OP

I think ford should kill mercury and replace it with a new division with no bagage called Pinto. The first car would be a modern version of the much beloved Ford Pinto with the ecoboost V6. It would be rwd and a hybrid of course.

a while ago post-Reflex, pre-Flex,

I was thinking of having the new samll Fords (175" ovl & smaller) "branded" as FLX on the blue oval

not so much as the failed Scion=youth idea

but just to add emphasis as specializing in small vehicles

 

otoh

I believe the whole Mercury=small vehicles plan is short term - maybe 1½ product cycles / 2010-2015

by which time Lincoln will have fully re-established itself and "reached higher"

& Fomoco will be ready to initiate the rebirth of the Premium segment

[the_spaniard]

You're right. The gas tank problem got "burned" into the general memory.

 

I forget the movie, but there was a scene where a car rolls into the back of a Pinto at about 1/3 mile an hour (barely rolling) and the Pinto explodes. Yuk, yuk.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glcj0szvevU

 

Yeah, the Pinto is a name that does not need to be resurrected. :reading:

Edited November 26, 2008 by the_spaniard

[Noah Harbinger]

The reason everyone remembers the Pinto ISN'T that it was significantly more prone to fire.

 

The gastank fire issue became famous because a) Ford allowed a known potentially fatal defect into a production vehicle, and b ) the decision to allow it was based on a formula that assigned a dollar value to a human life, basically:

 

probability of fatality from gas tank fire x value of a human life as determined by expected court payouts < cost of fixing the problem

 

Believe it or not, people didn't like the idea of that.

 

Now, I've never heard this story from the viewpoint of someone pro-Ford. But as it stands in popular culture, the Pinto story epitomizes everything wrong with the Big 3.

 

Well, that and planned obsolescence.

Edited November 29, 2008 by Noah Harbinger

[96 Pony]

It's funny how everyone automatically associates the Pinto with fire(s). The Chevy trucks with the side-saddle gas tanks were the real BBQ's on wheels. I guess it's a selective memory type thing huh?

 

You sir are correct. The side-saddle tanks was indeed a bigger issue.

 

However, Pinto will always be considered the biggest bonfire, thanks to the "Pinto Memo."

 

Pinto, Edsel, Versaille = certain names that should never be resurrected.

Edited November 29, 2008 by 96 Pony

[MarkFive]

It's funny how everyone automatically associates the Pinto with fire(s). The Chevy trucks with the side-saddle gas tanks were the real BBQ's on wheels. I guess it's a selective memory type thing huh?

 

Actually, the whole GM sidesaddle gas tank issue lost steam because of Dateline NBC.

 

They ran a story on it and fixed the results to try and prove there was an issue.

 

Dateline NBC Test

 

Two crucial errors: NBC said the truck's gas tank had ruptured, yet an X ray showed it hadn't; NBC consultants set off explosive miniature rockets beneath the truck split seconds before the crash -- yet no one told the viewers.

Edited November 30, 2008 by MarkFive

[Mark B. Morrow]

You're right. The gas tank problem got "burned" into the general memory.

 

I forget the movie, but there was a scene where a car rolls into the back of a Pinto at about 1/3 mile an hour (barely rolling) and the Pinto explodes. Yuk, yuk.

 

 

It was Top Secret. Val Kilmer's first starring role and was produced by the Airplane! team of Abrams, Zucker & Zucker.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088286/trivia

[RSM]

New use for a Pinto?

[JimmyL57]

I thought since Ford had Volvo this was the reincarnation of the pinto, and very well priced too...

[WC-MAN]

You should probably stop thinking now.

[timmm55]

This is a chop by "artandcolour" over at FoMoCONews.

 

 

His quote:

"this is a rwd economy car, the Pinto II. i was actually in the rear seat of a '76 Pinto Runabout when we were in

a chain-reaction collision, #3 of 5 cars, being hit in the front and the rear.... no fire, no explosion, no injuries.

i still look back with fondness at Pintos and Mavericks. chop based on the Fiesta, but with less front overhang

and rwd proportions."

 

I remember when C&D used to race one. I had a powder blue one with a crank sunroof....they were fun little cars!

[donzuchowski]

 

their tag line can be:

it aint easy pimp'n

 

so can anyone draw up a modern pinto that is pimped out to the fly

[Radius]

I had a friend that had one and I drove it from Albuquerque to southern New Mexico (about a 3 hour drive). It ran well and got great gas mileage. I also remember when you could buy one new on sale for $1775.

[Ovaltine]

Maybe he's too young to remember the Pinto.

 

That may be exactly why the idea isn't so crazy.

 

The "oldsters" who DO remember the Pinto wouldn't be the target market for such a vehicle anyway.

 

I personally have many fond memories of Pintos, based experiences with my friends growing up.

 

Sure... .they were underpowered and rust prone, but we sure had a lot of fun in those little bastards.

 

 

I think technology has taken care of most of everyone's concerns, so safety would't necessarily be an issue.

 

I've always had a soft spot for the Falcons, Torinos, Mavericks, Pintos, Galaxie 500s, LTDs, Thunderbirds, of the world.... mainly due to my coming of age in the 70's.

 

I'm sure that 'Pinto' isn't on anyone's short list to be sure. I'd suspect that the name 'Escort' would still be a candidate though.

 

But ANY of the names mentioned above are heads-and-tales over shit like ZX2, MKR, MKX, and all the other alphabet-soup monikers, and other nonsensical crap like Edge and Flex, etc.

 

The Asians are even WORSE on the naming front than the domestics to be sure!

 

 

Here's some of my memories of Pintos, Mavericks, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Ovaltine