The only Ford car in the ’70s era that is less liked than the Ford Mustang II would probably be the Ford Pinto that shared the same platform as the maligned Mustang of the day. The Pinto is notable for being a car that was designed in 1967 with the mandate of being lightweight and costing less than $2,000.
Development took 25 months, which was impressive at a time when it took 43 months to develop a typical car. The Pinto debuted in 1970 as a 1971 model and was pitted against the Chevrolet Vega and AMC Gremlin. This particular yellow 1979 Ford Pinto European Sports Sedan looks very well maintained and is the 3-door hatchback variety. Ford built the Pinto in two-door sedan, sedan delivery, and station wagon body styles as well.
Engine options included 1.6-liter and 2.8-liter engines. This Pinto was on eBay recently for sale at $7,995, which was asking too much for the Pinto as it apparently didn’t sell. It’s a survivor car with only 23,000 original miles on the clock. The yellow hue is the original paint according to the seller.
The seller did say that the paint had a few chips here and there form stones, but no dents or dings. The 1979 Ford Pinto uses a 2300 4-cylinder engine and came with a factory tachometer. The blacked out trim, dual sport mirrors, and bucket seats were part of the ESS or European Sport Sedan package. Despite having been a Michigan car all its life, there are only tiny amounts of surface rust.
The seller says that the 1979 Ford Pinto has its original Goodyear Polyglas spare tire, jack assembly, and rubber mat in the hatch. Like the Mustang II, the Pinto isn’t exactly a collector car today, but if the quirky car floats your boat this appears to be a clean one and the eBay seller may still have it.
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Source: The Truth About Cars
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