For the most part, the Ford Pinto has gotten a bit of a bad wrap, which is understandable given the fact that it experienced a bit of an issue where it would catch on fire when struck from the rear, which led to a massive recall and an enduring reputation. Regardless, there are still folks that have a bit of a soft spot for the Pinto, which came about as a small, thrifty vehicle with an affordable price tag and lots of promise – ultimately recording three million sales across a decade of production. Now, this 1974 Ford Pinto Squire Wagon is heading to auction, giving fans the chance to bring home a nice example.
This 1974 Ford Pinto Squire Wagon is set to cross the auction block at Mecum’s Harrisburg, Pennsylvania sale next week, and it has a mere 40k miles showing on the odometer – a rather low figure for any vehicle of this vintage, let alone a Pinto. It features its original orange paint and faux woodgrain paneling, roof rack, remote mirrors, and mag wheels as well, all of which look to be in pretty fantastic condition. On top of that, the wagon still wears its original blue California license plates and a period vanity license plate frame, too. The tires are new, however, in this case period-correct white walls.
Inside, one will find a clean and original orange houndstooth interior with bucket seats up front, factory air conditioning (which has been converted to R134A), the original Philco AM radio, rear defogger, and trim.
Power comes from the 2.3L I-4 engine, which has received a “super tune” using vintage Geraghty Super Tune specs from Car & Driver, as well as various maintenance work to get it running like new. It’s mated to a four-speed manual transmission, and the seller has added new shocks, brake hydraulics, and ethanol-safe fuel components.
The result is easily one of the nicest Ford Pinto models we’ve come across in some time, though there have been a couple others we’ve spotted in recent years. That list includes a 1979 Pinto Squire wagon also finished in orange, as well as a 1980 wagon with Ford V8 power.
Closing the week at $11.74 per share.
There are two potentially obvious choices.
One of the nicest examples we've seen in some time.
Making it easy to communicate with people outside of the vehicle.
The technology is expected to arrive in the next two years or so.
Something we'll probably see more of soon.
View Comments
Pinto wagons had the gas tank in a different, much safer position than the sedans.
Now that's a true orange. Today's named orange is really yellow. I owned a 73 Pinto wagon, lite yellow w/o wood grain. Also someone rear-ended me, causing damage, and NO it did not explode. That's just a lot of bs.
The orange interior is what stands out to me. I remember red, green, and blue, but in the modern world of gray and black, that would keep drivers awake!
The wagon is the best looking and most practical Pinto body style in my opinion.
That thrifty car was owned by a fellow German student of mine in California. It was such a piece of crab and it was still not frugal with it's weak V6 having about 90 HPs, but slow as hell.
And around the corner it drove like a mediavel horse carriage, no smooth curve radius possible and a steering column feel/ feedback like the rudder pin of an outboard marine engine.
They were not good cars, I agree. I never understood why Ford couldn't adapt contemporary European models to the US market.
Interested too see what it goes for