Time To Buy A Classic Pinto?

There's a yellow one around the corner form me. Want me to stop and get a price for you??

Ummm... no. I don't have any nostalgia for a Pinto. Now a 340- powered Dart/Demon, '76 step-side Dodge pickup, or a '68-'70 Super Bee...

Patrick

Thus spake NoOp :

And do what we did in the mid 70s, drop a 302 in to it. Of course, this was in response to the guys who were putting 305s into their Vegas. :-0

The only guy who could beat John's Pinto in stop light runs was doing it on his RD 350.

I recall them dropping in 327s & 350s in the Vegas, not 305s. Didn't the Chevy 305 come out in the 80s?

Patrick

Or a Hemi Cuda?

My ex had a 72 Nova Hatchback with a 305. No idea if it was original or not.

What was it? The Tiger that had the 289 dropped in in place of the original 4 bangers?

The classics like Mustangs are so priced out of the average person's wallet that even Mustang IIs are becoming collector cars. So why not a Pinto?

My first car was a Pinto. That's why I've gone on to buy six Mustangs over the years.

Two of those six Mustangs were Mustang IIs. Anybody want to try and convince me that the II is a "collector car"?

dwight

Here are the details of Chevy's 305.

The 305 5.0L variant of the small-block Chevrolet introduced in 1975 had a displacement of 305 cu in (5 L) with a 3.7350-inch (94.869 mm) bore, and 3.4803-inch (88.4 mm) stroke. Many performance enthusiasts shun the 305 because of the availability of 350 engine, along with the fact that the same parts will yield much more power in a 350 cubic inch package. Due to the popularity of the 350, items like rebuild kits are more expensive for the 305. Still the 305 has considerable power potential to the high selection of aftermarket parts that are readily interchangeable with the popular 350. Not all cylinder heads apply to this engine due to valves having bore interference or shrouding issues with the narrow bore of the 305 engine, but there are many LO3 setups that can produce over 300 horsepower from the right combination.

Induction systems for the 305 included carburetors (both 2 and 4- barrel), throttle-body injection (TBI), tuned-port fuel injection (TPI), and sequential fuel injection (GM Vortec).

The 305 was used in the following cars:

1976=961992 Chevrolet Camaro 1980 Chevrolet Corvette (California only) 1977=961996 Chevrolet Caprice (includes Impala) 1977=961986 Pontiac Parisienne 1976=961979 Chevrolet Monza 1976=961979 Chevrolet Nova (also GM X-body clones after 1976) 1976=961988 Chevrolet Malibu, Chevrolet El Camino, and Chevrolet Monte Carlo 1978=961992 Pontiac Firebird 1978=961980 Oldsmobile Cutlass (US Market only, Canadian market 1978=96 1987) 1991=961992 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser 1981=961987 Pontiac Grand Prix 1975=961979 Buick Skylark 1977=962003 Chevrolet/GMC Trucks, SUVs, Vans 1991=961992 Cadillac Brougham 1978=961987 Buick Regal

After 1996, its usage was limited to light trucks and SUVs until the

2000 model year (vans and commercial vehicles until 2003) as the Vortec 5000. Currently still in production as a marine powerplant for Mercury Marine.

First it was the 260 and later the 289.

That and many of the popular classic 60s/70s cars have been overexposed -- at big car show you're just one of many if you have a regular 442, GTO, Chevelle, Mustang, etc. But show up in a Pinto, Gremlin, or old stationwagon and you will get noticed.

Patrick

Dunno, this looks collectible to me...

Hah! It was a piece of crap when new, and now it's just a much older piece of crap.

dwight (more photos of IIs from the Valley Forge Mustang Club show Memorial Day:

...including a beautiful black '93 Cobra, that the owner tells me he picked up some years ago for $10,000, with 10,000 miles on the clock...

Was the Mustang II built on a Pinto frame? I had a '76 Mustang II with the V6 engine and it was fun to drive, but it certainly was not a nice handling machine. I eventually handed it down to my Son, who drove it until it rusted out and the sheet metal on the doors started flapping in the wind. Regardless, I still liked that car.

Dick

In Lee Iacoca's book from 10 or so years ago he talks about the development of the Mustang II. They put quite a bit of work into it to try and make it a nice car and separate it from it's humble beginnings. Considering the times, it may not be all that bad a car. Also consider how generally poorly handling almost all Fords were back then unless you ordered a handling package, which few people did (same for Chevy).

I guess technically, if it's at least 25 years old, it's a collector car. :0) And I have noticed that some of the classic car parts places are beginning to cater to their needs.

Had the 305 in my 85 Camaro. Good power, and economical. A lot like the 289 in those respects.

Had a 305 in my 86 Caprice and it was a dog. Great car but terrible engine.

Traded my bright purple Pinto in on a used* '74 Mustang II Ghia coupe, with a six under the hood and manual trans. I absolutely loved that car and enjoyed the hell out of it, but much of that may have been relative, since I was coming off of the Pinto.

Of course, I also bought a 1978 light blue hatchback (six/auto), that was "our" first car when we got married, and it served us for about 11 years. As with all my cars, it was my baby until it wasn't or until the next baby came along.

But I'm honest about Ford's build quality of the day (heck, all manufacturers' build quality), and there's no way that I would ever want to go back. It really wasn't until the early 1990s that car companies had the emphasis on quality and the manufacturing techniques to back that up.

It's funny, buy my '93 LX 5.0 is now a comparative piece of crap, when looking at what's being built today. But my '93 is far better than either of my Mustang IIs. I may be blinded by my Fox loyalty, but I would consider the Fox 5.0's as far more "collectible" than the Mustang IIs.

dwight

• In 1974, second-hand cars were still called "used." The term "pre-owned" was not yet invented, and I remember thinking how utterly stupid that word was, when it first came around. Pre-owned. Y'know, if you think about it, a really good meal is nothing more than pre-shit.

I don't doubt that Ford tried to build a "nice car," but the II was a victim of the times in which it lived. After all, this was the successor to a highly successful line of Mustangs, and it was important that the redesign do well in the marketplace. If I remember correctly, the sales figures for the IIs were not bad at all. But it was a piece of crap.

If the goal was to build a car that could assume the badge AND become the answer to the OPEC-inspired desire for fuel economy, the IIs failed miserably. I won't deny that I had a great time with both of my IIs, but the same is true of my old Honda 360 motorcycle - enjoyed it, but it was a piece of crap.

Maybe this is all just through hindsight, though. Certainly, in 1978, when I took delivery of a brand new Mustang II hatchback (for $5,000), I didn't think that was a piece of crap then. Maybe, as I sit here typing this in

2011, it's just that looking back, I can't believe that anyone would ever want to go back to the suspect automotive creations of the mid- to late-70s.

dwight

For sure, build quality was an oxymoron. My '77 Mustang (V6 4-speed) only went through a car wash once; the rear window leaked some, and the passenger door leaked in sheets. I took it back to the dealer several times complaining about rough running at low speeds in traffic; the dealer fiddled to no avail and suggested that I remove the air pump, which helped some; after it was out of warranty, I discovered that the EGR valve was defective and blocked it, which solved the problem. Handling sucked, but I still liked the car -- Four on the Floor beats Three on the Tree every time.

But times change. I bought a new 2011 Fusion Sport AWD in December, fully loaded, and the build quality is outstanding: the fit and finish is great, the steering is excellent, the handling is very good for a sedan, and I've not found any defects yet. It seems that Quality really is Job One, at least in Ford's Hermosillo (Mexico) plant.

My only complaint with the Fusion is that I really wanted a new Mustang GT. My wife observed that since I was retired, I should grow up; she coerced me to get a car with an automatic and with a back seat big enough for adults.

Who wants to admit trading in a V8 Mustang for a pinto because they thought the oil was running out in '73?.....