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Mama Says: The Pinto Is Back

Currently marijuana is legal in four states. Boys are marrying boys. And Bruce Jenner is about to be a woman. File all of these under “Current Events Not To Discuss With Grandpa At Thanksgiving.” Sorry Pops, but now that the Ford Pinto is a collectable car, I’m afraid we’ve got a new edition to the taboo topic list. Pinto_Squire Maybe this doesn’t shock you. Maybe you think that the Pinto is just that cute little car that Ashton Kutcher drove in the Steve Jobs movie. Well absolutely yes, and very much no. First imagined as the great American hatchback, the Pinto was conceived to recapture market share from those pesky, fuel-efficient imports from automakers like VW & Datsun. Ford Chief Lee Iacocca demanded that the Pinto keep to his 2,000 rule—the vehicle needed to weigh less than 2,000 pounds and MSRP need to come in at around $2k. And in 1970, the Pinto hit the market weighing roughly 2050 pounds and retailing at $2,062. In modern terms, that’s just over the weight of a Smart Car and just under the up charge for BMW’s 3 Series Premium Package. Always a fixture on Forbes, Time and Business Week’s “Ugliest/Worst Cars of All Time” lists, some think the Pinto was awful from Day One. Then there’s the fact that the Pinto was at the center of one of the biggest & most controversial vehicle recalls of all time. All of this means you’ve got yourself a doozy. But it’s a doozy that people are digging these days. Pintos are showing up everywhere from SEMA... SEMA_Pinto to Super Car Sunday. SupercarPinto It’s estimated that less than 10,000 of the 3 million Pintos produced are still on the road today and thus, they are getting pricey. A 1976 Pinto sold for $12,650 at Barrett Jackson in Palm Beach a few years ago. Squire_BackEnd I recently spotted this Pinto Country Squire on sale in Malibu with 56,000 miles & an asking price of $8,500. Why is it back? Well, many enthusiasts claim that the Pinto corners on a dime and if you’re interested in a conversion car, this is the one and only. Some say they’ve had them forever and will be faithful forever more. But I’m convinced there’s a third category, Geek Love. The Pinto has always been the automotive equivalent of the geeky guy planted in the computer lab. Rarely handsome, undeniably dorky and not even close to sexy, he was always working on something elusive. These days, we know that sometimes that elusive work becomes the personal computer or a cellular phone that defines a generation. So for those with a little Steve Jobs inside, the Pinto is their club car, their chariot, their personal geek-pride-mobile. But whether it’s conversion, loyalty or just an attempt to annoy your elders, I’m sure glad that people are embracing the Pinto again, because no other car can make super geeky look so cool.
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