On September 11, 1970, Ford introduced the Pinto... for $1919

[IcyPeas]

Link to tweet

?s=19

[msongs]

1. we laughed at it long before we knew it was a time bomb nt

[exboyfil]

2. The car that taught the general public

the meaning of Cost Benefit Analysis.

[markie]

3. hey...

laugh, but that was my 1st car... got me to Texas where it was totaled in a 5 car pile-up...

[House of Roberts]

4. I had a 1969 Falcon.

It drove home three times after people hit me in it. Didn't even need an alignment any of the three times.

[Captain Zero]

12. I had a buddy with a 63 Falcon with glasspacks on it.

We would take it to football and basket ball games and in the traffic snarls to leave he would always pull out in front of a luxury car. First one to come along. They never hit us because they weren't going to ruin their ride by slamming into an old Ford Falcon. I thought my buddy was a genius for realizing that.

[hatrack]

5. Better post this before somebody else does . . .

[alphafemale]

6. Two couples from the church I attended burned alive in one of those

Leaving 7 orphans all within a few years of me.

[roamer65]

7. The flammable sticker for the rear of the car was an extra.

$$$$$$.

[TomSlick]

8. Sure, it was a rolling bomb but it was my first car.

I loved it.

[Amishman]

22. I loved seeing one at the drag strip

[Rhiannon12866]

9. When my mother got her own very first brand new car in 1971, she wanted a Pinto

But my Dad vetoed the idea, said it was "too small." Good advice and she got a 1971 Plymouth Duster instead. And it also worked for me since I inherited that car 10 years later in 1981 after I got my license. I loved that car.

[Captain Zero]

11. oh those Dusters could Giddy Up !

nt

[RobinA]

18. That Was

my first car. 1973 powder blue Duster. It got me through college with nary a burp. It did put the rust in rust bucket.

[Captain Zero]

10. Had a 73 station wagon used and a 78 fourspeed hatch new.

Think I gave $900 for the used 73. The pollution equipment started making a sucking sound, and hissing. Stopped in Jerry and Carl's Amoco. They priced the part, then Jerry said, or you can do this to it, and he wrapped that part up in duct tape. Tightly wrapped. It ran fine, and Carl said, 'stop by if you need more duct tape.'

The 78 I am pretty certain was $3500 or so new out of the showroom. Traded it off when I got married as my wife wasn't about to learn how to drive a four on the floor. She had a 77 Nova with AT, and was kind of snooty about it.

That '73 wagon had some memorable moments for a young man like me in the back
with the seat down and some company, but NSFDU.

They got good mileage, were cheap to run. Ok, so a few of them did explode when they got rear-ended...I always just made sure my rearview mirror was adjusted to see what was coming.

[Wolf Frankula]

13. My Dad had one. It was very cramped

Eventually he got rid of it and bought a pickup because he wanted to play farmer.

Wolf

[RobinA]

19. Not Too Cramped

to drive six college freshman to a Deep Purple concert in a snow storm.

[Harker]

23. Richie Blackmore or Tommy Bolin? n/t

[bluecollar2]

14. I once got a speeding ticket in a pinto

Southbound 280 headed from the city towards San Jose...

True story.

[Retired Engineer Bob]

15. Downhill, I presume?

Just kidding

[bluecollar2]

16. Actually yes...n/t

[Retired Engineer Bob]

17. LOL, your a good sport

I drove a Renault Alliance for several months, borrowed to me by a dear friend Doug. My car had been repo’d, I went through a rough patch long ago.

There’s a long and steep hill between Fon Du Lac and Sheboygan WI I would need to tackle. I would start in 5th, 65 mph or so on the bottom. Didn’t take long for the car to demand 4th, down to 55. Soon after, and long before the apex, 35. In 3rd, I could get it back to 45 at most. The parade behind me would continue to grow.

Some cars are just plain under powered. The Renault was one of them. But it did get me around.

I miss Doug a lot. The Renault not so much.

[ProfessorGAC]

20. Had One

1973 Runabout. That was the model with a trunk, not a hatchback. It was spring of '74 so they were unloading inventory.
I had $1,200 saved up for a car.
Was mulling over a Superbeetle.
My dad was very against it, because he thought they were unsafe.
He told me to give him the money and trust him.
He can home with a new Pinto. I thought he bought it for him to drive to work and I would get his 1970 Maverick.
Nope! He & my mom made up the difference and the car with 4 miles on it was mine. I drove it until 1978 when I celebrated my masters degree with a Cougar XR7.
Funny part: Pintos later turned out to be a fire risk, and the car had Firestone 500 tires, notorious for belts cutting through the sidewall.
And, my dad thought he was getting me a safer car! LOL!

[malthaussen]

21. Got mine in '76...

... it was something north of $3,000 then. A three-door just like the one in the left picture. That green color faded to a sickly yellowish hue almost immediately; I call it you're-in yellow.

-- Mal