Here's That Affordable RWD Stick-Shift Ford You've Been Wanting

Jack Baruth
by Jack Baruth

For about half the price of a new base Fiesta, you can roll in a right-wheel-drive, manny-tranny (OH STOP IT) not-so-fast Ford.


$6500 for a Pinto with under 20,000 miles? It seems ridiculous, but as one eminent BMW expert pointed out on Facebook, that’s “100hp in a package lighter than a 2002.”

This appears to be a “sedan”, which is to say, a Pinto with a trunk, as opposed to a “Runabout”, which was the hatch. True story: During a Civil Air Patrol exercise in 1982, your humble author was transported sixty or so miles in the hatchback area of a Pinto. I still haven’t told my parents this.

The interior looks good. Remember when you could get actual colors for an automotive interior? Hell, remember when you could get actual colors for an automotive exterior?

Nowadays, they’d call it “Ford-Tex!”

It’s funny how low and wide the Pinto was. No wonder it was easy to turn into a Mustang.

If you’ve got the money, this fellow has the car. Just make sure you watch your you-know-what in traffic.

Jack Baruth
Jack Baruth

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  • ToolGuy 9 miles a day for 20 years. You didn't drive it, why should I? 😉
  • Brian Uchida Laguna Seca, corkscrew, (drying track off in rental car prior to Superbike test session), at speed - turn 9 big Willow Springs racing a motorcycle,- at greater speed (but riding shotgun) - The Carrousel at Sears Point in a 1981 PA9 Osella 2 litre FIA racer with Eddie Lawson at the wheel! (apologies for not being brief!)
  • Mister It wasn't helped any by the horrible fuel economy for what it was... something like 22mpg city, iirc.
  • Lorenzo I shop for all-season tires that have good wet and dry pavement grip and use them year-round. Nothing works on black ice, and I stopped driving in snow long ago - I'll wait until the streets and highways are plowed, when all-seasons are good enough. After all, I don't live in Canada or deep in the snow zone.
  • FormerFF I’m in Atlanta. The summers go on in April and come off in October. I have a Cayman that stays on summer tires year round and gets driven on winter days when the temperature gets above 45 F and it’s dry, which is usually at least once a week.
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