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

by Jack Baruth

Published: July 15th, 2014

here s that affordable rwd stick shift ford you ve been wanting

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

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3 of 83 comments

Flipper35 on Jul 16, 2014

I am waiting for one in Screamin' Yellow.

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SteveRenwick on Jul 16, 2014

Jack, were you a CAP cadet? Seems hard to picture that.

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- Jack Baruth on Jul 16, 2014
  
  Yes I was, there's photographic evidence somewhere
  
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Recent Comments

Jkross22 When I think about products that I buy that are of the highest quality or are of great value, I have no idea if they are made as a whole or in parts by unionized employees. As a customer, that's really all I care about. When I think about services I receive from unionized and non-unionized employees, it varies from C- to F levels of service. Will unionizing make the cars better or worse?
Namesakeone I think it's the age old conundrum: Every company (or industry) wants every other one to pay its workers well; well-paid workers make great customers. But nobody wants to pay their own workers well; that would eat into profits. So instead of what Henry Ford (the first) did over a century ago, we will have a lot of companies copying Nike in the 1980s: third-world employees (with a few highly-paid celebrity athlete endorsers) selling overpriced products to upper-middle-class Americans (with a few urban street youths willing to literally kill for that product), until there are no more upper-middle-class Americans left.
ToolGuy I was challenged by Tim's incisive opinion, but thankfully Jeff's multiple vanilla truisms have set me straight. Or something. 😉
ChristianWimmer The body kit modifications ruined it for me.
ToolGuy "I have my stance -- I won't prejudice the commentariat by sharing it."• Like Tim, I have my opinion and it is perfect and above reproach (as long as I keep it to myself). I would hate to share it with the world and risk having someone critique it. LOL.