In 2016 I posted "Ford's Controversial, Good-Selling Pinto." Today's post elaborates somewhat.
Ford wasn't alone in that market segment. American Motors Corporation launched its subcompact Gremlin the previous model year, and it continued in production in the USA 1970-1978. General Motors' Chevrolet Division's subcompact Vega lasted model years 1971-1977.
By "good-selling" in the title of my previous Pinto post, note that Pintos out-sold combined totals of Vegas and Gremlins. Pinto production was 3,173,491 according to Wikipedia. Vega production was 2,006,661 and Gremlin's was 671,475 in USA/Canada, also according to Wikipedia.
Pinto suffered from deaths caused by fires started by rear-end collisions, a blot on its record. Vegas experienced a variety of quality-related problems. As best I can tell, Gremlins lacked serious problems because it was a shortened version of AMC's successful Hornet compact car that had a longer (three-year) development process than Pinto (25 months) and Vega (about two-and-a-half years) according to Wikipedia entries.
The Gallery below focuses on Pinto coupes' aft ends. The basic model had a simple trunk lid, but the Runabout variant was a hatchback. The Pinto station wagon is not dealt with. Pinto images are from the first (1971-1973) generation, as defined in Wikipedia.
Wheelbase: 96 inches (2438 mm). Forward of the B-pillar, we see what is essentially an AMC Hornet. In its entirety, not an attractive design. But buyers might have considered it "cute" or "funky" or whatever else was countercultural at the end of the weird 1960s.
Wheelbase: 97.0 inches (2464 mm). A clean design, but basically a shrunken version of standard and intermediate size cars of that era. I suppose the intention was to appeal to conventionally-minded buyers.
Wheelbase: 94.0 inches (2388 mm). Pinto styling is attractive, while acknowledging its subcompact size. Appropriate, in other words.
Plenty of front overhang that adds to hood length, making its profile more balanced than it otherwise might have been.
Pinto hatchbacks were called "Runabouts." Early ones such as this over-decorated 1971 car had reshaped backlights with substantial sheet metal linking it to the taillight panel and bumper.
Later runabouts received large backlights that occupied most of the hatch's geography.
1 comment:
I had a 1975 Pinto. It was a good car, but built very lightly and the front end had to be rebuilt twice. I knew a guy who had a Vega with the aluminum engine (heads?) it was in the shop more than on the road.
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