[{"id": 1546469, "authorName": "Malahat", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/malahat/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Let the two minutes hate begin.", "likes": 11, "timestamp": 1495492555, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546471, "authorName": "danoh51", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/danoh51/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "I worked a a L-M dealer 78-81, the owners daughter drove a light blue with dark blue interior and a 4 speed. Looked nice for what it was, BASIC transportation", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495492576, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546472, "authorName": "urusaina0", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/urusaina0/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Happy to report we used to shoot at these (& Pintos) at the tank range / Fort Pickett. We were still using M60-A1 tanks. This was a few years ago and the Army was getting junkers to use as targets. We nailed a similar \"Bobcat\" same colour and I had a real difficult argument with a fellow crew member who insisted we had a Pinto in the sights rather than a Bobcat. He couldn't understand why Ford would authorize building two of these dreadful vehicles when 1 was more than the world needed.", "likes": 26, "timestamp": 1495492597, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546473, "authorName": "nebraska", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/nebraska/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Now this is cool. I love it more than the last 100 BMW's, Mercedes, or Audis on this site. Especially the colors.", "likes": 33, "timestamp": 1495492712, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546479, "authorName": "SteveinSeattle", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/steveinseattle/", "bidAmount": 100, "content": "$100 bid placed by SteveinSeattle", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495493018, "type": "bat-bid"}, {"id": 1546481, "authorName": "honda1", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/honda1/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Oh my, why?", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495493124, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546490, "authorName": "MrMitsu", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/mrmitsu/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "I know this probably says something bad about me, but I skipped right over the BMW 330Ci and Porsche Boxter listings to view this and the '76 Corolla listings.", "likes": 45, "timestamp": 1495493573, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546494, "authorName": "MWebb", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/mwebb/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Whoa, I'm having serious flashbacks.\n\nI'm coming Elizabeth!", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495493844, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546499, "authorName": "RandyP63", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/randyp63/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Okay, I may be banned for saying this, but the interior appeals to me.", "likes": 19, "timestamp": 1495493971, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546503, "authorName": "Italia_227", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/italia_227/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Once took one to my Dad's mechanic for a used car inspection. He found out and froze my checking account.", "likes": 12, "timestamp": 1495494241, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546504, "authorName": "Green66", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/green66/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Loved my 71 Pinto to death, put a cam in it, a juiced up 2 bbl carb and the littel sucker screamed all the way to 70 in 3rd. that car got me back and forth from NJ to Ft. Belvoir every weekend when you couldn't find gas anywhere. Got nothing bad to say about them at all. Good basic reliable transportation for an E-3 on a budget.", "likes": 21, "timestamp": 1495494286, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546506, "authorName": "jsc161", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/jsc161/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "A Bobcat survivor. Wow! This is the rarest car in the world. Would drive! This is awesome.", "likes": 12, "timestamp": 1495494404, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546514, "authorName": "Scott_Ales", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/scott_ales/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Hah!\n\nA friend of mine bought one of these and met us for dinner with it Friday night. I sent him the link. His is Orange, too funny.", "likes": 4, "timestamp": 1495494977, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546515, "authorName": "Potomacduck", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/potomacduck/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Uh yeah.... My wife brought one of these into the marriage, a 1980 Pinto. It was a 1980 with square headlights, just like this one.\n\nIt had an automatic, just like this one. \n\nI cannot describe the vitriolic hatred I had for that car. It was by far the worst car I ever owned. The car would literally eat parts. I would replace a part with a new Ford part and that piece of crap car would break the part.\n\nOh, and what was Honda producing in 1980? The Accord.", "likes": 9, "timestamp": 1495495089, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546521, "authorName": "jimjim", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/jimjim/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Wow! A Canadian market Bobcat!? I can hardly contain my excitement!!", "likes": 7, "timestamp": 1495495343, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546523, "authorName": "RoyalCX", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/royalcx/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "I felt myself awkwardly aroused when I first saw this car but then realized my association with Kate Jackson's (Sabrina of Charlie's Angels) orange Pinto.", "likes": 17, "timestamp": 1495495409, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546529, "authorName": "powertour", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/powertour/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "If no one wants it, I'll take it.\r\n\r\nWhy not? Everyone need something unique, and there aren't any decent Yugos around any more.", "likes": 3, "timestamp": 1495495593, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546538, "authorName": "needwheels", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/needwheels/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Of all the cars to have an embedded video so that you could observe the idle, why, why", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495496009, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546536, "authorName": "meb", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/meb/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Class GTP(GT Pinto). Great East Coast racing. Fully developed engines and suspension. When you crashed, you just went to the local junkyard, picked up a new body and move the go fast bits over. Alas most of those bodies are used up.\n\nGlad this one was saved.", "likes": 8, "timestamp": 1495496138, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546544, "authorName": "Stratos", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/stratos/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "So there was this cute girl from your past - not voluptuous, but \"cute\" - who turned out to be unreliable, stood you up at times, and made you doubt yourself for ever dating her. \n\nShe didn't mean to do these things, it's just how she was built.", "likes": 15, "timestamp": 1495496163, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546554, "authorName": "Crazyas00", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/crazyas00/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "You all know that Bobcats don't blowup like Pintos. Honest! I was told that by two Bobcat owners back in the day. Because that's what the dealer told them!", "likes": 11, "timestamp": 1495496580, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546561, "authorName": "Round_Rock_Rob", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/round_rock_rob/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Ford called the color Tangerine. Not sure what Mercury called theirs. My wife before we were married had a '79 Pinto version of this car in the same color which we drove everywhere. I have a whole bunch of pictures of that car and the interior- which was slightly different than this. I may bid on this but ironically it might lead to divorce (my wife soon discovered Honda Civics and CRXs and never looked back...)", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495496892, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546564, "authorName": "Round_Rock_Rob", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/round_rock_rob/", "bidAmount": 280, "content": "$280 bid placed by Round Rock Rob", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495496996, "type": "bat-bid"}, {"id": 1546570, "authorName": "danman", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/danman/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "I once owned a 76 Pinto MPG with automatic transmission, that I bought thinking I would eventually swap a V8 into it. It was very reliable but with the \"special\" gearing, it was both slow and guzzled gas. I replaced it with a Chevy Nova with a 6 cylinder and automatic transmission and my fuel mileage was EXACTLY the same as that MPG.\n\nI suppose I could see my way to someday owning another one of these but it would have to be a pre-75, and would have to have a manual transmission.\nIf this were a wagon instead of a hatchback, I'd be A LOT more interested.", "likes": 4, "timestamp": 1495497089, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546579, "authorName": "MRF", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/mrf/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Back in 1979 when I was in high school someone I knew bought a 79 Mustang, the first year of the Fox based Stang in the same Tangerine color which was the Ford color description. It was a fairly decent vehicle for the era. Build quality a cut above previous Pinto's and Mustang II's though a bit lacking in performance the TRX optional suspension gave it some handling prowess.", "likes": 3, "timestamp": 1495497374, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546583, "authorName": "mrcanoehead", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/mrcanoehead/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Thank you for removing this car from Canada. This is one car I don't want repatriated.", "likes": 11, "timestamp": 1495497481, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546587, "authorName": "915fan", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/915fan/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "If there's someplace like a bobcatowners.com website, it must be going crazy right now.", "likes": 12, "timestamp": 1495497524, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546589, "authorName": "alan", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/alan/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "A real travesty that Ford would waste their time developing the Pinto when the could have just imported the European market Escort or built it here instead.", "likes": 7, "timestamp": 1495497637, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546592, "authorName": "Round_Rock_Rob", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/round_rock_rob/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Alan, you are forgetting \"Road Hugging Weight\". One of the main selling features of these.\nAs an Engineer I always laughed at those ads...", "likes": 5, "timestamp": 1495497853, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546597, "authorName": "Type44", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/type44/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "The Pinto really compared so poorly to the GB Escort, it was laughable. The Vega wasn't made to look SILLY by the Opel Kadett in the same way. Can you imagine if they HAD just went with the Escort, with all the RS variants available here? Cosworth BDA Escort vs. Cosworth Vega (I know who I'd pick!) \n\nFor those who say that Ford never could have marketed an Escort with foreign undertones: remember that the 1981 version, sold here, was marketed as the \"world car\" with international flags on the badging. Why they couldn't have ran the same campaign ten years earlier, I don't know. We missed out.", "likes": 10, "timestamp": 1495498043, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546600, "authorName": "Mocanlagunas", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/mocanlagunas/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "My parents had a Pinto, we crashed it twice and it didn't blow up, but I remember yelling at my family from the back seat to get the hell out... I was probably 13--14 yrs old", "likes": 3, "timestamp": 1495498142, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546610, "authorName": "rocketmaan", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/rocketmaan/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "SELLER, or anyone, since this was a Canadian market example, do we know ifn this car meets EPA/Smog standards to allow importation to California? I suppose that the EPA standards were met to get it into Washington state, but does a Canadian car have the right smog equipment for California?\n\nI need this. One could go to cars n coffee and not have any problems with anyone parking too close or leaning on it. It could get embarrassing having the fire dept. follow one home though as a proactive exercise. Just kidding. An iconic and rarely seen little car. It deserves a good home and warm garage. \n\nIfn your high school age son/daughter keeps acting up, threaten him/her with this being their first car. You'll be treated like a king on Father's Day! \n\nIfn I'm lucky, my 25 YO bratty daughter will buy me this one for F Day. ha\nGLWTS", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495498468, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546609, "authorName": "Mike_W_H", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/mike_w_h/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Some strange appeal. I don't know why. So retro and such a bad reputation it would be cool to drive. Kind of like hanging with that over the hill cocktail waitress with the big hooters. No one understands this part of my personality. I'm afraid it might trigger something that I would end up with a back yard full of broken econo cars like all those poor dudes on the visit a junkyard shows.", "likes": 10, "timestamp": 1495498571, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546626, "authorName": "nowhere", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/nowhere/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "@rocketmaan: That's a good question... the Canadian market version should have the same emissions control systems as U.S. market Pintos but I don't know if the 1980 models were 50 State compliant or whether they had a different version for California (as a 70's kid I used to wonder what they were talking about on game shows when the prize was a car: \"This beautiful 1979 Oldsmobuick comes with genuine vinyl interior, 8-track, whitewalls and California emissions!\") Here in the lower mainland we had AirCare emissions testing for all cars until a few years ago but it seemed much less rigorous than California, especially for pre OBD cars. It seemed like they tested the exhaust and looked under the car to see if the cat was still there and to make sure that the owner wasn't playing games by diverting the exhaust and that was about it. My 1970 Cougar 351 2V had exhaust emissions good enough that it would have passed the standards for my manager's 1995 Chevrolet so I think that even the exhaust test was pretty lax.\n\n@Mike W H: Strange appeal is right. No matter how mundane the old car when one shows up in good condition a part of me considers buying it. I suppose it would give you a time machine experience as well as show you how much things have changed over the years...", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495499325, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546631, "authorName": "RSarchet2", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/rsarchet2/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Good grief, it has power steering and power brakes. My Aunt had a Mustang II Ghia with the same engine, transmission, brakes and steering - rode and steered looser than an LTD, with acceleration similar to Dad's 62 Beetle, and memorably poor reliability, even when it was less than 5 years old.", "likes": 3, "timestamp": 1495499617, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546657, "authorName": "OldGuy", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/oldguy/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "@Green66 - big difference between a '71 2.0 with a 4-speed, and this. You'd be amazed how much slower and less fun to drive the later car is. Early Pintos are way underrated. These... not so much.", "likes": 5, "timestamp": 1495500870, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546665, "authorName": "Michael", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/michael/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Funny when a sound or smell will bring a memory back.\n\nThis instantly brought back a very clear memory of an old commercial. \n\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQeG_C1-JIA", "likes": 3, "timestamp": 1495501093, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546671, "authorName": "Round_Rock_Rob", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/round_rock_rob/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Thank you Michael. Now those of us that remember will have that 'Love That Bobcat' song going thru our heads for hours!", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495501262, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546672, "authorName": "Michael", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/michael/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Haha...yup, *that* was the exact memory..", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495501307, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546675, "authorName": "Cherry3m", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/cherry3m/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "My friends dad had one of these. In high school in the early eighties, bone stock, it would not exceed 65 mph. I remember my friend mentioning this fact at the dinner table, and his dad responding \"why were you trying to go faster than 65?\" This was during the \"I can't drive 55\" days.\n\nAlso, when the air was on, all ventilation ceased when you stepped on the gas.\n\nIt was a woeful car.", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495501428, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546676, "authorName": "danman", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/danman/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "For all the folks who think Ford USA should have sold the 1st generation and 2nd generation of Escort instead of the Pinto need to remember a few things: in the late 60s car companies were sure the biggest selling point the VW beetle had to offer was it's constant refinement of an \"antique\" design. So Ford and GM produced small cars they thought were nearly perfect, and would only get better. Then there is Ford USA's mindset, if it can be re-used, keep re-using it, as demonstrated by the Falcon's metamorphosis into a long line of cars. The Pinto used some of those parts. And then there's the anti-import bias many potential buyers had...or the car companies thought car buyers STILL had.", "likes": 6, "timestamp": 1495501481, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546692, "authorName": "Round_Rock_Rob", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/round_rock_rob/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "@OldGuy, and others: They did race the '71 and '72 early versions somewhat successfully:\n\nhttp://blog.caranddriver.com/found-on-ebay-1972-car-and-driver-ford-pinto-imsa-race-car/\n\nfrom another old guy", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495502009, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546721, "authorName": "David_C.", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/david_c.-user/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "A girl in my dorm had one of these in the latter part of the 1980s. I asked her \"Can I hit it in the back and see if it will explode?\" To which she replied \"F--k You!\". \r\n\r\nAdd that to the list of pickup lines to never use again. No wonder my social life in college was so woeful...it was like the Fiero: started off slow, but got better with each model year, and once it got fairly good, I was taken off the market.", "likes": 6, "timestamp": 1495503172, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546724, "authorName": "Dan_Patterson", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/dan_patterson/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "I think that's Betty Thomas getting frisked by the elephant in the Bobcat commercial.", "likes": 3, "timestamp": 1495503294, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546740, "authorName": "neverenoughgold", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/neverenoughgold/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "The \"Bobcat\" tune already mentioned, all I am going to add is I doubt Allan Jackson had this in mind when he wrote Mercury Blues: \"I'm gonna buy me a Mercury & cruise it up & down the road.\"\n\nI'm going to the next exit now...", "likes": 5, "timestamp": 1495503919, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546743, "authorName": "mckeelaw", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/mckeelaw/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Really BaT? What's next, a Yugo? Funny that there are already way more comments on this than on the BMW 330i.", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495504205, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546744, "authorName": "mckeelaw", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/mckeelaw/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Wait, this is a Mercury, not a Ford--never mind.", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495504256, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546746, "authorName": "SNAABY", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/snaaby/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "...and it has the original key to boot?", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495504334, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546815, "authorName": "Carpilot", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/carpilot/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Someone deep inside me want this car , it is not me for sure . Wierd car and someone loving it .", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495507111, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546826, "authorName": "Ur-JT", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/ur-jt/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Can't believe it's gone this far without a \"Top Secret\" reference. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ngtALzDAIcU/hqdefault.jpg", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495507726, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546839, "authorName": "Round_Rock_Rob", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/round_rock_rob/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Thank You Nick Rivers.", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495508162, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546872, "authorName": "gardnpc", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/gardnpc/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Bought one of these with the fancy stripe package and automatic in college using a cheap school loan. One of those adolescent foggy minded actions. Bad decision on two counts as I spent 10 years paying for the thing too. Seemed like the monthly payments came quicker than 0-60.", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495510109, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546884, "authorName": "Triumphant4A", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/triumphant4a/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Seller may have no reserve, but I have always held my reserve against these cars firmly! MIL had one that I frequently had to try to figure out - finally convinced her to trade it in on a used VW Super Beetle, which was a much more reliable car!", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495510880, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546894, "authorName": "Weasel_Atty", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/weasel_atty/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "That 2.3 liter OHC Lima motor, fuel injected and turbocharged, found its way into the T-Bird Turbo Coupe and the Mustang SVO, where it made 200 bhp and embarrassed a lot of contemporary V8s. A sweet little engine.", "likes": 6, "timestamp": 1495511570, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546897, "authorName": "Doctor_Robert", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/doctor_robert/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "...I've always loved these.\r\n\r\n*WHAM!*", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495511671, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546920, "authorName": "Flying_Dutchman", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/flying_dutchman/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "The only folks who were delighted with the production of this and similar small American cars were the management teams at Toyota, Datsun, Honda, Volkswagen, etc.", "likes": 7, "timestamp": 1495514122, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546952, "authorName": "voiture", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/voiture/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "@Flying Dutchman\nYou may be right. I had a girlfriend with this exact car, down to the color combination. She replaced it in the late 80s with a Hyundai Excel. (Named \"Attila\") Compared to the Bobcat the Hyundai felt like a Bugatti Veyron, with Rolls-Royce quality. The only US \"economy\" cars worse than the PintoCats were Chevettes.\n\n*Note: I am not criticizing this car, or this seller. Just the mentality of the Big 3 back then.", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495518753, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546970, "authorName": "trailingThrottleOversteer", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/trailingthrottleoversteer/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "So there I was, 9pm on the Florida turnpike, riding home for college holiday break in the back of a Bobcat. With four people and some amount of luggage, the acceleration was, shall we say, modest. At the end of the entrance ramp from the median-located (dis)service island, we were a bit below fast-lane speed, as defined by the 18-wheeler in our driver's blind spot. Elevated levels of shouting later we managed to make it over to the Bobcat lane. Crisis averted. Happy Thanksgiving.", "likes": 4, "timestamp": 1495521249, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1546973, "authorName": "William_Henshaw", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/william_henshaw/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "@nebraska I can get behind that, sick of all those teutonic turds.", "likes": 5, "timestamp": 1495521483, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547012, "authorName": "Caelestis", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/caelestis/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "@Ur-JT\nC'mon, look at that industrial strength bumper. This could never happen:\nhttps://youtu.be/gKQ-U-rnLdo", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495533770, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547031, "authorName": "Green66", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/green66/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "@Potomacduck The car broke parts? Next thing you'll be telling us is that it ran over Buddy Repperton......", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495539169, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547041, "authorName": "Ray_Young", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/ray_young/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "My biggest disappointment is that I won't be the original original key comment.", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495540844, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547044, "authorName": "Slider172", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/slider172/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "My mom had a 81 Pinto with the small back window .there was a dirt road near my house that had a hump in it that we used to jump. One day as I was about to jump the hump in the Pinto, just as I had my speed built up and about to hit the hump , the bubble lights of a police car came into view from the other side. Being that it was dirt, I couldn't just slam on the brakes so I got on the brakes and eased her off into a shallow ditch where I came to a stop.\nOnce stopped, I saw that a Porsche 928 was in front of the cop. Had I made the jump, I would have landed on top of the 928.\nThe cop got out of his car and since the Pinto wasn't running he asked me to try it. \nWhen it cranked, he said Firmly Slow Down! \nAnd off I went. Despite the treatment I gave it and it's bad reputation, this Pinto never failed us. It was rock solid reliable.", "likes": 7, "timestamp": 1495541178, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547079, "authorName": "chiplamb", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/chiplamb/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Your teenage sister's car is here.", "likes": 5, "timestamp": 1495543444, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547097, "authorName": "Pdxcars", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/pdxcars/", "bidAmount": 1980, "content": "$1,980 bid placed by Pdxcars", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495544407, "type": "bat-bid"}, {"id": 1547110, "authorName": "oldjonny", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/oldjonny/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Boy oh boy....Remember these days well. My dad owned a couple of these when I was early in my driving career. What appeared to be pathetic looking rides later proved out to be even more pathetic drivers. Pretty sure the exploding gas tank thing was on purpose just to get them off the street.", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495544891, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547195, "authorName": "SM_Minis", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/sm_minis/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "There was an SNL Weekend Update item from this period about the US having a new secret weapon, Leon Spinks in a Pinto.\n\nSo little love for the Bobcat/Pinto. I recall them being pretty thick on the ground way back then, with very few disabled at the side of the road and/or consumed in flames. So Ford must have done something semi-right. And a few friends had them developed into pretty effective autocross cars that were also their daily drivers. Granted they were throwbacks design-wise and they only got worse with those humongous bumpers, but we worked with what we were given and what our budgets could afford at the time. To be honest I was kind of disheartened when the Bobcat came out. How could Mercury stoop so low?\n\nThe early thin bumper cars were the choice for autocross cars, same as with the Datsun Z-cars in case you're ready to try shaming US products. And the 2.0 seemed to be as good or better than the 2.3. One husband-wife team had that combo in an early small window hatch back model. He was a Ford factory rep and when he found out the small rear glass was going NLA he bought one (at cost of course) to keep as a spare. I heard that at some point a broken small rear glass meant replacement with a later large glass hatch. (Note: Not the all-glass hatch that this Bobcat has. The steel hatch had two different glass sizes.) 1971-80 Ford Pinto Rear Hatch and Glass \n\nI really need to see if BaT will put one of my Citations on the auction site, just for the hate mail!", "likes": 12, "timestamp": 1495548041, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547196, "authorName": "Dangie", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/dangie/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "As the proud owner of a fully caged road race Bobcat, I wish I had space for this.", "likes": 8, "timestamp": 1495548062, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547215, "authorName": "areyounutz", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/areyounutz/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "On more than one trip to the beaches in Southern California, I discovered you could fit 7 people and a 52 quart ice chest into the 'pony' version of the Pinto (trunk and small back window). I can only imagine what the teenage version of me could fit into this, with the large hatch opening in the back....Ah, the teenage years.", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495548725, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547238, "authorName": "BizCat", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/bizcat/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "It's pretty bad that I want this.", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495549627, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547260, "authorName": "TinTim", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/tintim/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "My grandmother drove one of these. She had a bumper sticker on the back window that read,\" PLEASE DON'T HONK, I'M PEDDLING AS FAST AS I CAN !! \"\r\nShe was a cool Lady.", "likes": 4, "timestamp": 1495550340, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547287, "authorName": "yellow93", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/yellow93/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Saw this on Vancouver Craigslist about 2 weeks ago. The seller was also considering trades for something that was faster. GLWS", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495550885, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547308, "authorName": "koolpenguin", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/koolpenguin/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Memories. We had a 72 Pinto Runabout, and then a '76 wagon. I learned to drive on the wagon. 4 speed with no assist steering, no air, just an aftermarket sunroof and AM jams. I love this little Cat. I did a little vintage racing and it made me smile when I saw a Pinto out there turning laps. I remember driving from Michigan to Florida with me and my brother laying down facing the back window. The wacky things parents did back in the '70's.\n\nI too skipped over some of the sexier cars listed today and went right to this one. Ok, I stopped and drooled over the '71 Jag, but then I jumped right to this Cat. \nI love basic transportation cars like this listed. Can't be many Bobcats around in this shape.", "likes": 5, "timestamp": 1495551658, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547316, "authorName": "David_P", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/david_p/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "This is a great, terrible car. \n\nI wonder if a twin-cam from a UK Escort RS from the early '70s would fit in a Pinto. That would be a pretty neat early Pinto. \n\n@SM Minis, I would love to see a Citation here, either an X-Type or just a time-capsule ordinary version, like you used to see on rental lots everywhere in the early '80s.", "likes": 4, "timestamp": 1495551784, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547438, "authorName": "ixler8", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/ixler8/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "I had 2 pintos a 79 and an 80. They were both cheap and reliable. I drove the 80 from N. Carolina to Alabama and Florida on numerous occasions with no trouble. It was not very fast and certainly not a sports car, just basic transportation. Both were way better than a Chevette", "likes": 3, "timestamp": 1495555911, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547524, "authorName": "brians356", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/brians356/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "I once stopped to chat with a chap working on his MG TD. I believe he told me the original engine was gone, and he had swapped in a Pinto engine, claiming it bolted right up to the tranny. Was I dreaming? Am I insane? [rubbing temples] Anyone see \"Scanners\"?", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495558760, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547556, "authorName": "David_C.", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/david_c.-user/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "For some reason that I'm sure only a bureaucrat would know, the U.S. Postal Service bought a whole bunch of these final year Pintos. Those were the only late model Pintos I ever recall seeing on the street, as by then, the Pinto's reputation had been pretty thoroughly stained, maybe even more so than the Corvair.", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495559803, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547560, "authorName": "lonniekinser", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/lonniekinser/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "I really realy like it and I have no idea why.", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495560017, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547590, "authorName": "Patrick_D.", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/patrick_d.-user/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Think about it: in 1980, North America had the Pinto for an entry level compact, while Europe had the Escort Mk2.\n\nA study in contrasts, I think. And I don't think North America won that one!!!", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495560969, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547624, "authorName": "RWD-FTW", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/rwd-ftw/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "PDX, I'd say you own it!", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495561845, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547631, "authorName": "spd", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/spd/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Chicks will dig me?", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495562030, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547676, "authorName": "AceBragg", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/acebragg/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "@nebraska I completely agree. There's currently a 3 year old Audi listed on here for god's sake.", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495563597, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547693, "authorName": "brians356", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/brians356/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "\"There a brown Oddie parked in my spot. Have it towed immediately!\"", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495564027, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547901, "authorName": "Gary_T1", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/gary_t1/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "I've owned a 1973, a brand new 1975, and later (ahem...just after my divorce) a 1976. I love Pintos, especially the 1971 with the 2000 cc & 4 speed. All the hype on how bad a car they were is absolute nonsense. As they get bigger and heavier like this Bobcat, though, they lose me very quickly. Hard to find a nice light 71-73 2000 4spd. They were all driven into the ground. Bad steel on all those early 70's Fords, too. Rusted fast.", "likes": 6, "timestamp": 1495567788, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547914, "authorName": "David_P", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/david_p/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "I hope the new owner names it Goldthwaite.", "likes": 5, "timestamp": 1495568071, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547917, "authorName": "brians356", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/brians356/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Gary T,\n\nSo the whole \"rear end collision -> gas tank fire\" thing was nonsense? Honest question.", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495568139, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1547932, "authorName": "trailerman", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/trailerman/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "I used to own an independent rent a car co 20 years ago. I had plenty of Pinto's. Everybody hated them but they held together, especially the 2300 engine. I now have a Mercur with the 2300 turbo sitting in a wreak in my back field. That car flew! It is going into my parents 1972 Mecedes 250 in which I unknowingly ran out of oil when the filter sprang a leak. \nBy the way, back to the car rentals, I replaced the Pintos with Escorts and they looked pretty. But the timing belts all broke before 60K miles and they were an interference engine. We had to dump 3 engines. \nGod Bless the Pinto, where ever they are!", "likes": 4, "timestamp": 1495568370, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1548066, "authorName": "Gary_T1", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/gary_t1/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "There was an issue with a rear end collision possibly causing the tank to rupture. It didn't happen as often as people prefer to remember. The real problem was Ford's decision to hide the defect rather than fix it, as their internal memos showed they thought it was going to cost more to retrofit them all than to deal with the accidents. It was a bad issue that no one can defend. I think I'll do a little research and see if I'm off base on this. However, by the time this car was produced, the issue was resolved. In fact, my 75 was retrofitted by ford while I owned it.", "likes": 3, "timestamp": 1495570710, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1548092, "authorName": "abc", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/abc/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "The Pinto's evil twin, the infamous BOBCAT!", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495571221, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1548242, "authorName": "RWD-FTW", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/rwd-ftw/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Precursor to the Hellcat ??", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495573548, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1548337, "authorName": "SM_Minis", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/sm_minis/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "@GaryT \u2013 You pretty much got it correct except, possibly, for the failure mode. I recall that the problem was the filler neck separating from the tank, and that it could have been prevented with the addition of some small piece of hardware. The damning evidence was the Ford documentation that they knew of the potential problem and decided to stay with the cheaper to build version. \n\n@TinTim \u2013 The best bumper sticker for these was, \u201cNot So Close \u2013 Pintos Blow Up\u201d. I only saw it once, in stop and go traffic, and did heed its warning.\n\n@DavidP \u2013 It would be an \u201985 X-11, the final year with fuel injection, most of the problems solved, and, best of all, what I like to call the disco interior. I\u2019ll think about it.", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495574740, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1548346, "authorName": "RWD-FTW", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/rwd-ftw/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "I would love an X-11 Citation! Mine was a light tan 2-door, at least it was a V6, and I added X-11 wheels.", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495574942, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1548456, "authorName": "David_P", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/david_p/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "@SM Minis - the final year being the best is classic GM from the years (decades) when they used customers for validation testing. My fantasy Citation X-11 would get a supercharged 3800 and four-speed (or whatever will fit from the 2000s) to really turn things up to 11. \n\nA late 80s T-Bird Turbo Coupe powertrain would make this one a nice sleeper.", "likes": 3, "timestamp": 1495577764, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1548676, "authorName": "Rene", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/rene/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "@SM Minis 1980 models had the gas tank issues corrected from the factory. So this Bobcat does not require the retro-fit kit. \r\nThe earlier cars had gas tank retrofit kits that consisted of a longer filler neck that went further into the gas tank, the filler was bolted to the inside of the quarter panel instead of the outside (so it would separate from the body in a crash and stay with the tank), and a plastic shield to protect the tank from the sharp edges of the rear differential.\r\n\r\nThese cars can be set-up to handle well on the track especially with todays rubber.\r\nI must throw out this video. Watch this Pinto reel in your favorite vintage car one after another including two Porsche 914's and even a 911. Link below:\r\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YGoKfYYkV4&feature=youtu.be", "likes": 4, "timestamp": 1495588678, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1548702, "authorName": "mustangcubed", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/mustangcubed/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Doubt many will care to read this but in case you are incapacitated or incarcerated and have a tremendous amount of free time here is an indepth analysis of the Pinto, the lawsuits, and the recall that dispels a lot of the myths and refutes many of the \"truths\" we have been told over the years. I'd say \"enjoy\" but you wont.\n\nhttp://www.pointoflaw.com/articles/The_Myth_of_the_Ford_Pinto_Case.pdf", "likes": 3, "timestamp": 1495589757, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1548772, "authorName": "Darrin", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/darrin/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "OK - Is this where I get to get back at the American car fanatics that put wise crack comments on Fiat auction postings? \nI think I have seen more Fiat 128s and Stradas on the road than Pintos and Bobcats in the last ten years. OK, I'll be nice. I have at east a dozen nasty Pinto jokes that just came to my mind but I it's not necessary to type them.\n\nLooks like a great car and a lucky survivor.", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495593528, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1548781, "authorName": "200mph", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/200mph/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Just shy of 100 comments and the auction is only half a day old?\n\nWow...these sure provoke some interesting memories.", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495594380, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1548820, "authorName": "Thaddeus_P", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/thaddeus_p/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Probably better than an Austin Marina or Vauxhall Belmont or Plymouth Cricket. I do like the steering wheel.", "likes": 3, "timestamp": 1495598090, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1548937, "authorName": "Mart_Emeness", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/mart_emeness/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Thaddeus P wrote - \"Probably better than an Austin Marina or Vauxhall Belmont or Plymouth Cricket.\"\n---------------\nYeah, for sure. And although the bar was set absurdly low even by normal North American malaise-era econo-box standards, the Pinto was definitely a much better car then its main domestic competition, the Chevy Vega. Not that that is saying much.", "likes": 3, "timestamp": 1495625328, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1548985, "authorName": "200mph", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/200mph/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "The Pinto's OHC 4 cylinder was a willing engine, we ran one in the IMSA RS series early 1970's... Ford Germany had plenty of go-fast parts available for it.", "likes": 5, "timestamp": 1495631131, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1549031, "authorName": "Keith_T", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/keith_t/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "A high school friend had a '74 with the 2.0 and four speed manual. Surprisingly good snow car with studded tires and some weight in the trunk. If it was driven at interstate speeds for any length of time, the wing nut on the air filter housing would vibrate loose, sometimes bouncing off into the fan, which made an interesting noise... zzzing pop ting. Sort of a Pinto version of Bang Ding Ow.", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495633076, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1549170, "authorName": "thinoxygen", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/thinoxygen/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Hats off to Pdxcars for a grown-up bid, I was gonna put $1500 on the table and absolutely destroy this car if I won.", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495638713, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1549210, "authorName": "mikeyoung00", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/mikeyoung00/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "I would add a crack here about the placement of the fuel tank but I don't want to get flamed.", "likes": 7, "timestamp": 1495640097, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1549230, "authorName": "koolpenguin", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/koolpenguin/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "@mikeyhoung00\ngood one!", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495640778, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1549338, "authorName": "Pdxcars", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/pdxcars/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "@thinoxygen If I'm lucky enough to be the lucky winning bidder. I plan on waxing it to a inch of its its life and it's first car show would be June 3rd at a All Ford show in Hillsboro Oregon!", "likes": 12, "timestamp": 1495643593, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1549509, "authorName": "wicklowwanderer", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/wicklowwanderer/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Had one of these, nick maned General Lee Jr, muffler fell off going too fast over some RR tracks, made a muffler at a steel fab shop I was working at out of some steel pipe, new muffler weighed more than the car. The things we did when we were young....", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495650622, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1550386, "authorName": "homer_gator", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/homer_gator/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "This Bobcat may exhibit the best and highest use of a saddle blanket as seat cover material. I had a 1971 Pinto that was rear ended and did not burn. I put the big hatch window in and painted it the same color orange as this car. I was in the Navy and funds were limited.", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495661473, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1550565, "authorName": "watchcarefully", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/watchcarefully/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "It's Bizarro World on BaT: praise for a slush-box Pinto-clone and Chevy Citations on the same page? Never in my wildest nightmares; I knew that Twin-cam Vega posting would lead to no good! I retreat to the relative sanity of an Austin Healey with a transplanted SBC...", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495664703, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1550586, "authorName": "Crazyas00", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/crazyas00/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "OK. I was trying not to get involved here. Mostly because it will date me. And one or two of you might actually know me. I raced a Pinto in IMSA RS in the 70's. We built two cars. The second one was a much better car. That was because we had figured out how flexible the chassis was. The cage was a mass of 2.0\" Chromoly tubing. We tied EVERYTHING together. The rules at the time allowed for parts from a similar car or Ford parts bin. The Front discs were off the Torino. Same lower control arm. That gave us 11.2\" vented discs. The stock rear was a 6 3/4\" solid axle. I think there were 3 ratios available. But, the Pinto Wagon had the 8\" underneath it. Bolted right in. Something like 27 different ratios from Ford as that axle was under anything from the Ranger pickup to Granadas. Bigger rear drums too. We used the 2 Liter 4. It would rev, was fairly bullet proof as it was the same block from the Escort. We were allowed to use any 2bbl carburetor. We had a Weber 45 DCOE with a Lynx manifold. Breathed out through Heddman headers. We had a car that could really handle, stop, and finish the race. The Pinto's big problem was it was a BRICK aero wise. If we were running Daytona or Talledega, I could draft a Gremlin all the way around, and then outbreak him into the infield. Road Atlanta (pre ugly chicane before the bridge), we could do well because you had momentum going. I was once told by a Ford engineer that they had just for giggles, turned a Pinto around in the wind tunnel. It's drag CF was almost half. Oh, and that big bumper thing. Ford was cheap. The Skinny ones bolted right back on. No change of mountings. So, @Round Rock Rob, @Old Guy, @Dangle, and @200MPH, hope this brings you a smile.", "likes": 9, "timestamp": 1495665539, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1550647, "authorName": "vvassallo", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/vvassallo/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "I saw this listing and almost blew my coffee out my nose!", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495667637, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1550790, "authorName": "JIMMY", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/jimmy/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Here's my Pinto story. College, c.1978, my sister's roommate had a light green '72 automatic. Really cold winter, she said the heater had not worked for about a month. I looked at it, and the cooling system was full of water which had turned to solid ice. I drove it to a friends shop and let it thaw out, put on a new water pump and filled it with anti-freeze. The radiator was all bent from the ice expanding, but it did not leak. That heap of crap was still running 10 years later, with the same bent radiator.", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495673629, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1550906, "authorName": "gardnpc", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/gardnpc/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "How can this little doodad garner more comments than a '69 Triumph TR6, 2005 BMW 330Ci ZHP, and a '77 Porsche 911S Coupe...combined! What am i missing?", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495678343, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1550968, "authorName": "Round_Rock_Rob", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/round_rock_rob/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Old age?\nThese things evolved over time to what you see here. \nFinally phased out by the Fox based family of products if I remember. I guess you had to be there. Not saying they were great - just a significant memory.", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495683259, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1550986, "authorName": "Pdxcars", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/pdxcars/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "@gardnpc unlike a Aston Martin, Corvette, Triumph or Ferrari that were pampered from new (for the most part). This car was built for the masses to be driven to death. To find one in this condition is a exemption to the rule...", "likes": 7, "timestamp": 1495683826, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1551017, "authorName": "Round_Rock_Rob", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/round_rock_rob/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Plus someone's going to take this home for chump change.", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495685939, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1551221, "authorName": "BondoBoy", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/bondoboy/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "I rented this very car for a week in 1980.", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495715435, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1551282, "authorName": "RRulison", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/rrulison/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Okay, my turn. The year is 1983.\n\nBest friend in high school was talked into purchasing a Bobcat by his dad. That's not remarkable except that is dad was a quintessential gold chain wearing, hot tub owning, corvette driving, divorced guy. None of us could figure out why his dad wanted him to have this little turd, but he bought the sales pitch.\n\nThe color was a very off putting light brown, which we dubbed \"baby sh*t brown\". It was a four speed manual, which he didn't know how to drive, and it was the little step child of the much more famous (infamous) pinto. Why wouldn't a 16 year old guy want it?\n\nSo, I had to go with him to buy it, and then I had to teach him how to drive it. Then, well, then we were off to the races.\n\nFor the next two years we drove that little piece of crap everywhere. Me riding shotgun, sitting on my seat covered in the finest hide of the rare Nauga, always having to coach him so that he wasn't lugging 2nd through 4th. Burning our asses when we left the beaches of Lake Michigan and sat down on the 1000 degree seats, listening to the amazing AM/FM radio blasting out through the single dash mounted speaker, occasionally making our friends cram into the spacious rear seat, where the backs of their heads would be baked by the sun streaming in through the expansive glass hatch.\n\nI guess the point is that cars like this are still cars, and to a bunch of 16 year old boys from Northern Michigan, it was all that we needed. \n\nFor many of us, our best memories of being teenagers have just two ingredients, friends and cars. The make and model of the cars was rarely important.\n\nSomeone buy this for your 16 year old son. It will provide all the fun and experience of a much more expensive model, and in 35 years, they'll have plenty of stories to tell as well.", "likes": 17, "timestamp": 1495716917, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1551479, "authorName": "jimf42", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/jimf42/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "I direct your attention to the official t shirt of the American Museum of Tort Law ... https://store.tortmuseum.org/collections/t-shirts", "likes": 3, "timestamp": 1495724123, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1552631, "authorName": "vvassallo", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/vvassallo/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "@jimf42 Priceless!", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495746809, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1552869, "authorName": "TheOrganizedGarage", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/theorganizedgarage/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "My Dad bought my sister a brand new '78 Mercury Bobcat to drive to high school. We called it the Slobcat. It was goldish-orange metallic with orange/tan/white plaid seats, orange/tan carpeting, and the factory \"mag\" wheels with whitewall tires. 0-60 took around 15 seconds, and at anything over 55mph, the car started shaking badly, with a horrible howling sound coming from the rear differential. When it was 10 years old my brother and Dad drove it from California to the East Coast. I heard it died not long after that due to an issue with the flywheel.", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495752204, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1553370, "authorName": "finespecimen", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/finespecimen/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "My mom's '72 Pinto runabout never could make it through a somewhat-larger-than-average puddle without stalling. Nevertheless, she proclaimed it the favorite car of her lifetime no long before she died. I preferred her '76 Fiat 128 as a young lad, and would love to find a decent one now but that's a tall order.", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495801632, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1553502, "authorName": "normsled", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/normsled/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "At first I thought that this would be the only car ever to sell on BAT with just one bid. Then I realized there were 2 bids before Pdxcars threw down his $1980 bid. I can hear it a week from now...\"I was just trying to be funny!! What do you mean I won??!!\"", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495807256, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1553691, "authorName": "Pdxcars", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/pdxcars/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "@Normsled Actually I'm hoping a week (+ a day from now) to be sitting in this Bobcat holding a trophy from a local All Ford car show coming up. I think the car is a cool reminder of automotive history that should be shown and enjoyed for what is. A cheap mass produced car that some how escaped being used and abused as many where (as relayed by bat members in this auction!). I wish I had the car now so I could start detailing under the hood...", "likes": 5, "timestamp": 1495813100, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1553841, "authorName": "Stuttgart", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/stuttgart/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Even though not a Pinto, the color is close and the sentiment is still there for a good laugh. Glad to see this car in this condition. Everyone hated them, but everyone has a story within them too. GLWTA. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKQ-U-rnLdo", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495818520, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1554009, "authorName": "msmiranda", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/msmiranda/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "In the interest of economy, I've cut and pasted my pertinent comments from another auction here a while back :-D \n\nI once drove a friend\u2019s then brand new 1972 Pinto from Pennsylvania to Texas with a constantly bickering engaged couple and all our luggage. That car required a quart of oil at every gas fill up and it was the most cramped and uncomfortable road trip I\u2019ve ever made.", "likes": 2, "timestamp": 1495824676, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1554657, "authorName": "baggins435", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/baggins435/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "I had a 74 Pinto wagon in college. Dad got it and a 25 hp outboard motor for $750. He figured he was buying one and the other was free. I loved the Pinto, but it was anything but \"free.\" Powder blue with a navy interior and 4 speed. We had the head rebuilt twice, dad put Firestone 721s (remember those \"exploding\" tires?) on it, and there were other issues mom never found out about. Before it was permanently parked we figured we had $4K in it. It still resides at their old house with a 6\" diameter tree growing through the engine compartment. I've always wanted to find another one and stuff a Mustang V-6 and 5 speed in it.", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495834294, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1554704, "authorName": "vvassallo", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/vvassallo/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "@Pdxcars, I'm waiting for the punch line. Really. There is one, right? ;)", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495835000, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1554723, "authorName": "hans_groper", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/hans_groper/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "I can't believe the AM radio isn't working-from my recollection,the radio was 1 of the most reliable parts of Pintos/Bobcats.", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495835422, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1555158, "authorName": "flat6pilot", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/flat6pilot/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "Never thought I'd say this, but time capsule cars from the 1980's = VERY VERY COOL. Not exactly the prettiest, but a unique decade which is definitely reflected in the automobiles.", "likes": 3, "timestamp": 1495881695, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1555444, "authorName": "Lounge", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/lounge/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "$1980..... now that is a brave bid.", "likes": 5, "timestamp": 1495901025, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1555476, "authorName": "Lwb250", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/lwb250/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "We had the Pinto equivalent in the family from new - the 1970-1/2 model that still had the large windowed rear hatch. The 2.3 liter engine with a stick was a wicked little mill that would wind up well. It was quite popular in the Capri as a rally car.\r\n\r\nBy the time the car came into my possession from my Mom, then older brother to me, it was tired. Mom thrashed cars and older brother wasn't much better. I polished and ported the head and modified the linkage on the Holley 5200 so the secondary would open properly (this had been somewhat limited by Ford for emissions purposes, I believe) and after doing so that little car was a rocket!\r\n\r\nLots of good memories...", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495904144, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1555633, "authorName": "Lounge", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/lounge/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "@Baggins435 - \"Seven, around two, wrapped by one.\" I remember that commercial to this day.", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495919792, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1555839, "authorName": "West-Coaster", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/west-coaster/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "@David P\n\nAs long as there's a side-tangent on the Citation X-11 going on (in a thread that HAS to be setting a BaT record for lowest comments-to-bids ratio)...\n\nI would argue that 1985 was actually the worst year for the Citation X-11, not counting the 1980 stripe package before '81 brought the real performance version. Yes, the car got fuel injection and a more conventional dash layout - the silly vertical radio was finally gone - but a lot of the hot rod stuff had been neutered out of it. \n\nNo more functional cowl induction hood, no more manual transmission available, and I believe the MFI V6 was more of a generic one shared in the GM lineup, rather than the special 2.8 V6 originally called the HO660. It had a higher-lift cam, the aforementioned cold air hood, bigger valves, and a higher redline of 6500 rpm. \n\nNow back to the Bobcat. By 1980, the Pinto/Bobcat was a true lame duck, with the FWD Escort about to replace it. Any refinement had some to a grinding halt years before, and Ford was just cranking them out to keep the factory humming and dealers stocked with something small in the wake of OPEC Embargo I (1973) and OPEC Embargo II (1979).\n\nThe profit must have been huge for Ford, with the tooling costs long amortized.", "likes": 1, "timestamp": 1495974030, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1555859, "authorName": "PeteinMS", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/peteinms/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "It's one of life's little mysteries that Ford sold millions of Pintos/Bobcats, yet couldn't sell the 70's Capri, which was a better car in every respect.", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495976468, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1555878, "authorName": "flatblak", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/flatblak/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "This is almost a spitting image of my first car, a '72 Pinto (inline 2.0 liter four, 4spd). In 1972, Ford called that color \"Calypso Coral.\" My high school's truancy staff called it orange, and it stood out so well it might as well have been flourescent. The car got me through high school and college, but not without some drama and fervent wishes for a larger back seat.", "likes": 3, "timestamp": 1495978719, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1555883, "authorName": "DLegeai", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/dlegeai/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "....hmmm....de\"bat\"ing between the Ferrari and the Bobcat......", "likes": 0, "timestamp": 1495979099, "type": "comment"}, {"id": 1555887, "authorName": "West-Coaster", "authorUrl": "https://bringatrailer.com/member/west-coaster/", "bidAmount": 0, "content": "@PeteinMS\n\"It\u2019s one of life\u2019s little mysteries that Ford sold millions of Pintos/Bobcats, yet co