Crowd Pleaser: 1980 Ford Pinto Rallye

The Ford Pinto doesn’t have the best reputation among so called experts of the horseless carriage, but what does a scientific consensus really mean anyway?  There was a time when the scientific community agreed that the sun & stars revolved around the earth, so all the haters who think it’s settled science that the Pinto was a poorly built pile of parts will get their comeuppance when the Pintocentric model of the universe is finally realized.  Find this 1980 Ford Pinto Rallye offered for $6,000 in Fayetteville, NC via craigslist.  Tip from Rock On!


Just what is a crowd pleaser anyway?  It is the fat bearded guy who shows up late to the party totally drunk, but the party is soooo much better after he arrives.  He won’t find many proposals for marriage or even find someone who wants to be his roommate, but he makes a crowd happy.  Sort of like a customized Ford Pinto — not wanted in many garages, but welcome at any car show.




Long gone is whatever boat anchor the guys in Dearborn designed for this thing back in 1980, and in its place is a 302 cubic inch “bogus Boss 302” V8 that is modified to produce 415 horsepower at a turbojet inspired 64,000 rpm (thinking this might be a typo…) and 347 ft-lbs of torque way down at a reasonable 6,000 rpm.  That’s one seriously engineered cam.


 See another car with a Cylon aiming a gun at you on the side? tips@dailyturismo.com