1970 Pinto Squire Commercial - Squire vs Vega

[Galt425]

The vega had an aluminum block that pushed technology for US makers, and that's precisely what we needed (and need) from Detroit (iirc it was coated rather then sleeved). Mine hit 80,000 with no problems when it was totaled by someone I loaned it to.

[BubbaSmurft]

Of all the crap being written here nobody has noticed that these are 73-74 cars not 70's?

[Mrphatbastard1]

It cracks me up to hear all these little sock puppets judge two cars they've never seen in person let alone ever owned, I think they just need to stick with their little four door fart can Kia's...

[denisrenelara]

damn, wagons were a great hit back then.

[4Y83Z120401]

Let's see it looks like a contest here to see who can come up with the most vulgar, uninformed, and irrational comment. I can see these people are a bunch of real car nuts who know what they are talking about.

[jtkirkfan2002]

My dad got rid of an Impala for a 1974 Pinto wagon. By the time he got fed up with it and gave it to me, (after going back to a big Chevy), there wasn't a body panel on it anywhere that wasn't rusted through including the floorboards. This was the crappiest car ever. To this day I don't claim it as my "first" car. I give that honor to the 1977 Impala I bought after my junior year. Now THAT was a car.

[voltron821]

this commercial is like comparing a stinking pile of bear shit to a smelly mound of moose terds.

[montecarlo0]

I`ve owned a total of seven Pinto/Bobcat station wagons, model years 1974-1980. Car were yoused as second car, work cars. These cars were very rugged and reliable. I earned enough to retire @ age 59.

[Mrphatbastard1]

@montecarlo0 I had a 72 Squire with a 2000cc which ran and ran, only problem ever was the clutch cable. Two of my friends bought Vegas which both had engine replacements around 30k, door windows falling out of their tracks, broken tail shafts and numerous other problems. I still see Pintos on the road but hardly any Vegas, I think they went the way of ALL small chevies or they were just re-badged as Monzas or Crapaliers or Pontiac Astras or some other little gm shit box...

[feelgoodaboutit]

The first Ford Pinto was actually the 1971, the ad may have came out in 70 though, but the first was 71. Crapy cars like this is what help the Japanese get their car sells moving, and the American makers have had to pay dearly for selling us junk. However, I have fond memories of this car, as my parent bought this car new and I learned how to drive in this fun car. That is until the transmission started slipping and my father quickly sold it.

[dmenkhau]

Apparently, they didn't know it would blow up in a matter of seconds, either.

[Darklordkime]

some highschool chick that lives near me has one IN MINT CONDDITION

[dalekrueger]

we have a neighbor that had a light blue pinto wagon,they drove and drove and drove it,till it literally fell apart,bet it had close to 300,000 when they finally parked it

[hpspeedster]

A rustfree Vega,with a 2300 Pinto engine and its German manual trans would be a good combination.

Better yet,use a later model EFI Ranger 2300 engine instead.

[linoleumcarving]

Vega crap

Pinto crap

put together by a bunch of stoned/hung-over, overpaid bums.

[luisinhoens90]

My grandparents had the same wagon (Pinto Squire) in the same color with the faux wood accents too. It was a 1975 with the 2.8 V6 engine. It was a very reliable car until the day they sold it to buy a 1981 Chevette.

[soulbrosampson]

Okay, this commercial is about the Pinto Squire Wagon, not the runabout. I am not aware of the Pinto Stationwagon having the explosion problem, partly being because the extra length protects the gas tank from rear collisions.

We had a Pint Squire and ran it from 1972 to 1984 with well over 200,000. But we did have to replace the engine and transmission. It must have been a great car to get the kind of sales that it got.

It certainly didn't make sales from these quirky commercials.

[txmcxlx]

My grandfather was a Chevy engineer and he said the Vega was good.

[bliglum]

LOL!!! And that is the problem with american cars!! the americans that make and drive them think they are "good".. while the rest of the world can clearly see that they are not.

[LPcustom76]

i am a professional auto tech, and have worked on every make. you clearly haven't a clue.

[bliglum]

Well, of coarse you (as an auto tech) are going to be all for it!!! it brings you more business !!!!! I'm just going by personal experience, and have owned several import and domestic cars. Sadly, the domestics were in the shop more often than the imports. Pre-80's american cars were awesome, (duesenberg, 30's ford, 50's chevy etc.). 80's, most 90's and many 00's have sucked.. And all along the only fine american offerings have been big gas guzzlers (until recently). so please, clue me in!

[thekidrocks72]

As I posted a year ago, I owned a Vega - bought it new and drove it for 4 years. It was NOT a good car. GM tried too many new concepts that proved to be problems. If anything can be said in it's favor, in many respects it was ahead of it's time for a domestic car of that size.... but there were a lot of bugs to be worked out that the foreign auto makers already had right.

[1979lincolncoupe]

actually, the pinto(and the Vega) were in a list of the worlds most unreliable cars.

[thekidrocks72]

Between the Vega and the Pinto, I think the comparison should be which was worse than the other ;) I drove a couple Pintos - YEECK! I owned a Vega - a MUCH nicer car to drive with more legroom and a better ride... but it rusted apart and the engine wore out waaay too soon. Maybe the best car honors should go to the Gremlin??? (LOL)

[ducatinova]

@thekidrocks72 The Gremlin was for it's time, a reliable car. It just didn't have the gas mileage of the pinto or vega because it had a six cylinder. That engine was introduced in 1964 and just went out of production in 2006. All three cars had horrible rear leg room.

[thekidrocks72]

Indeed! The Vega (and Gremlin) had more legroom up front - the Pinto was terrible there. Let's face it, they were all terrible cars.

[jeffreypeikin]

KABOOM!

[l33tkawasaki]

lol..... KaBOOM!!

[kcro25]

Hmmm.....tough call. Would I rather have a car that will blow up on me when hit in the rear ir a car that will require a new engine at 50,000 miles? That is a tough one.

[nlpnt]

Can you imagine the modern version of this ad?

"Instead of a Chevy HHR, you can have a Ford Focus wagon. But you'll have to buy it used, 'cause we stopped making them. Ford-Dumb moves."

The wagons didn't have the explosion problem- mostly different gas tank components and longer "crumple zone"

[sortashaman]

With the large bumpers, I'd guess this ad to be late-1973 or 1974 vintage. We had a 1972 Vega Kammback (silver-bought used) which came in very handy for hauling things for our remodeling project. It was the color of duct tape--very handy for fixing the leaks around the windshield.

[TSXboy26]

wow....commercials were really bad then...

[pdennis93]

i dont think thats a 1970 commercial.. the pinto wagon didnt come out till 1972

[the1980srocked]

i didn't know that

[longfade]

HA! Good one.

[hoofer1]

Yes, but a Vega can rust faster! And you wind up driving a car frame around town! How cool was that??? X-D The Vega was a loveable POS car.

[Lumotaku]

Lol The Vega would rust but It wouldnt explode!

[snarkdetriomphe]

hahaahhha love the old "wood" panelled cars