The introduction of the Fiesta in 1978 negatively impacted sales of the Ford Pinto, but 188,899 buyers chose to park one in their driveway. That proved to be the least successful for the Pinto to that point, but the figure was still considered very respectable. Our feature car is a 1978 Pinto Squire Wagon, an original survivor with 46,500 miles on the clock. It has no immediate needs, leaving its new owner to choose between preservation and restoration. The Squire is listed here on Facebook in Elgin, Illinois. The owner has set the sale price for the Pinto at $8,000. I must thank Barn Finder Bill F for spotting this wonderful little survivor.

This Pinto isn’t perfect, but it remains presentable for a vehicle of its type and age. The paint wears the usual marks and imperfections you might expect, but it also carries a decent shine. The seller identifies some paint deterioration on the roof and hood, but it hasn’t reached the point where it requires immediate attention. There is no significant panel damage or rust which means the new owner may choose to preserve it as an original and unmolested survivor. The seller says the Squire’s underside is clean and solid, so the buyer won’t be faced with any grinding or welding if they elect to follow the restoration path. Some of the finish is peeling from the fiberglass edging, but the vinyl faux woodgrain looks surprisingly good for its age. The glass and chrome are excellent, while the “jellybean” alloy wheels perfectly suit the vehicle’s character. As a restoration project, it shows promise, but you can be sure it would still turn heads at a show or Cars & Coffee in its current form.

While 88hp may not be a lot of engine power, it will provide peppy performance in a car that tips the scales at 2,555lbs. That is what the buyer will have on tap from the Pinto’s 2.3-liter OHC four-cylinder engine. That power feeds to the rear wheels via a four-speed manual transmission. The journey down the ¼ mile should take 19.1 seconds, and while that may not sound startling, it was still respectable by the day’s standards. After all, Ford marketed the Pinto as an affordable and economical second car, not a high-performance model. The seller claims the Squire has 46,500 genuine miles on its odometer but doesn’t mention supporting evidence. They say it starts easily and runs and drives well. It sounds like it will be a turnkey proposition for its next owner.

If any aspect of this Pinto surprises me, it is its interior presentation. I think the seats wear newer Dark Blue covers, but these look excellent. There is no evidence of wear or physical damage. The remaining upholstered surfaces have survived well, while the carpet is equally impressive. The dash and pad show no evidence of deterioration, which is surprising. Pads can be prone to cracking, so the condition of the one in this Wagon is a bonus. That doesn’t mean that the interior is perfect because the color of the plastic in the rear cargo area reveals this Squire’s age. However, there are no visible splits or cracks, meaning the buyer may choose to apply a plastic dye to return some consistency to that aspect of this classic.

When Ford released the Pinto, it was a calculated gamble. A few people within the company’s hierarchy doubted the wisdom of the decision. Still, like the First Generation Mustang, it proved to be the right car at the right time, with the looming energy crisis sealing its fate as a sales success. Those sales tapered as the decade progressed, with the Wagon version proving the least popular by the time our feature car rolled off the line. However, with 52,269 people slapping down their cash for one, it was hardly all doom and gloom within the company’s walls. Most have long gone to scrapyards around the country, which makes finding a genuinely good one challenging. This one is a gem with no immediate needs. It will almost certainly never be a mega-bucks classic, but I won’t be surprised if it finds a new home pretty quickly.