I saw a lime green Pinto for sale a couple of weeks ago. I thought they were all dead by now.

 

Now THAT'S the Pintos I remember!

So many came in to my Gulf station held together with bunji cords and the like The AMC Pacers were even worse

My friend had oa Pinto. He lived on an island that was attached to the mainland only at low tide, if you catch my drift. His Pinto wagon got stuck one day at the crossing and the tide covered it ! Later that night we rolled it out and began the process of resessitation.......

A week later it was running, but within a few months slabs of rust that were once fenders and such were falling from it

Ah, the '70's .............so few decent cars were built and even fewer lasted the decade before rusting away..............

 

1971 or 72 Dodge Dart Swinger, paid $100. it was a fun first car.

 

$100 for the truck body at a junk yard and $800 for a new big block 350 Chevy V8 engine. yeah. My first car, I had to put it together myself.

 

In 1975 I bought a wrecked 1972 El Camino (I was 14 and was the apprentice in a bodyshop, I later owned that shop) The "El" had heavy frontend damage and an LT1 350, I bought it for 300.00. Over the years I put $10,000.00 in the El Camino and it was worth every penny, it had appearances in two magazine spreads and never failed to turn heads...A friend borrowed it and totaled it in 1980 and 23 years later my kid called me and asked "Dad did your El Camino tailgate say Origin of Sin?" and when I asked why he told me that he was standing looking at the remains in a local junkyard...I went to bring it home but the floor had been covered by almost 2 feet of mud and all that was left was the cowl/roof and box sections plus the tailgate...the tailgate is stored at a friends shop !!!

 

I had a Lime Green Pinto Hatchback, 70 or 71, bought it used and it was a tough little car. Ex-Wife got rear ended by a school bus at a stop light (It didn't blow up!) They cut it in half and put a rear body clip on it. About a year later some drunk pulled out of a bar and rammed me in the right rear Quarter and took off. I tried going after him but he had bent the rear axle too ! What finally killed it was when the oil filter gskt. popped out when my Ex started it one day, then went on down the road 'til all the oil was gone and the engine seized! Pinto!!

 

I grew up in a family that bought only used cars. My dad bought a '60 Covair that turned out to be a dog so he bought used after that. I learned about cars while holding the flashlight while he repaired them in 20 degree weather.

When it came time for me to purchase my own car, I bought a new '78 Toyota pickup. It was a great truck until the ice storm of Dec 30, 1979 in St. Louis. An ice-filled limb fell on the cab and made the roof concave. I took it to a customizing shop and had a sunroof installed. I liked it even better after that. It became a victim of massive rust at only 36,000 miles when I traded it in. The Japanese built great engines but lousy sheet metal back then.

I've only bought one used car in my life. Yes, you lose money on depreciation when you pull it off the lot. But you make up for it with warranty repairs and when you get a good one, you can keep long after it has been paid off.

 

2004 Saturn ION

$13,325 brand new

I don't miss it

 

$300 1988 Subaru GL Rustbucket, i mean hatchback. Had it for a year. Wouldn't run in the rain when i got rid of it. Ate alternators for breakfast.

 

Mine was a 1972 Datsun pickup I bought from my dad in 1977. Paid 1000 for it. First new car was a 1978 Datsun 510, the year that Datsun returned that model. Sometimes I still miss that car. Until I drive my HHR.