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Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Over 3 million Pintos were sold, that's pretty successful for those years of 1971-80. I had a 1973 Quire Wagon that I bought as my first new car for $2,500 and my wife (fiance then) bought a 2 year old 1971. We never had any problems with either of them.
There actually was a car sold here that was like the US version of the European Escort, I had one of those before the Pinto. It was the Ford Cortina. Mine was a 1967 GT, great little car with plenty of pep due to the Weber sidedraft carb. They did not sell well here though, people did not like European small car styling back then, and the Pinto, while small for a US car, was significantly bigger and "bigger looking" by design.
I liked my 1979 Pinto very much. It was my first car when I got my driver's license in 1985. I drove it for about 6 years.
Anyway, the Pinto hatchbacks and wagons were a part of a different niche than the European Escort sedan. Ford did have an entry-level sedan in the U.S. -- the Ford Maverick -- and the Mustang II also was a compact sedan.
When you add up the production/sales numbers from all three cars, you have to figure that Ford did pretty well. Maybe they should have focused (no Ford pun intended) on just one model, but hindsight is 20-20.
I wasn't talking about "importing". I was talking about taking the already established engineering and make the vehicle here in USA. When you import, you add cost. The other problem is though these vehicles were owned by an American company, the fact that they're imported and not built by members of the UAW makes them not American in the eyes of some of the buying public. Also, how much were these vehicles advertised to the general public compared to their USA built products?
The other problem is though these vehicles were owned by an American company, the fact that they're imported and not built by members of the UAW makes them not American in the eyes of some of the buying public. Also, how much were these vehicles advertised to the general public compared to their USA built products?
Here in lies a deep bias that I'll never understand. Why is it okay to buy cars made by European labour unions, and imply a perception the UAW built vehicle built in our own country is somehow different? Are you trying to imply European labour unions are better than American unions, or is it an attempt to demonize unions pretending the European labour unions don't exist in socialist countries? Does this admiration for European automotive models show a bias towards socialism vs capitalism? I'm just curious here and wonder why?
The other problem is though these vehicles were owned by an American company, the fact that they're imported and not built by members of the UAW makes them not American in the eyes of some of the buying public. Also, how much were these vehicles advertised to the general public compared to their USA built products?
I don't think that's a problem anymore, frankly I think a large percentage of buyers would be happier if a car WASN'T produced by UAW workers.
I still remember all the fuss back in 1991 when the UAW complained about the Dodge Stealth being chosen as the Indy 500 Official Pace Car. They forced Chrysler to substitute a preproduction Viper in its place, because the Stealth was built in Japan.
After all the automaker bailouts, and after it's come to light just how much the average UAW worker makes per hour for doing a simple job, they've lost that kind of influence today and will probably never get it back.
Even weirder was I had a small block V8 in a Vega at the time.
I was surprised to see one of these a few years ago going down the road nearby. Apparently a fairly popular modification that probably would have sold well if Ford had thought of it as a replacement for the Falcon Ranchero. We had a tent made for the wagon that attached to the open tailgate for camping, using the back of the car with rear seats folded down as the sleeping area.
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