Photograph by Tim Suddard
Even before the gas crisis erupted in the 1970s, U.S. automakers saw the potential in the subcompact market. General Motors released their Vega, AMC had its Gremlins, and Ford developed the Pinto. In addition to the domestics, import manufacturers such as BMW, Toyota, Datsun and Mazda were developing their cars for the American market.
IMSA also saw opportunity in these affordable cars, offering the Baby Grand Series in 1971 to attract racers with smaller budgets. Limited preparation was allowed, and since the entrants were meant to be street-driven race cars, the rules required the retention of headlights, seats, upholstery, window cranks and radial tires (no racing slicks).
The Ford Pinto quickly established itself as one of the cars to have in both the IMSA Baby Grand Series and IMSA Touring Under class, which allowed racing slicks and a four-barrel carburetor on sedans under 2.5 liters in displacement. The Pintos also raced in SCCA's answer to IMSA's TU, the Two-Five Challenge.
The Pinto's simplicity, ruggedness and parts interchangeability kept these cars soldiering on for many years, running in various IMSA and SCCA production and GT classes. However, a stroll through the paddock of a club race these days would leave you hard-pressed to see many of these once-common cars. Their cheap price and lack of "pedigree" meant that they were either quickly discarded as they became less competitive in road racing, or converted to oval track usage as mini-stock racers.
Nearly three decades later, there are still a few Pintos running in HSR and SVRA vintage races across the country. We caught up with the owners of two such beasts at Mid-Ohio at an SVRA event. Brian Walsh, owner of the purple 1971 Pinto, is the son of Jerry "Racer" Walsh and the vice president of Racer Walsh Co. Rick Kalyn and Larry Daurora are the owners of the red 1971 Pinto.
The Walsh car has retained its historical patina that can be traced back through 28 years of racing seasons. From its original color of white, then purple, then white, then back to purple again, the car illustrates the years of small-bore racing quite well.
Jerry Walsh originally built the car for the 1971 IMSA season, where it placed third overall in the Baby Grand-Series and seventh in Toming Under. Jerry raced the Pinto until 1973, when it was bought by Lee Wiese. Lee raced the car off and on until the early '80s in IMSA Champion Spark Plug Challenge, SCCA GT3 and EMRA GT3.
This historical car was the first Pinto ever to win a race and took wins at Summit Point and Bridgehampton that first season. Brian bought the car back from Lee in the early '90s, after it sat for many years, and now races it in HSR and SVRA Group 8.
The second most striking feature of this car, after the purple paint, is the intricate web that makes up the roll cage and earns it the nickname "birdcage Pinto." The chromemoly cage ties the car together well, from triangulation in the trunk to the front suspension pick-up points. It also explains how this car has held together after so many years of racing.
The stiff structure also allows the suspension to do its job properly. Up front, you'll find a double A-arm setup that has been enhanced with 500 lbs./in. springs, Koni shocks, Energy Suspension bushings and an Addeo anti-roll bar. Alignment settings for the front of the Pinto are set at 2.5 degrees negative camber, I degree of caster and zero toe. The rear has been fo1tified with Pinto station wagon leaf springs, Koni shocks, and a Racer Walsh lowering kit.
The standard-issue 2000cc engine has been tossed in favor of a 2300 built by Brian. With the help of Crower Rods, Wiseco pistons, and a big-valve head with a Cam Techniques roller cam, the motor puts out 185 horsepower at 6700 rpm, with torque figures of 181 ft.-lbs. at 4500 rpm. Inhaling through a Holley 500 cfm carb mated to the lower half of an EFI intake via a Racer Walsh adapter, the engine exhales through a Schoenfeld header with a three-inch exhaust. Power is transfe1Ted through a Quaife four-speed Rocket box out to an eight-inch rear with mini spool. Brian has the choice of three ring and pinion sets for the car depending on the track: 3.55, 3.90, and 4.11.
To slow down, Brian uses stock rotors and calipers in the front with Hawk Blue pads. The rear brakes are from a Pinto wagon, as they feature a larger casting with cooling fins. The little Ford's contact patch consists of 13x7- inch Mini lite or Libra rims wrapped by 225/45-13 Hoosier Street TD tires.
Rick Kalyn and Larry Daurora's red Pinto was also originally built for the 1971 season, but lost sponsorship before a wheel was turned. The car was then club raced in SCCA's B Sedan and E Production and autocrossed through the '70s and '80s. It was then stored until 1995, when it was brought out of retirement to run the MARRS series.
Rick and Larry, who are from Pennsylvania, bought the car in 1997 and were surprised to find that it still has 90 percent of its original paint and striping. It has had a great vintage racing career, finishing first in class for the SYRA endurance series, and second overall this year.
The 2000cc motor, built by Evanuik Performance in Pittsburgh, Penn., is a more peaky motor than the larger unit in the Walsh car, putting out 200 horsepower at 7500 rpm. It makes 175 ft.-lbs. of torque at 5800 rpm. The intake charge, fed by dual 40 DCOE Webers, is ignited by an MSD ignition, while a Schoenfeld header and Dynomax race muffler take care of the rest.
The suspension is very similar to Brian's car, with Koni shocks, Walsh front springs, and Pinto wagon rear leaf springs. The rear axle is further held in place with a custom Panhard bar, while Addeo anti-roll bars also round out the package. The alignment is set at 2.0 degrees of negative camber, three degrees of positive caster and zero toe. The red Pinto rolls along on 13x7-inch spun steel Diamond Racing Wheels sporting 225/45-13 Hoosiers, just like the Walsh car. Also like the purple Pinto, the red car uses Hawk pads in front and Pinto wagon brakes out back.
The current boom in small, sporty, yet affordable cars is not new–cars like the Pinto, Datsun 510 and BMW 2002 have been around and raced for decades now. The vintage racing clubs have given enthusiasts a chance to race these cars in an "as raced" condition that truly captures the spirit of the era. Don't be surprised if you see Integras and Saturns being vintage raced 30 years from now; Pintos such as these have paved the way.
Confession: I have been keeping an eye out for "the right" Pinto for a couple of years now. You know, that barn find ex-race car that just needs a carb rebuild. I don't even know what the use case would be, it's just an idea that has been bouncing around in my head since I watched the video below.
Or maybe it was this series:
Love those cars.
There is one issue here; those of us running 1200cc engines will kill for one of those 2300cc big blocks. Just sayin.
Had a '74 wagon. Notched the cam gear, re-jetted and fiddled with the distributor. Shocked a few boy racers. Put 300K on it and rebuilt the head twice. Loved that little scooter!
If I could find a mid to late 70s notchback Pinto that hadn't been chopped up and wasn't rusted out, I'd buy it.
Everything around here is tubbed for drags, chopped up for dirt track, or rusted into the ground.
I should never have sold mine.
Yep, that's the key: finding a decent Pinto to do a build on. Always looking out for the next project :)
My first new car after starting my job at IBM Corp.. Got a brand new 71 Forest green metallic pinto trunk back.. Great little car. The standard floor shifter was fun. Didn't have it all that long. So!d it to my sister in law and picked up a year old 70 mgb roadster. Couple of guys at my work also had pintos, used to haul ass on the interstate to work doing 90 and 100 mph. Cool cars. Ford did a great job
In reply to Tomwas1 :
I used to loathe my mother's Pinto. It was slow and the automatic trans would up shift at the worst possible moment.
Yet while loathing it I used to hurl it down gravel roads with great abandon.
The 17yr old me couldn't simply appreciate it had good bones.
In high school I had a friend with a little blue Pinto and he found two nice Cragar SS mags for it. But he only had two so he put them on the driver side and he had two crummy old steelies on the passenger side. Whenever he came into town he would only drive one way as there was a park on the other side with no one in it. So past all the stores and the high school he looked really flash. But he would go all the way around on the back streets to make sure that he never had to come the opposite direction through town.
I drove a great Pinto yesterday, built by my friend Simon.
The car's just the right size for a 302 and T5. He fabricated an entire rear tub to install a Miata subframe and a Thunderbird differential. His mods fixed most of the handling issues and it's so nice to drive a car with a torquey engine and light flywheel.
He and his wife drive it all over SoCal and on occasional trackdays.
My buddy had two prior Ford Pinto's and heard they were canceling so he ordered this exact car. He then lowered it, added a header and exhaust, better tires and European air horns. He was always messing with the carb and claimed it was never right.
Everyone at work made fun of him cause they were all muscle car guys. He always talked about how awesome the Pinto was. I started to veer away from drag racing towards road racing and was sold by what he taught me. He also introduced me to the giant Autoweek newspaper.
In 1985 he asked me to go to Honda with him and he put money down on one of the first Honda CRX Si's (sight unseen - sold at MSRP). I helped him lower the CRX too.
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