Eighth in the series…
1974 Ford Pinto wagon. Dad traded in his 1970 Thunderbird for a red bare-bones manual transmission wagon from Kistler Ford in Toledo. We were in the height of the oil embargo and he needed something that was more economical on fuel. I remember borrowing it to bring back my stuff to Perrysburg from my apartment in Minneapolis in the spring of 1977. The 1,000 mile round-trip proved that it was not really a road-trip wagon: no cruise control, no FM radio, and very thin padding on the seats.
I’ve wiped that out of my mind. What sort of mileage did it actually get? 12mpg?
According to Car and Driver magazine, the Pinto got about 20-23 mpg with the little four-cylinder engine. That was pretty good for those days.