I agree with Dag. Ford probably did use it in something else, but of they did they certainly wouldn’t want anyone to find out. Anything related to the name “pinto” came with a stigma attached.
Guys, the Ford Ranger with the 4-banger was a good little truck
Pinto motor and all
There were at least 17 different Fords that used the ‘Pinto engine’ over 30 (!) years. Here’s a description of the engines, and the many Fords that used them:
@dagosa–Pickup trucks have had car motors for years. The camshaft may be different so that torque peak comes on at a lower rpm, but essentially the engines interchange with cars. GMC pickup trucks back in the 1940s and 1950s did have a larger displacement than the Chevrolet truck engines. However, I think it was a Chevrolet block… One common swap was to put a GMC truck engine in a Chevrolet car before Chevrolet came out with its V-8 in 1955. These Chevrolets, with the GMC truck engine were called “Jimmy” Chevrolets. In 1955, Chevrolet made its newly introduced V-8 engine available in the Chevrolet pickup trucks. GMC pickup trucks had, as an option, the newly introduced Pontiac 287 cubic inch V-8.
In the early 1960s, GMC did have a V-6 engine in its pickup trucks that I don’t think was used in any car in the GMC line. It seems to me that the last International Harvester pickup trucks used a 6 cylinder engine from AMC that was almost the same as the 232 cubic inch 6 used in the Ramblers.
I agree with you about the perception of the engine making a difference. GM took a lot of heat when it was caught putting the Chevrolet V-8 engines in Oldsmobiles back in the 1970s. The reason for this supposedly was that the Oldsmobile engines were being used in some Cadillacs and production of Oldsmobile engines couldn’t keep up with the demand. I remember Johnny Carson discussing this on the late show. He said, “GM was caught with its pants down using Chevrolet motors n Oldsmobiles, because the Oldsmobile motors were being used in Cadillacs. The Chevrolets are now using a Waring blender motor”.
What is it with LED tail lights where a good portion of them are out? They’re solid state, encapsulated, low mass, and no filament. ???
@longprime I have noticed with LED streetlights that the LED never seems to fail, its usually the circuit board or the power supply, LED lighting is just like CFLs, the manufacturers claim long life but in practice they dont last near as long as their supposed to.
The heat always seems to get the streetlights.
It really is all about image. And Pintos didn’t have a particularly good image. But of course, that engine originated in Germany as a 1.6L I believe. And from Germany it skipped through Great Britain to Australia where the Capri was built which was sent to the US and reincarnated as a Pinto with the 1.6L and an optional 2.0L version. I owned one of the earliest Ranger models for a short time and it seemed to have adequate power and the previous owner assured me it would get 27 mpg on the highway but I sold it too soon to check that out. Many owners of the early Rangers were as loyal to them as the owners of Toyota Hiluxes of the time. Ford’s earliest reputation was made on the economy and reliability of basic models and today few appreciate those qualities. Sealed beams were part of the “old school” reliability.
@wheresRick,
I like the sealed beams also. But l like them because they give a yellow-white light. The halogens and the :LED’s are too blueish; The road just seems to absorb that color rather than to reflect back to the driver.
Your can see the difference when you shine your light at a red/white/blue/yellow reflector.
I’ll never go back from Xenon HID lamps. At least unless LEDs prove their equal or better. A WORLD of difference. Sealed beam halogens are not very different from plain old sealed beams–they just partially fill the envelope with a halogen gas that prevents tungsten from so readily boiling off the filament and depositing on the glass over time, which can cause the lamps to look dimmer due to the buildup, and thins the filament resulting in shorter life.
But I agree that given the choice between current halogens with plastic lenses and good ol’ sealed beams, that I’d prefer the sealed beams. But I also miss bumpers that could absorb a 5 MPH or better impact without incurring hundreds in damage.
@oblivion I miss drum brakes that didn’t pulsate, but when I made that point here the haters came after me, you better be careful about reminiscing about 5mph bumpers, they might come after you next 
@WheresRick they weren’t hater, we, me included, were pointing out that disc brake are in many ways superior to drum brakes, and BTW drum brake could pulsate. Generally the cure was to turn the drums back to true round.
I too kind of miss the round headlight, not because they were better, but they had standard shapes and sizes. And once something becomes a standard it’s much easier for others to make replacements and the price drops. I also hate it when the lenses yellow or haze over, but I also understand car companies have to make their C.A.F.E. numbers, so they need to save weight and have to blend in the lights into the body better. That said LED is going to be the way of the future, and they already make a DOT approved 7" round replacement. IF they even come close to their claims of 10,000 hrs it’ll be worth the cost.
@rwe2000
That 7" round LED lamp you’re talking about is geared more towards commercial vehicles.
Any passenger vehicle that will fit is obviously pretty old by now.
Assuming the headlights were properly aimed, I never noticed much difference in cars when all cars had the old sealed beam headlights. With the type of headlights used today, I notice a real difference. The 2011 Toyota Sienna we own has very sharp cutoff when on low beam which isn’t true in our 2003 4Runner. The low beams were much better on the 2006 Chevrolet Uplander we used to own than on the 2011 Sienna. Consumer Reports now includes a test of the headlights on new cars which I don’t believe they did in the old days with the sealed beam headlights.
I would I also mandate that every headlamp bulb could be replaced in five minutes without any tools. Think about it as a safety measure.
@triedaq Would it be fair to say that back in the old days of sealed beams, the quality and quantity of light was dictated by the sealed beam manufactures and that if you took took 2 cars with identical sealed beams which were aimed properly the headlights would be equal no matter what as long as the voltage being applied to them was equal?
Thats my problem with the new headlamps, at first they work better, but it doesnt take long in some cases for them to degrade. We have international trucks at work 1999 model to 2008 models, one of which uses sealed beams, and the newer ones which have composites, at first the composites are nice, but I noteced on one truck in as little as a year that they degraded noticeably.
The 1999 truck which uses sealed beams has consistent light, it was the same now as it was in 2000.
(Fwiw, the trucks that have air brakes all have drums and stop wonderfully, they trucks that have hydraulic disc brakes stop nowhere as well as the drum air brake trucks. IIRC there is a Gmc medium duty truck that has 4 wheel disc brakes, and its no match for our friend the drum airbrake.)
I’d rather have a Pinto engine than a Vega engine.
An out of round brake drum will shake the entire car…
With the old glass sealed beams, there was a distinct difference between high and low beams. With most of the plastic bucket headlights, you can hardly tell the difference…
I had (and still have) a 1994 Chrysler LHS. While the car has been very reliable and I’ve been overall pleased with it, one of my peeves is the very feeble headlamps. I have restored the yellowed, cloudy plastic lenses twice. No one blips their lights at me when I drive with high beams on. The best lights I’ve had on any car have been the HID lamps on my 2006 Chrysler 300. It is a pleasure to drive at night in this car, and the high beams (which are plain halogens) light up the whole road very well. The second best would probably be the plain ol’ sealed beam round headlamps on the 1970 Chevelle I had. Just nice and bright and a 4-headlight system. No problem seeing with those at all. (of course I was younger too, which may have helped as well)
I think the main reason for the switch from sealed beam to complicated reflector systems wasn’t economy, aerodynamics, or anything but pure styling trends. I think the first vehicles to break the trend of standard sealed beams were the mid 80s Chevy and GMC trucks with the narrow lights. For some reason this caught on, perhaps just due to the novelty, and from then on it was a race to see which manufacturer could top it. Until HID lamps, we have all suffered for this trend. (and if I ever have to replace one of my HID lamps, I will no doubt suffer it too, to the tune of $80 or so vs. about $10 for a sealed beam or standard halogen. But it’s worth it, IMHO.
I battled dull headlamps on our Ford Taurus for several years. Every time I thought I got them clear, they dulled again very quickly.
Rockauto.com had several replacement assemblies - priced from $45 to $150. I bought their $80 units (certified fit). It took less than 5 minutes per side to replace them. I wish I had replaced them years earlier.