The Ford Pinto has one of the most maligned reputations of any car ever made. Yes, it’s known that in a hard enough rear-end collision the gas tank could be shoved into the rear axle bolts and then bad things occurred, but more of that should be chalked up to some of the worst management ideas ever conceived rather than the car itself. Provided you didn’t park in front of an oncoming train, the Pinto was a decent little economy car of the gas crisis era and they were built well enough. And while a 2.3 four-cylinder can be made quite entertaining with a turbo, there is something about such a small car having a high-winding small block under the hood.

Under the hood of this particular ’72 Pinto coupe (not a hatchback, but one with the trunk) sits a 289 HiPo that’s hooked up to a C4 automatic. The power is pushed out to a 8″ rear from a Pinto wagon with 3.40 gears. This car has been converted to five-lugs and sits on Cragar S/S wheels. The fuel cell was formed into the floorpan and the battery was relocated to the trunk. The backseat was ditched for a NHRA-spec firewall and a NHRA-spec battery cutoff is formed into the tail panel.

The interior is all business: Steering wheel, shifter, two buckets and belts. How much more do you need? The owner admits some final touches are needed to finish up the build, but it’s tagged, titled and licensed, and runs and drives. Sounds good to me. Better start getting spare tires and wheels ready for when I wear out that first set of rears…

Click Here to see this Pinto’s eBay ad while it is available.