Have you ever seen the translation guide to phrases used to sell a car? Where “rare” means “none of these things lasted over ten years”, and “one careful owner” means you better call your paintless dent removal guy because Aunt Linda hit every last cart in the parking lot with the Grand Marquis that is selling for nine grand because it’s a “classic”? Yeah…here’s a new one to add to that list: “severely customized”. To be fair to the seller of this Nissan-powered 1971 Ford Pinto, they are being 100% truthful and honest by using that line, because this Pinto is more eye-raising than most.
For starters: something doesn’t look right with the body, does it? The front has been lengthened nine inches and the rear has been shortened nine inches. The hood is sporting a hole where the twin-filter air cleaner setup is poking through. Lift the hood up and you will be greeted by the strangest part of this program: a Nissan VG 3.0L V6 with a B&M supercharger sitting on top. The engine has been shoved way back in the car, to almost a front-mid mount location. The interior is more-or-less Pinto minus the required transmission tunnel modifications and the Nissan five-speed manual’s shifter further back from where the original was. 
What was going on here? The shifted weight and body work makes us think the car was designed to be a handler, but we have nothing regarding the engine choice or the body modifications. If you decide to take this thing on, do us two favors: Find out what was really happening here and find out what the next project is that has put the Pinto up on the market in the first place.
What a shame. Just dropping that engine into an unbutchered Pinto would have been great fun. But this? Pull the mill and crush it…
Yea God forbid anyone thinks outside the box.
The builder originally built it to be a Bonneville car and has since passed away
I’d dump the ricer motor, tub it & make a Street Freak funny car!!!!
It\’s got a trailer hitch, so he might have been getting it ready for Drag Week.
Isn’t this what hot rodding was born from? Personally, I dig a lightweight, potent drivetrain in a light car. Would I choose this car, no thanks, but I respect the creativity and the work put in it. Love it or hate it, it’s not your typical build, and should run pretty hard while making a unique exhaust noise.
…and it is almost free.
Whoever modified the body did a nice job. Put an Ecoboost twin turbo engine in there and have some real fun!
Some one put the time in this build, and did a nice job. Not how I would have built it, But to each there own. I would have went with a 2.7 Eco boost, 5.0 coyote or
maybe even a LT4 , 6.2L
Some times we just use what we have.