1974 Ford Pinto 3-Door Runabout Is Junkyard Treasure
Four-on-the-floor, big bumpers, A/C, and Saddle Bronze Metallic paint. Murilee Martin
The cars of the 1974 model year hit the streets just about at the very moment when OPEC shut off the oil spigot and American drivers suddenly found themselves slugging it out in gas lines. That made cheap, fuel-stingy cars such as the Pinto extremely popular; 544,209 Pintos were sold during the 1974 model year. New for 74 was the 2.3-liter version of the Ford Europe-designed Lima engine, rated at 86 horsepower. The Lima continued to be installed in US-market Ford machinery all the way through 2001, when the Ranger got a 2.5-liter version.