For those who aren't 70's crap-can savants, the Mercury Bobcat was a rebadged version of the Ford Pinto and sold from 1975 to 1980. Interestingly enough, the Pinto/Bobcat was designed as a domestic competitor to cheap imports (Corolla, B210, Beetle) but used a Ford of Europe sourced 4-banger and later the long running 2.3 OHC 4-banger that survived until 1997 in Ford's small pickup line. Find this
1977 Mercury Bobcat for sale in Portland, OR for $3,950 via craigslist.
Seller submission from Cody.
It would be easy to dismiss the Bobcat/Pinto based on the abysmal initial quality results and the fact that 50% of them fell apart within a few months, but it isn't 1977 anymore and the surviving examples of any abysmal car aren't that bad. Lets take the viruses in your body for example. Your immune system has defeated thousands of viruses over the years, but some day when you are in your 80s there will be a virus that will send you to the great junkyard in the sky. It isn't like that final virus was born any differently, it was simply a case of a few lucky almost undetectable mutations to the genetic code. The fact remains that this particular Bobcat has managed to avoid the crusher over the years probably due to being born with the right combination of crankbearing clearances & paint curing relative humidity, while at the same time being owner/driven by careful owners.
The seller included the following statement in his ad: "The back seat pic sells the car the most." We couldn't agree more.
See a better way to relive your 70s fantasies?
tips@dailyturismo.com
I tried to like these when they were new. I just couldn't do it. Bought a new LeCar instead.
ReplyDeleteOh Lawdy, Lawdy. Stop me if you've heard this lamentation before but I believe we have found the paramount example of a vehicle's body-colored bumpers making it significantly less attractive than if they had remained shiny and metal-like. Y'all posted a trisomized doppelgänger to my Cali White '73 ES in the form of that 2 door pinto wagon last year and that one nearly led my right brain down the rabbit hole of "wow, wouldn't that be a hooniforrific hoot to park in the doc lot next to the cardiologist's Qporte..." A bid was mere ounces away that night from fruition and, in an alternate universe that has me pouring a slightly stiffer libation before opening the iPad to my fave site, that miserable little Dearborn detonation device is parked next to the Volvo in the garage. Yeah.
ReplyDeleteThis one, not so much.
I have seen these bumper brackets & plastic covers modified to pull the "park bench" bumpers back towards the body. It then looks pretty good!
DeleteDisclaimer on liking these cars: I have had 2 Pinto's in the last 10 years and the wife presently has a Mustang II.
This was my daily driver: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29396384@N05/4145396503/
I find them fun to drive if you have a stick-shift.
* You sit next to the ground. 65 mph feels like 90!
* Easy to feel one with the car with the manual rack & pinion steering.
* So easy and cheap to maintain.
* A few de-smogging tricks and they get great mileage.
* Everywhere you go people comment on the Pinto. Things such as: My Mom had one, I had one in college, my old Pinto rusted out, Dude I smoked a lot of dope in one, and the repeated mantra - You mean the gas tank did not blow up yet!
The 2.0 Ford is much easier to work on then the 2.3 liter 4 Girlfriend had a wagon that drove better then i expected but this is a throw away car from the 70's Pinto looks better then the Pimped out Bobcat. The V-6 Option would be better
ReplyDeleteDon't forget they called these a 2 door fire-can.
This is the "upscale" doppelganger down to the color and di noc to my '77 Pinto I inherted when I got the girl in'79. We used to camp in the back..........until the night the serial kilers lurking in the woods sent me off to buy a '67 VW 23 windown. I stuffed an OEM camper outfit into that and decided I was in a better positon to withstand the assault of zombies or serial kilers. Why I have no clue.
ReplyDeleteLove that bobcat.
ReplyDeleteTwo movie scenes sum up the Pinto/Bobcat ownership experience well.
ReplyDelete1) Cujo---the mom and son nearly die multiple times because their Pinto's alternator dies at the worst possible time.
2) Top Secret!--in one of the funniest car sight gags ever, a group of Nazis gets blown sky high after rear ending a Pinto at approximately .0045 mph.