Faust Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 (edited) There are dreams, and then there are pipe dreams. For a person who, like me, loves to build loser cars and their overwrought “performance” versions (like Citation X11s and sporty Cavliers), there’s always been a desire to own a kit of a Pinto. Unfortunatley, stock Pinto kits are rare and expensive beasts. When it comes to pipe dreams, Ford’s attempts to create a sporty, “Vannin’” Pinto with the Cruising Wagon is perhaps one of the ultimate insults to legitimate performance cars ever created. Sadly, kits of this wild (and cynical) attempt at automotive excitement are among the rarest of all. Only MPC made one, and the wild custom “Pony Express” has long disappeared from any affordable price range. Imagine my excitement when I heard Round 2 was bringing it back! Imagine my greater excitement when I found one at a local shop last weekend! For all those who love the ridiculous and bizarre, this is definitely a kit for you! Check out my out of box review for the newly resurrected Pony Express, and get ready to relive just how bad motoring got! https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/out-of-box-reviews/round-2-mpc-125-1980-pinto-cruising-wagon-pony-express-oob/ Edited June 17, 2016 by Faust Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldcarfan Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 I can't wait to get a couple of these. Wasn't someone going to make decals for this kit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AC Norton Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 ......I'll let everybody else buy up my share of these......I promise that I won't trample others down at the hobby shop or at kit shows to grab one....lol....the Ace..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclescott58 Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 I like the link to the review of this kit, that you gave us Adam. The guy did a very good job reviewing it. I like that he confirmed what I suspected, that the kit can be built as just a plain Pinto wagon with a full set of windows. That's the version I plan on building. I was never all that keen on the Cruising Van version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SfanGoch Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 The guy did a very good job reviewing it. Pssssst...........Scott..................that "guy" reviewing the kit was the same guy who started this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclescott58 Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Pssssst...........Scott..................that "guy" reviewing the kit was the same guy who started this thread. Oh! I did miss that! Good job Adam. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Stock Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Great review as always Adam, really enjoy your "loser car" reviews, Ill be getting one of these and building it as the pony express !. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooOld Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 After reading Adam's review and studying his great photos (they do enlarge when clicked !) I stopped snickering and decided this kit has some possibilities and it's now on my shopping list . I wish it was molded in white but I can live with the silver plastic and those beautiful tires almost justify buying the kit only for them . . . Thumbs up to Round2 for a nice job on them ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hall Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 I don't have an original to compare to, but I noticed the reissue doesn't have stock wheels or tires for a regular wagon version... and the mag wheels are 5 lug rather than 4 lug which a stock Pinto had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldcarfan Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Silver I can work with. It's those orange, yellow and red plastics that I hate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordRodnKustom Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Good review. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Ellis Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 I wanted a 1972 Wagon , used an AMT front clip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatz4u Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 more of my hobby money gone!! Love them Pintos, easy to convert to 4WD..kick the rear bumper, instant Blazer.. I actually owned 5 of the real ones, easy to maintain... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Bravo Adam! And since you like the loser car stories... This story takes place in the mid 1980s. My wife's brother had a 1978 Pinto wagon. It was yellow with a brown interior, 4 cylinder, 4 speed car. He is not a car guy at all. He was always complaining that this car kept leaving him stranded in places and no garage was able to fix it. Then one day as he was trying to leave my in-law's house it wouldn't start. I opened the hood and listened as he tried to start it. I spied the starter solenoid on the inner fender well and gave it a whack. The car started instantly. I pointed it out to my bro-in-law as his problem. I might as well as been pointing into a nuclear reactor. He didn't get it, and I don't think he wanted to get it.He continued to have car issues until he got fed up and bought himself a brand new Nissan Pulsar. He asked me to sell the Pinto wagon for him. He dropped it off at my house, registered and insured and told me to drive it around until it got sold. I put for sale signs in the rear windows and drove it daily to my car pool meeting point. On the fourth day or so it refused to start. So I went and gave the solenoid a whack. Again it started instantly, so on my way home I bought one. Installed it and never had a problem again the entire summer I drove the car!As I explored the car, I found the glove box was full of repair receipts. It seems every time the car failed to start it got towed to a different nearby garage. There were receipts a few months apart, each claiming to having done a complete tune up including fuel filters, plugs, wires etc. But nobody even investigated the friggin starter solenoid. And these garages had to see that the parts on this car were brand new! I suspect some thievery going on here!As I said, I drove the car all summer and found it to be an enjoyable little car to drive around. I should've just bought it from him. But eventually someone saw the signs and paid me full asking price for the car. I was sad to see it go! I do need to build a replica of it. I have the older Pinto wagon kit needed to do this.With this issue being the last Pinto wagon, I know at least one resin caster is doing the older version body. I remember this last Pinto wagon being popular in the US Postal Service fleet... hmmm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfhess Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 I had a white 73 Pinto wagon with the brown interior for a while. US slot mags and fat tires. 2300CC engine from a 74. Cool little car. And it looked like the baby brother of my 72 Montego wagon, also white with brown interior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianC Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Wow - the colours on the box art build are so seventies ! I remember the Ford dealers having the same colour schemes on pick-ups and full size vans too ! I was a new immigrant to Canada in 1979 ant this reminds me of that time and shopping for my first American vehicle. Truly there is nothing like seventies kitsch ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1930fordpickup Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Pizza Hut had these as delivery vehicles around Toledo. I drove a yellow 73 wagon for a while until the rust got the best of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Sure would like to use this kit to make a replica of a new one I bought way back when. Mine was a conversion and did not have a back seat. There was a platform that was made into a bed. A small bed. : ) I would never be able to pull it off however. No way I could duplicate the paint or mural. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 I was pulled into this as someone who never looked at or crossed paths with a Pinto but was seduced by this kit ... especially by the tire description!I bought one.So, what will I do with it ... researching rusted out Pintos! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impalow Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 I received mine last night for my birthday! I'm super stoked on this kit! Its going to me a bench clearing summer project for me. Going with an 80's streetfreak/gasser show car.. Similar to the Gremlin i built, but a bit more crazy...I think I am going to build one of these "lemon" streetfreak show cars every year, its a fun relaxing build theme compared to my usual more technical stuff.Build log will be going up soon... hopefully making some progress tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edsel-Dan Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 (edited) I remember being surprised at the fact that this Pinto Wagon and MoPar's K car WagonReliant or Aries not sure were Identical in size!!!!!Especially when the Pinto was a 2dr, and the K car was a 4dr!!HOW did MoPar do that????? YES they were parked Side by side!!!I even want to say both were the same color and maybe even had wood-grain side inserts too(Was a LONG time ago and memory not what it was!!) Edited June 17, 2016 by Edsel-Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hall Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 (edited) I remember being surprised at the fact that this Pinto Wagon and MoPar's K car WagonReliant or Aries not sure were Identical in size!!!!!Especially when the Pinto was a 2dr, and the K car was a 4dr!!HOW did MoPar do that?????The K-cars were FWD...different proportions. Two different cars, two different companies, 10 years apart...just a coincidence they were similar in size. And the Pinto was a lot shorter originally, the federal bumpers added probably over 10 inches in length. Edited June 17, 2016 by Rob Hall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Can-Con Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 I don't have an original to compare to, but I noticed the reissue doesn't have stock wheels or tires for a regular wagon version... and the mag wheels are 5 lug rather than 4 lug which a stock Pinto had. Right on the tires but the wheels are 4 bolt and were an option on those cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted June 18, 2016 Share Posted June 18, 2016 I don't have an original to compare to, but I noticed the reissue doesn't have stock wheels or tires for a regular wagon version... and the mag wheels are 5 lug rather than 4 lug which a stock Pinto had. The reissue still has four-lug wheels. These five-slot, four-lug wheels are the only ones that were ever included in any MPC stock/annual Pinto kit. There isn't space on the plated tree for a second set of wheels, as in most other kits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Joy Posted June 18, 2016 Share Posted June 18, 2016 Nice review! I still don't want to buy one, but the stock version in tempting, more so than the "Cruiser" version.I looked up some of the other kits you mentioned, and Google lead me to your review of "Bear Bait". OH MY GOD!!!! I WANT THIS! I had no idea that the mid-70s Chevette had been kitted by a major company! I want someday to have scale models of the cars I've actually owned, and it's always burned me than NONE of them are available. BUT RIGHT THERE IT IS!!! The 1976 Chevette was my second car! And the first one I actually paid for out-of-pocket! (It cost me $600 in 1981.) It was dark metallic blue, was loud as heck, always smelled like oil, and rattled like stones in a tin can - but I loved it for the few months I owned it. Sadly, I was T-boned by a kid coming down a steep driveway who was slightly lit on holy wine.Please tell me there is one out there for sale somewhere. A kit, not the real deal. That car, along with the '74 Corolla, the '76 Mustang II coupe, the '86 Hyundai Excel.... I guess I better stop listing my old cars. They were pretty pathetic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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