Will someone please explain to me how a 72 Pinto Runabout (stripper) weighs 165lbs more than (pretty much the EXACT SAME) 1971 Runabout? There's some homework for ya...
Brand new - back in the day - A friend had a 1972 Pinto, German sourced 2 liter OHC engine with factory 4 speed (was not a hatch Runabout with large glass hatch setup -rather it was the standard body with the trunk) ....IIRC ... 1972 had mandated 2.5 MPH front and rear bumpers ... and some side impact protection added ....in 1973/74, the bumpers mandate went to required 5 MPH and side impact also was also updated? So those 1973/74 changes resulted in other components also being changed/more reinforcements-brackets, etc. all leading to ...more weight?
Good thread and good discussion...Thx!
Those early Pintos were feather weights compared to later model... [
Yup... and those 72 bumpers were 100% indistinguishable from 71's from every angle you could see... unless you flipped 'em over. Even then... minimal difference. The irony is, the 73 bumpers, while still considered 'small bumper' cars, were visibly more involved and different, with longer brackets... and the cars gained less weight that year. The 74-up bumpers were massive, bulky and ugly, and added 140lbs to the cars over the 71's, all said and done. Side impact beams (how big could they even be?), FG headlight buckets vs metal ones, different seat belts, less glass and more metal in the hatch... I know a bit more than i'm letting on here, but i'm telling you, 165lbs is a LOT ov weight in such a tiny car.
To further make my point, my 76 'MPG' (factory stripper) trunk model was 2450lbs, with zero options save the 8" rearend (which may have been standard with the 4-speed?). Thats over 500lbs heavier than a 71. Park them side by side and have 5 average car guys pore over them... i defy you to find much more than 100lbs difference over and above the big bumpers. Yet... its there. And thats just a freakin' Pinto... pretty much the smallest, flimsiest American car made around the same time. Park a Dart, or an E-body beside a Pinto...
Now i'll belabor my point by pointing out how many Pinto guys think the same way as some here, and are quick to point out that an 'MPG' Pinto is the perfect starter car if you want a light race car. Stripped out, no options (usually, though you could get them). Just put the early bumpers/valences on 'em and you have a 'light' 71-2 Pinto to build on. MY math says that 'light' Pinto still weighs almost 400lbs more than if you'd just started with a 71. I'm thinking that even the Feather Duster falls into this trap. Last i checked it was approximately the same shipping weight as the 72 Duster.
And an edit: 72Swinger IS apparently going to make a liar out ov me it seems. Upon some quick research, i find that for some odd reason, Dart's and Dusters actually LOST weight in 1972. Approx 40lbs, which was then gained back in 73 with the remodels. I checked a few different sources to find this. The new models started a bit heavier in 70, about the same in 71, then lost a bunch for the one year. I'd be very interested to know what happened between 71 and 72 to cause this. Its an A-body thing... the E's steadily got heavier over time, as did the B's and C's.
But... i continue to belabor my belabored point by saying that going past this odd little (and virtually unknown) anomaly ov the one year, 72Swinger would have been a lot further ahead in the weight dept. had he started with a 69 Dart, or better, a 68. 67's were lighter still.
Incidentally, your 72 Swinger's shipping weight was 2845lbs, exactly 160lbs more than my Challenger. The shipping weight ov a 67 base Dart 2dr was 2710lbs.
