TIME FOR A PINTO

THE NEW ENGINE (AND GEARBOX)

Ford-USA started planning its own small cars in the mid-1960s, and needed a new-generation engine to power them.This strategy matured when Ford-of-Europe was set up in 1967, so the an integration move was logical. A new engine coded Pinto (the name of the first American Ford to use it) was designed, was originally built by Ford-Germany in Cologne, and was a world engine to be supplied to Germany, Britain, and the USA. It was more than 10 years since Ford had designed an all-new four-cylinder engine, so the Pinto had to be newgeneration in every way.This explains why it boasted two Ford firsts — it was the company’s first ever single overhead-camshaft engine, and the first with a belt-driven camshaft. It was always meant for use in a multitude of models, in many sizes, in the 1970s and 1980s — in Europe we saw 1.3, 1.6, 1.8 and 2-litre Pintos in Escorts, Capris, Cortinas, Consul/ Granadas, Sierras andTransit vans. In the Mk3 Cortina, the 1.6-litre Pinto was rated at 72 bhp (basic) or 88 bhp (GT versions), while the 2-litre produced 98 bhp.That was an improvement on the old Kent engine, but what we didn’t know was just how much potential was locked away inside the new head and block. Ford-USA eventually took the design a stage further, by reengineering it, enlarging it to 2.3-litres, then making it themselves at Lima, Ohio (which explains the more modern Lima code).The last of the long-running European-built Pintos was produced in 1989. Many millions had been built.