75-year-old man killed in Ford Pinto crash at Sonoma Raceway identified

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | March 29, 2018 | By Sarah Ravani

[rlmorel]

Like a lot of cars. The one that disappointed me the most was the Mustang. What Ford did to that car in the early to mid Seventies is atrocious.

Who would do that to a car? My dad owned one, and it was one of the worst automobiles he ever owned, and he owned a few bad ones.

[Despot of the Delta]

My first car was a 71 Hatchback Pinto and 2nd car a 73 Pinto wagon

[Trillian]

At least it wasn’t a Chevy Nova, that would have lit up the night’s sky.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

if it was racing at a drag strip safety regs. would have required heavy mods.

Yeah, like a racing seat, a cage, a fuel cell, an explosion proof bellhousing, and a 427.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

I liked the early Vegas, because the front end looked like a baby camaro.

They were a kick-ass car with the Chevy small block.

[dfwgator]

There it is!

[dfwgator]

The best part is that little *ping* sound right before the explosion.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

Aluminum block with a cast iron head.

Not to mention, aluminum cylinders with steel pistons. I'd love to have a Vega sedan delivery.

[Joe Boucher]

Party on fellow Viet vet

[cyclotic]

My first car, a 1975 VW Scirocco cracked in half...6 months after I sold it.

[rlmorel]

OMG...a Scirocco!

I am having flashbacks!

[cyclotic]

Good or bad.

That was a fun little car. My favorite was probably my 1985 Dodge Omni GLH Turbo.

[rlmorel]

My first car I purchased on my own was a MG Midget, and it broke down on me on the way back to the base from the used car dealer! (Well, I thought it broke down, but it just ran out of gas...this was during one of those gas crunches in the Seventies, and they sold it to me with probably a few cupfuls of gas in the tank, and I was so thrilled I never checked the gas!)

I loved that car, but I found out all about BSCD (”British Sports Car Disease”) and Lucas...The Father of Darkness!

[rlmorel]

Not bad...just a flashback with the name is all...

[Ancesthntr]

That’s Nazis in a military vehicle in a field, not some old guy in a pickup truck on the highway. Same principle, if course, but not the same.

[MarineBrat]

I once drove from Davis, CA to Los Angeles, CA (500-ish miles) in my sister’s Honda CVCC with no brakes, using only the hand-held cable-actuated rear-wheel parking brakes. Talk abound not being a tailgater. :)