Jack Groat

I WAS A YOUNG ENGINEER WORKING

at Ford when the original engineering specifications came out for the Pinto in the late ’60s. At the time, the smallest Ford product was the Falcon, which had grown into a mid-sized car. The public continued to buy small cars, so the response from Ford was the Pinto.

The specs were very impressive. Disc brakes were unheard of in cars this small, but the Pinto was going to come with disc brakes, and with rack-and-pinion steering, too — the first instance I was aware on any American car. The engine was an overhead cam design, considered a premium feature, and the carburetor was a “cut in half” four-barrel with progressive linkage, not some cheapie little one-barrel carb. The standard transmission was a very slick four-speed that was a wonder of its time.

I was racing sports cars in the SCCA and,