brad fagan`s 1972 pinto pangra

Chapter 1
BRAD FAGAN'S
1972
PINTO PANGRA This 1972 Pinto Pangra is owned by Brad Fagan. One of the most obvious ways to differentiate this Pinto is the redesigned front end.
The front fenders and hood are made of fiberglass. The pop-up headlights are operated by a lever under the dashboard.
Back in the early 1970s, the small­
car market was filled with sporty cars
like the 914 Porsche, Opel GT, and Dat­
sun 240Z. Jack Stratton of Huntington
Ford in Arcadia, California, had visions of
taking a small production car and modi­
fying it to a level in which it could com­
pete with the previously mentioned
sports cars. When the Pinto was intro­
duced in 1971 , Jack finally had the per­
fect candidate for his vision.
Jack started tracing the Pinto body
lines from photos and modifying them.
He first contacted Kustom-car guru
Gene Winfield to help implemeht his
ideas, but Gene was bogged down with
other projects and didn't have the time.
So Jack enlisted Bob Crowe, who had
experience with all sorts of fiberglass
ventures from boat hulls to camper tops.
With Jack's passion and Bob's experi­
ence, they came up with a solid design .
The whole external package flowed well
with the Pinto 's original body lines. It's
tough not to notice the Pangra's menac­
ing sloped front fenders and pop-up
headlights that look unmistakably like
the Pantera.
20
C
\I
C
c
Back in 1972, Jack Stratton of Huntington Ford in Arcadia, California, had a vision of
t
producing a small sports car that could compete with the 914 Porsche, Opel GT, and
~
Datsun 240Z. He modified the Pinto platform to accomplish this goal. Approximately
50 were sold off the showroom floor.
All body changes were applied to
the Pinto's front end. The original front
fenders, hood, and lower valance were
discarded. The completely redesigned
front end consisted of extended fiber­
glass fenders, which housed pop-up
headlights, an extended fiberglass hood,
and a fiberglass cowl cover to hide the
windshield wipers. The original bumper
and grill were cleanly incorporated into
the design. In rare photographs of the
Pangra being test driven by magazines, a
sizable spoiler was attached to the body
at the top of the rear window.
How to Build Restomod Ford Street Machines
General Suspension, Brakes, Tires, and Wheels
This mostly stock Pangra received sus­
pension upgrades, and the interior was
modified too. The car had a custom con­
sole and dash, ahermarket gauges, and
Recaro seats.
Under the hood, the Pangras were equipped with a turbocharged 2.0-liter and water
injection to control detonation at higher boost levels. This combination was stated to
produce approximately 175 to 200 hp.
Jack's all-encompassing vision did­
n't stop at modifying the body. The next
step was the suspension, tires, and
wheels. The Pangra "Can Am" suspen­
sion consisted of lowered front coil
springs, front and rear sway bars, lower­
ing blocks for the rear, and Koni shocks
on every corner. The Koni shocks
were[1't off-the-shelf parts. Jack worked
closely with Koni to get just the right
compression and rebound valving for
optimum cornering performance. The
tires and wheels were important to the
handling, too, so Jack upgraded to 7­
inch mag wheels and Continental radial
tires. The chosen wheels, tires, suspen­
sion parts, and completely different cast­
er, camber, and toe settings resulted in a
0.874 g pull on a 200-ft skid pad. Those
skid pad numbers were better than
0.740 g pulled by the expensive sports
cars available at that time.
Jack also made upgrades under the
hood. The original 122-ci engine needed
some added power, so Jack worked with
Ak Miller to design the correct power for
this project. They came up with a tur­
bocharger, exhaust manifold, header
pipe, intake manifold, and water injection
(to control detonation). With forged pis­
tons to increase compression, the com­
bination of parts produced approximately
175 to 200 hp. The Pangra's zero-to-60­
mph time was 7.5 seconds, the quarter­
mile time was 15.4 seconds @ 92 mph,
and it had a top speed of 1 25 mph.
To round out the Pangra package,
Jack also changed the interior. He added
a custom dashboard, additional gauges,
and Recaro front seats. All these
changes made a well-rounded car that
definitely gave all the early 1970s sports
cars a run for their money.
These Pangras were available from
the dealer between August 1972 and
sometime in 1973. The selling price off
the showroom floor was $4,600 (with a
stock Pinto selling for about $2,200) .
The dealer-assembled Pangra came
with a two-year warranty. There were
approximately 50 dealer-assembled
Pangras sold off the showroom f,loor.
Only four are known to still exist as of
2004-one wagon and three sedans. If
you didn't want to purchase a Pinto Pan­
gra (back in 1972 and 1973) as a com­
plete car, you could purchase kits to
perform your own Pinto modification the
Pangra specs. Kit number one was the
Pangra front-body assembly, which
retailed for $595. Kit number two was
the "Can Am" suspension package,
which retailed for $951 . Kit number
three was the Ak Miller turbocharger kit
along, with kits numbers one and two,
and it retailed for $1 ,691 .
The 1972 Pangra in the photos
belongs to Brad Fagan. He has been a
Pinto fanatic since 1976. He's swapped
V-8s and 2.3-liter SVO turbo power­
plants in the past. The red 1 972 Pangra
is mostly stock, and he plans to keep it
that way. For more information on Pintos
and Pangras, go to www.fordpinto.com.
The website has stock and modified Pin­
tos, tons of great information on Pinto
history, and a community of people who
can answer your questions.
How to Build Ford Restomod Street Machines
21