My first car was a 1976 Pinto-a radioactive Orange three-speed Automatic, $250 used and sound as a gold dollar. It was a great car for an insecure 16-year-old to develop his driving habits on, and(despite the 3-speed) got about 30 MPG.
My Dad drove it to a fire one night (volunteer Fireman) and a 15-ton truck snapped a brake cable and squished the poor thing into another truck.
Not only did it not explode, Dad got it limping back home, pulled that Unkillable 4-cyl out and put it in a neighbor's Kit Car, and parted components out of the Pinto until only the frame was left for scrap. We made $700 off that Pinto and salvaged the '68 Beetle that I spent the next 12 years of my life with...
The Pinto was a GREAT car.
