lee iacocca declared that the pinto would weigh "1500 lbs use a 1.5 liter engine and get 50 mpg " so it was pursued from a different angle than any car ford had done before or after.
later on glidden raced an exp and despised it ! even though the weight, track and wheelbase were similar the exp just didn't make as good a race car as the old pintos . aerodynamics maybe ?