The Most Horrible Car Ever Created. It is Better not to Drive This Car
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- Опубликовано: 10 июн 2024
- It took only a little touch to make a car that you see in the video explode, killing both its driver and the driver of the other car. At least, that's what everyone said about this model. The situation is controversial, but we think it's pointless to argue that it was an absolute failure for Ford and also one of the worst cars in history. In front of you you see the legendary in its cheapness and low quality Ford Pinto. Why did it become like this, why did the engineers turn a blind eye to an obvious, fatal mistake that could easily have been prevented? Let's look into it.
The Story of the Ford Pinto.
#fordpinto
Hi! Have you dealt with this car?
Back in the day the Pinto was a common rental vehicle. It was quiet, smooth riding, had excellent air conditioning, and a smooth shifting automatic. But, they were dangerous, and many people lost their lives to fires caused by rear collisions.
The 1992 and later Ford Victoria had explosion issues as well, and there were a number of recalls associated with this problem.
Yea..I had a 78 with a 302 and 4spd...
Better car than a Vega, chevette, citation could at least keep up with traffic unlike a volkswagen or a Datsun b210 but yes the 71 through 74 sedans and hatchbacks did have safty issues as did most small cars during this time period. The cover up was far worse than the car.
Yes! In a video that used 95% of your script verbatim - a year before you.
This video is a load of sensationalistic crap. Pintos were no worse than any other small car back then for safety. The Vega was far worse and fell apart on the dealer's lots. Ford sold over 3 million Pintos in 10 years so it was hardly a failure and the public loved them. It wasn't "low quality" it was built to a price point to keep the cost down. It handled well and the front suspensions were a favorite for hot-rodders to build their custom rides.
Agreed, a lot of assumptions and inaccuracies. Owned two wagons, a 74 and 79.Both reliable and took a beating from my foolish late teen self.
@@stacyholt6529 The Pinto outlasted its original competitor, the Chitty..er..Chevy Vega, the Pinto being built until 1980. And the Falcon and the first generation Mustang had the same fuel tank mounting position.
I had a Pinto. I drove the shit out of it, Ruff as hell on it and it would not stop!!! Then I sold it to my father-in-law and he drove it to work for years then my brother inlaw got it and drove it to work! Just goes to show how full of shit the media is.
Pinto was the best car I ever owned! Modern Model T. Could fix myself, driving it for 50 yrs, 500k miles
I assume you live somewhere the roads don't get salted in the winter
With that many miles how did you keep your followers from falling out when the cam lobes wore out.
I'm not a Ford guy but I gotta speak up for the Pinto. I had a 74/ 4speed 2.3 liter and it was great for zipping around town and powerful enough with a two barrel carburetor and four speed. Dependable car! I loved it!
I bought an old Pinto beater for the engine. Was gonna put it into 4 cyl. Mustang, but instead drove it for about 2 years.
Same experience with a '77 manual Pinto, over 100k miles with virtually zero problems. The car was average in safety, not below average but has the rep of a fiery coffin. Managements decision to pay lawsuit claims rather than make the cars more fire-resistant fueled the public outrage, it wasn't due to the car or the actual safety.
Apparently neither of you were ever rear ended, that was where the defect was, bolts 2” longer than needed would puncture the gas tank resulting in fire.
@@robertpulliam9973 Correct...might have changed my feelings about the car, had it exploded me, lol.
@@shadyman6346 I had a 2.3 mustang ll it was tired iron but I had bought a wrecked one with a 2.6 and used that drive train and was able to bring that car back to life , not to be compared to my 98 gt convertible with a 4.6 but was still a lot of fun to drive .
I had a 74 Pinto and drove it for several years. I got rear ended and nothing happened. It wasn't the best car but it was sooo much better than a Vega .
It was cheap to run and maintain.
I had a '75. Tough 2.3 liter/140 engine that embarrassed a '66 Mustang; the 'Stang beat it on launch (of course), but the little car hung in at 110 mph behind the pony.
Per contemporary statistics, the Pinto was on a par safety wise with other cars of its class.. The early Mustangs and Cougars were actually worse if rear ended. The trunk floor is created by the fuel tank 😧, with no barrier to prevent fuel from a rupture from entering the passenger compartment. It is strongly recommended to install a divider behind the back seat, not only to enhance collision safety, but to stiffen the unibody.
I swatted one in the rear with my 73 Grand Torino In Jacksonville NC didn't hurt the Torino much, the pinto didn't blow up and was able to drive away.
The rear fuel fill was great, you didn't have to worry about which side of the pump to drive up on. My 74 Nova had the fuel fill behind the plate, and my 72 Mustang had it in the middle of the back end. Of course, they came with ash trays and both could burn leaded gas. Back then we had monkey bars at playgrounds and played with giant lawn darts. Safety was for sissies. 😄
Until it explodes.
The Pinto was one of the few cars of that era with a side filler, probably because the back was so short. But I suspect that most hoses could reach it from either side with such a small car.
I owned the Murcury Bobcat version. Fun little car. Never was afraid to drive it.
I owned 3 Pintos, 2 base model "Runabouts" and 1 station wagon. I had no issues with any of them, this was in the late 80s and mid 90s when I was in my mid 20s to mid 30s and as usual for a male of that age during that time period I drove my cars hard and often "Put them away wet" as the saying goes. I really enjoyed driving all three of them, the reason I sold them was due to me driving the first 2 "Into the ground" and the last one was still in good condition but i had gotten married and had a child so we needed something bigger. I chose a K5 Blazer. L8R G8R. :-)
It is easy to see the creator of the video never had pesonal experience with the pinto.
I owned 3 in my lifetime, 2 were station wagons and the other my fun car The fun car I wish I had today, a 289 V8 that was quick as hell and fun to drive. I cost me the price of a new Station Wagon. Both of the wagons had manual tranny and clutch which lasted 60,000 miles each. Brakes lasted 40,000 miles and I did all the work myself. I also tuned the 3 engines myself so I didn't try and see how far the would go. Both the wagons got 28-30 mpg. Both wagons were put to rest at 166,000 miles I was given $1500 for the coupe and it was cared for better than the wagons. The coupe had 147,000 miles on her and still ran great.
I knew a old man who had a wagon that had a 2.6 v six , I painted it for him once and was surprised what a snotty car it was.
In all fairness, there’s some discrepancies with this video from reality. Ford management knew about the fuel tank issue and vetoed a pre-production fix that would have added something like $30 to the price. They did a cost vs benefit analysis and decided in favor of cost. Other contemporary small cars had the same problem. The Pinto was the first that resulted in a lawsuit and got the press. I had a Pinto wagon when I was in college. It had low mileage when I bought it used. A couple sold it because they were afraid after the fuel tank problem was publicized. It was a later model with the 2.3 engine. It was actually a very reliable and economical car. I kept it a few years until I graduated and bought a brand new Mercury Lynx.
The wagons didn't have the problem with fuel tanks .
My parents bought one off the showroom floor. It was a good car, got great mileage and never broke down. Compare that to the Vega which was horribly unreliable and the small chryslers which nobody wanted. Most people looked down on small cars then because it was right after the muscle car era but we thought the Pinto was a dependable and fun to drive car.
I had a Pinto, too. Most reliable car I’ve ever owned.
And the AMCs that were better than everything else, but everyone turned their noses up at them.
Many cars through the 50s &60s had the fuel filler behind the license plate. Every one of them were forced through the tank if the car was rear-ended with significant force.
My '71 El Camino had the filler behind the license plate. Yes, it is unfair to single out the Pinto for that though I still think it was an awful car.
I had one with the 2-liter German-built engine and the manual transmission. These engines were bulletproof. The smaller engine wasn't so good though.
Was a great little car. No complaints of any kind. The only trouble I recall was a failed, stuck-open thermostat.
I put on a header and a different carburetor. They made it a little faster...
Sold after three years to buy a Camaro, but not because I was disenchanted with it.
BTW: The Camaro had the fuel tank in the same place as the Pinto, behind the differential.
My Brother had one when I was 15. He was a Merchant marine engineer, he would leave it at our house when he was underway. I drove it around a lot, it was a solid little baby blue hatchback. It had a dent in the gas tank, we still talk about that car.
I bought my wife a Pinto wagon with fake wood on the body, it was also a great little car.
You obviuosly never owned a Pinto / Mustand II. They werent that bad a car and got awesome mileage at a time when no one else seemed to care. The 2.3 liter 4 cylinder was easy to repair and reliable.
I owned a 74 Mustang II hatch back and loved it. The exploding pinto was the strip down model and was corrected by updates to the rear bumper. It was the begining of fuel efficient cars in America
i had 2 station wagons . they were real good cars . definitely not one of the worst . wouldn't hesitate to drive one now . would be interesting to see how many vettes , mustangs , cudas , beetles , etc . caught fire from collisions .
Please listen to the video, the creator says they don't know any Pintos killing anyone due to fire.
In this time frame I bought a 1972 Chevrolet Vega stationwagon. At 5 years, it had its second engine and I was afraid that my wife would get killed in it with the basketball size holes on both sides of the suspension, you could see the tires from the engine compartment (there were no fender liners, so it rusted away there). I traded it for a new 1974 Nova, when the 75’s were already out. Next was the new 1980 Chevrolet Citation, that the rear brakes were bad. After 6000 to 8000 miles the rear brakes would lock up in a hard brake application. I actually purchased new rear brake wheel cylinders and all new parts, but after 6000 to 8000 miles the brakes would lock up at any time. At 75000 miles Chevrolet had replaced the brakes N/C 5 or 6 times and my wife had an incident where the car spun around a few times at an intersection and barely missed a couple of cars, I traded it back to Chevrolet and purchased an 1986 Chevrolet Eurosport wagon, another piece of crap and my last Chevrolet regular car. In 1984 I bought a used 1981 Ford Fiesta, one of the best small cars I ever had till then. I started drivingHonda’s in 1996 and have not bought a U.S. car since. I currently drive a 2009 Honda CRV (bought new) and it has 137,000 miles and a 2017 Toyota Rav4 with 75,000 miles. Both are running strong with no repairs to each besides normal maintenance. These are cars you drive and not repair. Our next vehicle will probably be an electric……
I had a 1971 pinto, I did some add on to it like a posi-track rear end, and a header, and different carb. I loved it! ..... That is until my wife ran into a tree with it and bent the frame! ..... I also owned a corvair monza spider! and loved that as well! It had a turbo charger on it and could beat a corvet off the line!
I also owned several foreign cars that were compacts and loved them all just as much!
I knew someone who put a Ford 302 V-8 in one with some other mods. The car was a real monster, and sleeper. Nobody could pass it.
My sister's 1st car was a 2nd hand Pinto. She Loved it. So much that it was also her 1st Brand new car when she replaced the 1st.
In the 1960 many cars had gas fill behind the license plates, they exploded just as much as the pinto ,but pinto was the fall guy
The earliest car that I can remember is my parents’ blue Pinto. They replaced it when I was 3 about the time that my sister was born.
I had one , it was great, a tough little car
A family in my neighborhood loved Pintos. It was large and six or more Pintos were always parked around their house. One night their son came home in his Pinto drunk. Just as he got to the house, he fell asleep at the wheel and hit a tree in their yard. The Pinto had a tiny dent in its bumper and their son died from massive injuries sustained in the accident! I observed every one of their Pintos turn into any car on earth that wasn't a Pinto.
There was nothing wrong with the Pinto. It was built to the standards of cars of the era. The issue wasn't the car would catch fire in a rear end collision. A lot of cars of that era were prone to it. The issue was Ford got CAUGHT making a corporate decision to not fix the issue for an added $1.50 a car. Funny you haled the VW Beetle at the beginning. Talk about a car designed to catch fire! Ford's worst model has to be the the dual clutch Focus. I'd take a Pinto over one of those any day.
My first car was a 1972 Pinto, and it was great, as a first car. The uncontrolled acceleration in this video is GREATLY exaggerated. Even without power brakes, the 4 cylinder engine was easily overpowered by the brakes, even with your foot to the floor on the gas. There's no way anybody could fail to stop the car even with the accelerator stuck.
My sister had a ‘71 pinto. Drove it forever- great little car! I had a ‘76 Bobcat. Awesome car. Ran and ran. Lots of miles. These cars were much better than all the nonsense said about them.👍🇺🇸❤️
My mother had a Ford Pinto just shortly after my grandfather death. She had it a little bit over 3 years. I don’t know what year it came out during the 1970’s. It was brown in color with tan interior as I remembered. When I saw it when I was very little that I thought it was purple colored. My mother traded it on a 1980 Ford Escort station wagon. That was brown with rusty orange interior. After the Escort that she gotten a 1985 Ford Tempo in white with blue interior. That car had air conditioning in it. It felt so good during the summer to keep cool inside of the car.
I remember when the.Pinto first came out how popular it was. I vaguely remember the fuel tank filler neck was behind the rear license plate like most american cars were back in its day. When Ford knew there was a problem, the later cars had a filler neck that was moved to the rear side. Even with the change in location, people thought the Pinto was still a fire hazard.
You also never hear people talk about the 1976 and 1977 Chevrolet Chevette. It had a recall to correct the fasteners used to fasten the fuel tank in the rear. The car had the same fuel tank location behind the rear axle. GM knew there was a problem with the Chevette catching fire when hit from the rear so they designed a fastener that dropped the tank in the event of a rear impact.
Most other small cars on the market at the time of the Pinto also had fuel tanks that exploded on impact.
I drove this car and I worked on a bunch of these cars... Most went to the junk yard when the timing belt slipped. American's just weren't familiar with timing belts at the time. The car also had rust issues if it lived long enough.
As to handling and drivability... it was one of the first cars with rack and pinion steering and it was a blast to drive on a really windy mountain road with the 4 speed option. Unlike most American cars of the time it was light and nimble. It was a pretty Spartan car, but not terribly uncomfortable for a large driver.
As to the gas tank issue.... If you saw it, you understood it. Both the Maverick and Pinto had very thin stamped rear bumpers. Overall they were pretty much useless in a crash. If bent in an accident, you could often just bend them straight again with tools in your home shop. As I recall with the Maverick the trunk floor was the top of your gas tank, I'm guessing the Pinto was the same... So there was no fire wall between the passengers and the gas tank, especially in a hatch back configuration. But why was the Pinto so much worse than the Maverick? Because it was shorter and had less crumple room between the end of the car and the gas tank. In fact, to carry more fuel and improve the Pinto's range the gas tank was literally extended into or almost into the soft rear bumper. I mean people wanted more range in the days of gas lines. And the best way to get it was a larger gas tank. And the best way to enlarge the tank was rearwards into the bumper.
Overall, it was a fun little car with a timing belt that was going to send it to the junk yard at around 60 to 65 K. If you didn't crash it, it was overall designed to last 5 or 6 years before you had significant rust or other issues. Like so many economy and small cars of the era and even today, if you crashed it you were going to suffer the consequences of being cheap and frugal in the emergency room or morgue.
Conclusion: I don't believe that Americans were really that deluded to think the small cars of the time were "safe". I believe that even today when folks buy tiny sub, sub compact cars they don't think they are safe, but they buy them anyway. Look at all of the folks that ride motorcycles, do they think that their motorcycles are safe? I mean Ford didn't hide anything, if you looked under a Pinto you could clearly see the gas tank extend into your rear bumper... On what planet would anyone think that was ever a safety feature? If you paid a little more, full size Fords had the gas tank behind the rear seat, out of the crumple zone. if you wanted a safe car, you didn't buy a Pinto you bought a Galaxy 500 or LTD, I in fact did drive a 1971 Galaxy 500, that was rear ended by a truck and still drove home 2 feet shorter than it was when it was new. Ford had safer options for people that wanted them.
If you bought a Pinto or a Vega or a VW Bug, you made a Devil's bargain. You paid little for the car and the fuel and you bet your life on not getting into a serious crash. I survived a crash in a compact car as a kid and I've always driven large and safe cars since. My choices cost me a lot more than those people driving tiny cars paid, but I'm still here 50 years later to write about them. And yes, I've walked and driven away from crashes that would have been fatal in a Pinto, Vega or VW. Economy cars are and were a Devil's bargain... it all depends on if you are feeling lucky when you make them, and if you stay lucky afterwards.
The Pinto was a cheap little car that gave you a lot for your money. No it didn't last, and no it wasn't safe, buy it was cheap and people knowingly agreed to take the risks when they bought the car. Was it bad or good? Honestly it was both. I can think of far worse cars that didn't explode nearly as spectacularly.
Well said. The timing belt was a relatively easy fix. Easy cars to work on when needed, which wasn’t often. Wish I had my ‘76 bobcat back today. I loved that car!!!👍❤️🇺🇸
That's the type of car I would definitely buy my wife as a present
She isn't hot enough for you already?
My mom had one of these and never had the gas tank recall dealt with
No car is perfect and the cheaper it is the less perfect it becomes.
This is really underated when you’re just like those other people. Hope you rise soon!
I owned a Pinto back in the 70's, as did a couple of my in-laws. Yes, they were cheap, and yes they weren't a good choice for a long cruise, but no, I've never seen a burned out Pinto in my life. I also owned a Chevy Vega and consider it to be a far worse design than the Pinto.
I just got a bad rep like Corvair
You were lucky.
Got side swiped .Didnt explode.1979 Pinto Pony.
Cost of doing business !
The Vega was eco friendly , it was biodegradable in like 5 years
To be fair, cars in general weren't as safe back then. For the most part, people weren't buying cars with safety as a priority either, as most Americans didn't wear seat belts or wear helmets on motorcycles. As far as we were concerned, a crumple zone was something you did to your beer can when it was empty.
good little car,,,we could use more of them now
Ford KNEW The Pinto Was A Time Bomb And The $11.00 Part COULD Of SAVED HUMAN LIVES!
With the Pinto "fiasco" - the engineers had NOTHING to do with this, they are NOT policy decision-makers. The decisions were made by accountants and management. Statistically, the Pinto was NOT more dangerous than it's contemporaries. The scandal and reputation developed because engineers presented the fire risk and projected fatalities and the increased cost per vehicle to reduce risks to management. The fix was rejected because the cost of lawsuits would be less than the cost of the fix. The decision based on dollars vs. lives appropriately outraged the public.
Chevrolet Convair was not a direct competitor of the Falcon, it was the Chevy II Nova.
I put 300'000 miles on a pinto . They were good cars .
The title was written by someone that never owned a vega
We knew the Ulrich family. In the summer of 1978 the whole community of Mishawaka Indiana sadly witnessed the tragedy of three precious lives lost due to Ford motor company’s negligence and greed. The Ford Pinto was very much indeed a fire trap. Shame! Shame! On Ford for allowing this! Thankfully, priorities have forcibly been changed and cars are much safer today.
I remember these cars. I never owned one and never wanted to. They weren't a great car but they also weren't as bad as they have been made out to be. Some people drove a Pinto for years. It was more likely to take fire in a rear impact accident than a full sized car with the gas tank protected by the frame. However, they weren't just bursting into flames at the slightest thing like they've been made out to. There was a legend of unreliability and danger built around the Ford Pinto that was exaggerated.
The first generation Ford mustang (1964 to 1973) had the gas tank in the exact same location. The second generation mustang (1974 to 1978) was based on the Pinto chassis and had the gas tank in the same location. That’s a total of 4 million vehicles not including the Maverick, Falcon and Cougar which had the same basic configuration. I still have my 1969 mustang convertible which I purchased in 1973.
Then you know that the trunk floor of your Mustang is actually the fuel tank.
A majority of cars have a fuel tank mounted in the rear. However they weren't mounted where BOLTS could
PIERCE them.
I drove many Ford Pintos back in the day, and found them a little soft in the corners but still a lot more fun than most of the land barges produced in the USA. Yes, all Iacocca cars were price point cars, so you got what you paid for which was enough for most buyers.
"Comfort and security" was pushed by the American manufacturers. It's a shame they simply couldn't push the button for nimble sportiness, effectiveness.
The Chevy Vega was also a lot of fun, especially the Cosworth.
I had one it was a great car
If I knew then what I know now, I'd have bought the first Subaru 4wd wagons in the mid 70s. I really needed that traction in those 70s blizzards. As a college kid I liked the Vega, bullet dodged, I ended up with a Corolla. I liked my buddies Pinto too. I suspect my Dad's 65 Belvedere would have lasted forever but he wouldn't sell it to me.
I was driving down 30 east of downtown Dallas in the 70s and observed a woman pitching her kids out of the backseat of a Ford Pinto onto the shoulder of the interstate because she had been rear ended and the car was about to catch fire or was on fire I will never forget that incident
Which was ot
It
Isn't it odd that everyone is so upset by 23 people being killed by the Pinto because of exploding gas tanks, but no one says a thing when 230 people were killed in Chevy trucks for the same thing..
Man was this guy ever suckered into this. That small bump with the explosion is a rigged situation. I've owned a few of these over the years and still have one. Perfect know but they are on the same mustang 2 floor pan. How well do I know these pintos. A neighbor had a 15 bass shop and we would build pintos for the dragstrip putting 460s in them. I don't ever remember running across a burned-out shell of one at the salvage yard. Are the greatest cars on earth no far from it. They were a early transition car just like a Chevy corvair. How about the Oldsmobile 350 diesel. I buy a few of them if I could find a second and third generation diesel available. But that was forty years ago and yes I own them to overtime. How about the crown vics they exploded because they were parking people would come flying into them 100 mi an hour and hit them as the police officer was writing the ticket 🎫. But you don't hear much about them and I have owned several of them still have three or four currently. Don't drink the Kool-Aid that this guy has obviously been swimming in and now he's puking it out
I had several Pintos and wasn't nutn comfortable about em. They're a 2 seater cause riding the back seat made ya feel like you's trapped in em, the same way with a station wagon. The Mercury Bobcat was the same way with just a different name lol...I had several of em in the 80s and 90s. As far as safety goes, the Mustangs was the same way cause the gas tank was in the same place as the Pintos were and the Mustangs should've been just 2 seater cause wasn't nutn comfortable about riding the back seat...I never had any problems with the throttle sticking and it might be because a 289 V8 would fit perfect in em plus it wasn't very hard to find a 289c.i. engine at the time cause the 4cylinder engines was underpowered except for only one of em I had. It ran really well for a 4cylinder 4speed lol...I liked em and I still do....
Yeah, the Pinto was no chick magnet, and had bad gas mileage for a small car, but as for reliability, maintenance etc, I found it no better or worse than any other car of that era? And no mine never even came close to catching fire. But once I helped to try and put out a fire in a Volkswagen rabbit
Had several Pintos, great cars period! One was a 71 with British Ford engine and transmission and was fast as hell!
I like in the movie "Folks". the elderly parents who wanted to die, bought a Pinto.
I bought a used 74 pinto. But I had a great Ford dealership that had super mechanic that repaired the problems and made them dealer specialize cars. If you want a great V6 V8 or economy 4 cylinder. They hook you up to your own personal wants.
A car is only as safe as the loose nut behind the wheel.
The beetle came out in 1938. Not the end of the 50s.
The 1st car I ever had 1975 500.00 red 4 speed I loved it 2.3 litre I zipped all over Orlando fla Daytona Beach I loved it I would drive it now if they had them.😅😂
Perambulating
INcendiary
Traffic
Obstacle.
I personally saw several rear-end impacts involving Pintos and Bobcats resulting in fuel tank ruptures.
Fortinately no ignition source set off a fire in those cases.
I also remember a Mercury Montego from that period that had been rear-ended in the owners driveway.
I was a service salesman at a Gulf station at the time and the owner asked me to fill it up. As soon as I started the pump the gas began pouring out because the filler pipe had pulled out of the gas tank.
The customer was pissed at me because I refused to pump any more gas, even after the station owner showed the man the damage.
We had a last year bobocat wagon , And cheap to run / fix .With the v 6 in it.
I had a 75 pinto wagon, from New to 70k, good little car, traded in for a new pickup, great full for no accidents! But I won't nok its overall dependable nature, ( maybe I was just lucky? )
I can think of several cars that are much worse than Pintos. Some of which are currently being produced (looking at you Chrysler/Fiat).
It was Henry Ford II that rushed the Pinto into production....
Compared to the competition at the time, the Pinto was a far superior car.
Project Pinto. Friend of mine has put a short block V8 in his Pinto. But it's been modified to be strong and fast.
I also knew someone who did the same. The car was a real sleeper. When it woke up, nobody could pass it.
My first car was a pinto in the 70s. I loved it had it for several years hauled a dozen wasted friends to many concerts. Never a single problem with it. I loved that little car.
Look at the Tesla fires. More than a Pinto...zero press...no recall
I had a Ford Pinto and its sister the Mercury Bobcat with the V6. Both were great cars.
The Bronco II was way more dangerous. I saw one on the road a few years ago and told my girlfriend "look a Bronco II that hasn't been rolled yet."
Such an underrated channel, you will definitely be huge one day if you keep it up.
The Pinto I’ve only ever heard jokes about - never seen one with my own eyes. Definitely seen Ford Escorts, though.
The rush job was a very dangerous thing indeed! A modern day parallel might be the Chevy Bolts that explode…
Im 65. I remember these cars. The writing and video are poor. No emissions. Safety belt and little else. 73 oil embargo changed everything along with epa and osha. I had a ford escort and a ford contour. I currently drive a 2011 sentra. The cost goes up every time I buy a car because of inflation and tegulation.
We drove these cars for years,never blew up,only one broke down,timing belt failure, we replace it on the side of the road,mind had over 350000 miles on it and we were still driving it around,.y friend bought his new with a sunroof,drove his everywhere,my girlfriend had one,she put over 200000 miles on it before she trade it in for a Mustang 2 ,we had fun with these cars as young teenagers.
Makes a badass Pro Street car.
The Pinto was always a four-seater. Maybe some people saw it with the back seat folded down and thought it was a two seater.
So much hype about the exploding tank,it became an urban myth. Modern Jeep Liberty's got a free trailer hitch to protect the gas tank for the same reason. So many 60s and 70s cars had the rear tank and filler neck.
Pinto was a COOL car!
The explosion was manipulated to enhance the controversy. The Pinto was no less safe than the Mustang of the same era. In fact the Mustang was LESS safe. The fuel tank was the trunk floor! I was in a '69 Mach 1 that was rearended by a Chevy pickup, the fuel tank split open and dumped the fuel on the road. The drivers door was also jammed closed so I had to climb out the window. There was no explosion because there was no artificially generated spark to ignite it. I've driven several Pintos, actually a pretty good car for the time.
My pinto almost killed me and disfigured me, and got a horrible concussion. It unexpectedly threw itself off of the road and wiped out a fence row and slammed into a corner post totally totaled itself. Unfortunately the critics were right. I'm surprised it didn't explode.
Wow, the risk must have been why the Pinto was so much fun to drive.
The editing on this is very nice. The narration is well recorded. The writing, though, is… clumsy. Overall it has the feel that it was written by one person, narrated by a hired gun, and edited by a third person: a video by committee, rather than feeling organic. (Not that you asked!)
The 1971-1976 hatchbacks and trunk models were recalled and 1975-1976 mercury bobcats only and the problem was fixed drive pintos. The pinto station wagons were never recalled and the 1977-1980 pintos and mercury bobcats! 15 mph bumpers were installed on 1977-1980 pintos wider bumpers and steel bumpers wider on 1974-1980 pintos mercury bobcats, and pinto station wagons! All vehicles weigh at least a ton. All cars have live gasoline from the engine to the gas tanks, most vehicles were a lot heavier than the pinto, and any vehicle can explode under any kind of accident! There have been a lot of gas fires in other vehicles and recalls. All vehicles are dangerous and accidents happen you are taking your life in your own hands every time you get into any vehicle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That scene a few seconds into this video is a very funny clip from the movie Top Secret! If you look at actual footage of an exploding Pinto, you will see that it doesn't explode until being pushed something like 50 feet or more by a much larger car or pickup truck; a pretty rare and extreme situation. Sure, I feel badly for anyone who was hurt or killed in this type of accident, but I think the problem was overblown, especially after Ford fixed it. Yes, I agree with you.
The car at 1:55 is actually a 1966 Dodge Dart rebadged as a Valiant, likely for the Canadian market. It is not a true Plymouth Valiant, nor is it even a Plymouth.
Only new car I ever bought new. I hammered it daily and it ran 100k miles for me and I traded it in.. great car..
Drove a 73 2.0Liter Pinto. Manual Steering Rack n Pinion was excellent. Live rear axle on leaf springs. Handled very well; even in snow
The VW Beetle was introduced as early as 1935.
I have a pinto for about a year untill it came out on the news about the gas tank. I traded it to a friend that put a v8 in it and made it a race car. But I loved that cheap little car, fun to drive and easy to fix. Ford make a new safe easy to fix cheap to buy pinto and I will buy it.
Volkswagen: am I a joke to you?
The Smart is the most horrible junk vehicle! The Pinto is a nice looking car and reliable if you do basic maintenance and watch fuel lines.
The Pinto, like the Corvair, is a popular target for attack. Most of those attacks are gross exaggerations and/or distortions. The Pinto and Bobcat were pretty good for what they were and for their time. Lying Nader to the contrary, the Corvair was no less safer than its competitors, proven by government testing after Nader’s book came out.
You know lot of cars then had tank in rear. Remember the filler cap was behind tag. And you get rear ended hard enough well that 11 dollar part is not going to cure it. Oh it's Fords it fire not the car that hit you!
My wife had one of those when I met her she loves that car she drove it until it rusted apart never had a problem with it ran great the whole problem with it was Lee iacocca like you said it's one of the reasons he got fired from fort anyway it's a Chrysler built nothing but junk
I love the Pinto!
No more dangerous than the other cars of the time. They made so many it skewed the statistics.
I think a more appropriate name should be Ford Fireball.
Had two years ago and had no problems you are wrong
I had a 1978 pinto wagan and since than I've brought datsuns and nissans, I don't trust Ford at all to this day 😢
Clicked on this video to see what the car was in the thumbnail and why it was so horrible. Then I immediately find out it's another dumb Pinto video based on long-debunked info and half-truths, so I immediately clicked the stop button. And I still don't know what the thumbnail car is, because it sure as hell isn't a Pinto...
This is a bit overblown knew of many on the road in my day never seen or heard any exploding in our area ask your grandparents they will know.
I had two pintos, great cars. They never broke down. Got great gas mileage. And was fast, for it's engine size. Better than chevy.