Ford Pinto
The Ford Pinto was a compact car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. It was first introduced in 1971, and was built through the 1980 model year. Like many Ford cars, it had a twin in the Mercury Bobcat.
Body styles included a 2-door sedan, a three-door hatchback, a two-door station wagon, and the Ford Pinto Cruising Wagon, produced 1977-1980 and styled to resemble a tiny van conversion (very much the trend in the late 1970s) complete with a round "bubble window" in the sheet-metal side panels.
The car's design was conventional, with unibody construction, a longitudinally-mounted engine in front driving the rear wheels through either a manual or automatic transmission and live axle rear end. Suspension was by unequal length A-arms with coil springs at the front and the live axle rear was suspended on leaf springs. The Rack and pinion steering had optional power assist, as did the brakes.
Original engines included a British-built 1.6 litre pushrod straight-4 and a German-built 2 litre SOHC straight-4. In 1974, the 1.6 litre powerplant was dropped and a new 2.3 litre engine became available; a 2.8 litre V6 was available from 1975.
Safety problems
Through the production run of the model, it became a focus of a major scandal when it was discovered that the car's design allowed its fuel tank to be easily damaged in the event of a rear end collision which often resulted in deadly fires and explosions. Furthermore, it was discovered that Ford was aware of this design flaw, but they refused to pay the minimal expense of a redesign. Instead, it was decided it would be cheaper to pay off possible lawsuits for resulting deaths. This discovery of Ford's apparent disregard for human lives in favour of profits led to major lawsuits and inconclusive criminal charges.
See also
External Links
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