Is the Ford Pinto really a deathtrap?
I heard that the fuel tank would 'detonate' if you got rear ended. Is this true? Was the car any good at all? They don't have the Pinto here in Britain but my dad used to drive one when he was still in the States. If what I've heard is true, I'm guessing he's lucky to be alive.
There WERE a few deadly fires from rear collisions, but as usual, the media jumped all over it and blew it all out of proportion, just like the saddle tank dangers on GM pickups. The media was all over that one too, even though every OTHER truck maker offered the same saddle tanks on THEIR trucks, only GM paid the price.
No more deaths than GM's recent ignition key debacle or takata air bags killing people. The Pinto was actually a good little car for the time - engines were tough - nothing really bad to say about them - at least compared to a chevy VEGA.
No.
That was a bad car, especially compared with later models, but the deathtrap impression is garbage.
Check out https://en.wikipedia.org/...t_analysis, which puts it in these terms:
Pintos represented 1.9% of all cars on the road in the 1975-76 period. During that time the car represented 1.9% of all "fatal accidents accompanied by some fire."
That seems pretty average by all accounts.
Yes, until a barrier was put in between the tank and the car.
Not everyone drove a Pinto so for the few rear enders they went boom.
But the tank only will explode when you are running near empty. Gasoline needs oxygen to burn. A full tank leaves little room for air. The Ford Maverick was basically the same design, same problem. Both died from production line.
Their domestic competition was Chevy Vega and Dodge Colt.
Then there were the "Asian cars just hitting the market" & VW Beetle mainly.
I drove a Pinto for over a year & had no problems. A lot of it was just hype, because they would hit the rear of the car with a garbage truck hard enough that any people in it would be already dead.
Nothing was safe back then. No seat belts, no car seats, you could legally cram a whole little league team in the back of a pickup, flat nose vans were popular… Try wrapping one of those around a tree and see how the ole lady's face looks. The pinto was fun to drive, small American ride, 4 spd, handled like a go cart. 20mpg… Burned a lot of oil
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