The Explosive History of the Ford Pinto

Soon after the Ford Motor Company introduced the Pinto to the public in 1970, the inexpensive subcompact model became one of the most popular cars in the United States. However, by the end of the decade, the Pinto had earned a reputation as a "firetrap." The car's fuel tank could explode if the car was involved in a rear-end collision - a danger that Ford engineers were aware of but failed to address.
#FordMotorCompany #FordPinto #WeirdHistory

[@WeirdHistory]

What was your first car? Me? Well, a white 1987 Toyota Tercel hatchback nicknamed "The Egg"

[@WindFireAllThatKindOfThing]

1976 VW Rabbit. $300. Pumpkin orange with black rims. Had no gascap, oil cap, muffler, or speedo. But it _did_ have a double barrel Weber progressive carb, so I had that going for me. 11th grade priorities aren't to be questioned.

[@warningpage8032]

My first car was a brand new 2012 Chevrolet Cruze. I still have to this day. The year model shows my age very well.

[@Raintiger88]

1972 Pinto! (in 1984) $100 + $50 to pay off the inspector for my "inspection." Complete piece of crap, but it always started up, got me where I was going and didn't explode.

[@joy5816]

'99 Chevrolet Cavalier, convertible. Fell apart every other week but it got me by for a couple of years

[@RavensGohst]

Mine was a geo metro little piece of shit

[@kokonut1350]

Finally, Weird History will be talking about cars!! HELL YEAH!!!

[@beach3girl459]

Well, sort of...

[@fordmustnagisbestcarath5046]

about time

[@melindakinnaird]

A friend of mine had a blue Pinto. She called it the Blue Bomb.

[@akira808state4]

With good reason because of the design flaws that Ford knew about, but did nothing about them.

[@paza1002]

I had a blue one as well. My husband still calls that color “Patty Blue”. Sometimes I miss that car. 😂

[@loislewis5229]

I had a white Pinto station wagon in 1980. Loved that car.

[@justahilltopguy5418]

That's awesome! Our neighbor had a brown one we all called the brown bomber!

[@absatwell8163]

Our nanny had a blue one. We called her grandma Canalli. (Sp)?

[@drewelliott9062]

It was basically the real life version of every car in Hollywood movies.

[@blackwoodrichmore4531]

Historically, Ford Pinto was the greatest car to ever explode!.

[@kenyattaclay7666]

My mom told me once that her first car was a Pinto and she got it right after I was born. When they started blowing up she got rid of it for a Grand Torino which I loved because it was the Starsky & Hutch car.

[@rickloera9468]

I've had two 72 Pintos and loved both them. I currently have a 72 Gran Torino.

[@patprice2953]

It's Gran Torino.

[@socaljet]

from poular mechanics"Reports range from 27 to 180 deaths as a result of rear-impact-related fuel tank fires in the Pinto, but given the volume of more than 2.2 million vehicles sold, the death rate was not substantially different from that of vehicles by Ford's competitors."

[@kenyattaclay7666]

@@socaljet okay, so if you are the parent of a toddler and you see that this is a SERIOUS flaw in the design of the car are you seriously going to keep driving that car. Also, unlike Ford’s competitors, Ford hid the fact that they knew about the problem and it wound up costing them more than it would’ve had they just fixed it. The pinto is the main reason why we have a law the forces automakers to recall known issues at their expense.

[@rickloera9468]

@@kenyattaclay7666 Actually the Corvair was what started the whole automotive safety thing with Ralph Nader. Ford attempted there safeguard program in 1955 and ended in 1956. The mentality back then was if you have to put seat belts in a car then it must not be a safe car in the first place. People were skeptical of safety belts. Front seat belts were mandatory in 1964 rear I believe came around 1966. By 1968 collapsible steering columns became standard as well as front seat shoulder belts as well as a multitude of other safety features. This was all before the Ford Pinto came out. Ford amd GM were working on a air bag program in the early seventies. Often times the court of public opinion has to bring on change for the better. Now car companies are tripping over themselves on how many air bags they put in each car. The difference is safety now sells where in the past the public wasn't interested. Sort of similar with the publics view of smoking now vs decades ago.

[@funnygrunt_o7]

Learned about this from my engineering professor in a lecture about how being cheap has killed many people in history

[@misterhat5823]

I learned about it in an engineering ethics course in grad school.

[@WindFireAllThatKindOfThing]

It's still a long standing legend since the 70's that the big auto makers had _many_ people bumped off for snitching on design flaws, and politicians handsomely bribed to obstruct imports. It's still a popular plot for movies and books to this day, but real world examples rarely get summarized. Strange, that.

[@kevinwebster7868]

@@WindFireAllThatKindOfThing there is a reason why it’s big in movies. Because it’s a work of fiction.

[@billschlafly4107]

@@misterhat5823 Engineering ethics was part of my under grad in the mid 1990s. The Pinto story was covered along with the Challenger disaster and the catwalk collapse in the Kansas City hotel.

[@misterhat5823]

@@billschlafly4107 The same cases were covered in the course I took too.

[@FaunoLab]

In Portuguese, "Pinto" means "Dick". I couldn't help but laugh when he said "Consumers loved the pinto".

[@ericksapinho]

Imagina comprar um Ford Pinto azul 😳

[@moonprincess500]

@@ericksapinho 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🏆

[@boejiden876]

Lol. No shit?

[@taptapuyo2714]

In Tagalog language Pinto means door 🚪

[@boejiden876]

@@taptapuyo2714 in English it means a pony

[@Nerdznewznow]

Any decent economics class in the US has already gone over the Ford pinto as the main example as to how ghoulish and cold hearted a corporate cost-benefit analysis can be

[@rutgerb]

I am not American (as in:thus i didnt follow any economics class in the US) for me it was a new example.

[@chiefslinginbeef3641]

Wonder why we're all so anxious to trust it now with big pharma. Corporations and the government have our best interests in mind

[@thehighllama8101]

@@chiefslinginbeef3641 Exactly. Why are people who dare question multi-billion dollar global corporations now considered to be "conspiracy theorists"? Why do liberals, who used to distrust and question the government, now think we should believe everything the government says about vaccination and our health?

[@billschlafly4107]

@@thehighllama8101 Corporations put profits first but the government puts power first. At least you can sue a corporation - well not always - wink wink.

[@numerum_bestia]

@@thehighllama8101 The smallpox vaccine was developed in 1796. They aren’t some new thing. Without vaccines you probably wouldn’t exist. Nobody had any problem with being vaccinated against smallpox or polio. What if you cut yourself on a rusty nail? Do you just wait for lockjaw to set in or do you go and get a tetanus shot?

[@michiganjack1337]

A many of Joke with Pinto being the punchline. Sadly I just recently made a Pinto joke around some of the younger folk and they had no idea what I was talking about- I then slinked away having a existential crisis.

[@gohawks3571]

I hate it when that happens.... I made a Sure/Unsure joke, and got stared at. In case you're wondering, it was deoderant, and I was referencing the commercial. Oh well, can't always be funny.

[@michiganjack1337]

@@gohawks3571 I absolutely remember Sure/Unsure lol. Here’s one for ya remember the campbell's manhandlers? I still randomly sing that out 🤣🖖🗽

[@gohawks3571]

@@michiganjack1337 Oh no! Now I don't know that one😳😁 But, grew up with heavily filtered t.v., so I'm sure I missed a lot. But I'm relieved to not be the last person on earth to know the Sure commercial😂

[@mayflowerpdx5706]

I mentioned Led Zeppelin at my work and I got a puzzled “who are they?” response. ☠️

[@gohawks3571]

@@mayflowerpdx5706 Oh no.....🤦 I mean, some things are locked time, others are timeless. Well, I guess at least we know good things when we see or hear them😁

[@AnAppleWithEyes]

This episode is straight FIRE

[@noone8418]

I like what you did there.😉👍

[@boejiden876]

Ha!

[@rexlint2520]

😂😂😂😂

[@chrissyknowsitall5170]

I grew up by a guy who loved these cars. Always had like 3-4 of them. I grew up during the 70's so I remember everyone having a Pinto.

[@davidhollenshead4892]

They were great little economy cars, if they had the plastic shield installed...

[@johnmcmullen456]

@@davidhollenshead4892 True! This a very biased video. The fact is independent testing showed the Pinto to be no more dangerous in a rear end collision than its competition.

[@johnmcmullen456]

@megatunnage1 A 1990 study by UCLA found the Pinto to be no more dangerous than other subcompacts of its time. A NHTSA study of 1975 & 1976 death rates for 7 subcompact cars showed the Pinto in the middle, far less than the VW Bettle & Datsun 1200/210, slightly more than Vega & Gremlin. Also interesting that testing was rigged to try to show how explosive Pinto rear end collisions were, including ramming the car below the bumper and using igniters, like the Dateline news show did to "prove" how Chevy pickup truck side gas tanks mounted outside the frame easily exploded in a collision. An unrigged rear end crash test of several subcompacts including the Pinto resulted in only one gas tank explosion, a Japanese car. I am in no way defending Ford's actions, especially when a $11 fix apparently made a big difference, but the bias against the Pinto isn't deserved.

[@johnnyonthespot4375]

I owned an Orange Pinto with a 4 speed back in the early 80's and I still remember being so proud of the EQ & cassette deck I installed below the radio. That was right about where the pride stopped however. Although it never exploded I can assure you that comfort & quality were never considered in that 2000 number.

[@ArcherSuh4721]

When I saw the title, I immediately thought, "TOP SECRET!" Weird History never disappoints! I hope they do a video on the Yugo!

[@MrPGC137]

Old joke about the Yugo at the time: Q: What do they call shock-absorbers on a Yugo? A: Passengers. 😁

[@dalevackar182]

@@MrPGC137 Q. Do you know why they made Yugos? A. So people that drove Chvettes would have someone to laugh at.

[@ZZZardoz762]

I learned to drive a stick in a '72 Pinto station wagon. That thing was a ton of fun to drive, and did surprisingly well offroad.

[@JesusLopez-lc9oh]

Weird History is great this one was cool. Don't forget the gremlin or the pacer

[@gohawks3571]

Sheesh, my mom had a Pinto with a hole in the floor when I was a baby, and my mother in law had a Gremlin. Amazing my husband & I survived long enough to meet😆

[@troubledsole9104]

Or the Vega.

[@jupiteral8217]

@@troubledsole9104 The Chevy Vega, probably the only car out there at that time that was a bigger piece of shit than a Pinto. With apologies to Yugos

[@troubledsole9104]

@@jupiteral8217 Yeah, my brother had one. I also recall that the engine block was aluminum to save $$.

[@jupiteral8217]

@@troubledsole9104 Yea it was aluminum. After 50K miles or less it was toast. My buddy had one that quickly spawned two softball sized rusted holes on both front quarterpanels on top. a real piece of shit

[@galloe8933]

I once saw in a stack of old magazines from back in the day, a Nat-Geo from the 70s with an ad for a Pinto going for $1499 but also another ad in the same magazine for an old Camcorder that looked like a bulky VCR with a small CRT screen poking out the top, going for $2100. I know, a "portable" camcorder from the 70s must have seemed like a modern wonder taken from an episode of The Jetsons, but the price for the Pinto was kind of crazy in comparison. I don't know the actual date of the Mag, but if you asked me, it seemed like it could have gotten away with an extra $11...

[@numerum_bestia]

Some top of the line cameras today are still worth more than a lot of small cars.

[@galloe8933]

@@numerum_bestia Right! And I saw an ad for a Xerox computer for over 7k in another magazine from the 70s, I miss the old mags, they even had an ad for a... "Holiday nut sack" in one, but in all honesty this was more a comment about $11 extra for a car.

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

CHRISTINE: I'm in a movie about me killing people. PINTO: What a coincidence! I'm in a spoof comedy movie, too!

[@JimJones-gd2jy]

Learned to drive in a Pinto in 1978 when I was 15. I could have cared less if I was drive a Roman Candle, was a happy teenager ! Memories . .

[@SoapinTrucker]

LOL I learned to drive in a 69 T-Bird in 79 at 16! :)

[@jospi2]

But 1978 wasn't such a good year for the other Jim Jones.

[@portecrayon4083]

@@jospi2 wasn’t to good for more than a few of his followers either.

[@5jump]

@@portecrayon4083 Don't drink the Kool Aid

[@komi-sanmustbeprotected5665]

Ah yes the classic "you won't have to worry about repair costs cause it'll be a write off or you'll be dead" method of car manufacturing

[@masterimbecile]

2:20 "one that would explode onto the scene." Oh boy the explosion jokes just keep coming.

[@imdquack]

My dad had a yellow Pinto in the late 80s. He hated the engine and decided he wanted something bigger. Slapped a 302 under the hood. I can remember the sound and feel of that engine. Came out of a highway patrol interceptor.

[@jennyhegstad4986]

My mom purchased a red one 1970. She loved that car .Till we were in a huge pile up during rush hour Atlanta GA.

[@chrisjeffries2322]

I take it that it did not burn?

[@coolbreeze5561]

I had two Pintos over the years and would buy another one, they were good cars. What no one speaks about is the chevrolet vega was highly explosive as well.

[@kenmaddock7469]

I had a 1979 pinto hatchback, great car.👍

[@SeanJohnson-sj1su]

Explosive from the opposite end of the car

[@RM-ed1if]

Loved the Pinto. One of my favorite cars. Drove one in the 70s all over Florida.

[@ToniInSussex]

I had a yellow '78 Pinto. I can't believe my father let me drive around in that thing but was told my car wasn't one of the exploding ones. I was young. Worst car? My brand new 11 miles on it 1990 FORD 'TEMPO'. It looked nice and was a cute little 4 door. We took good care of it but couldn't keep repairing it so only had for 7 years. Should have lasted longer. My friend had the same story. Don't see them running around anymore.

[@mortimerjames218]

Omg, as having had a Tempo, I can confirm it was indeed the worst. My 1st car was a dodge omni & that was a BEAST! Lasted foreverrrrrr & so cute!

[@ToniInSussex]

@@mortimerjames218 I get it! Lol. Was a big joke for my late husband and I. THE TEMPO. 🤣😂🤣

[@pcno2832]

I rented an early 1990s Topaz (the Mercury version) and the power seat control was right under the driver's knee (something I've never seen on any other car), so if you settled back into the seat, it started moving forward like a trash compactor. Now THAT car, unlike the Pinto, deserved to be recalled.

[@davidpruiksma8014]

I honestly did not know the extent of this story but I had a 1973 Pinto until 1978 and it was one of the best cars I ever had. 🤷‍♂️

[@CandiceBear]

My favorite car! 😂 My grandma had one when I was a kid. We called it the Pumpkin. My dad still has it and wants to fix it up. I told him I’d buy it off him when he’s done, I want that thing so bad!

[@lovelesswing458]

My mom told me of a story where she had a crash in one of those things as a young adult. The brake stuck just as the video said and she slid into a tree and completely totalled the front end. Absolutely would have exploded if not for it being winter in Michigan which a ton of falling snow which she thinks cooled down the car from actually catching on fire, because it was absolutely freezing out with snow. At least that's what my mom thinks happened from her being burned alive that it was just that freaking cold and icy out. That and she got out right away, as it did spill gas and got far away from it just in case. Well never know if that was the reason or not, maybe she was just lucky, but thank God cause I would not have been born! Dangerous car! That and the Dodge Neon.

[@gohawks3571]

Wow! God was looking out for her!

[@jaymevosburgh3660]

Well that was super lucky! No need to bring up any deity lol they had nothing to do with that.

[@TheLakabanzaichrg]

Op had the need, just as you had the need to be a lil bitch about it

[@gohawks3571]

@@jaymevosburgh3660 If I wanna honor God, I will! But I mainly wanted to appreciate the fact her mom was safe; that could have been such a terrible story. I'm glad she was ok 👍

[@iriemonmon]

Thank God she's okay! That's absolutely scary and insane

[@Benni777]

As someone from the Automotive Land area, I thank u for doing a Ford Motor company video! 🙏🏼

[@littleNorwegians]

Can't help but see the similarity between the Ford Pinto and the Samsung Galaxy 7 exploding, in the way that upper-management handled issues.

[@billschlafly4107]

Ford knew before production started. I don't think management knew why the batteries would catch fire until well after production started.

[@timhanna4700]

First car was a 1976 red Ford Pinto hatchback with a 4 speed. Dog slow but she’d start in the dead of winter and never got stuck in Minnesota with 200lbs of bagged sand in the back. 😀

[@Jason.cbr1000rr]

R u old sir. Fantastic carbs are always reliable imo

[@emmapeel8163]

that's the exact same car my dad bought. it was his 1st new car in USA. sitting in the folded down back & looking out the hatchback was thrilling. Dad put weights in the back too. but he still spun out on ice & totaled the Pinto.

[@timhanna4700]

@@emmapeel8163 great memories. I bought it from my parents for 300 bucks in 85. Moms first car she bought new in 76. Put 110 thousand miles on it until the clutch went. Now it’s part of a bridge somewhere I think. 🤣🤣

[@PurplePinkRed]

The "good old times" when cars were solid metal that crushed you to death instead of disintegrating plastic 🤣

[@brucegwynn8509]

Never happy , lol

[@CosmicWaltz7]

That said, if running people over is your goal, they're great! Won't even leave a dent!

[@mats7492]

No seat belts or headrests.. Where people that crashed just died!

[@GoonieLord]

No airbags

[@ol_gunner13b40]

Never had an issue pushing down trees with a pre-1965 car!

[@PNWHerb]

I had a 73’ green big back window. Loved it. Got my first speeding ticket after I changed the carburetor.

[@MrDazana]

Executives need to be held responsible for lives lost at the expense of saving money. They got away with murder

[@maycasper2661]

I'll curse em for ya.

[@gabrielquinones3343]

Ok and ?

[@WindFireAllThatKindOfThing]

As soon as I saw the title, I knew this video was gonna blow up

[@joy5816]

I'm smarter than all my friends because of Weird History, I love this channel!

[@supportyourtroopsathletes6460]

Did any of your friends graduate pre School? Asking for *my friend* who fits the description?

[@aileenhovorka9207]

I absolutely do! Never wanted "higher education. Totally unnecessary when u have Weird History!

[@supportyourtroopsathletes6460]

@@aileenhovorka9207 🤣😂🤣

[@littlehoss100]

My wife and I owned a Pinto. I loved it. Very easy to work on. Handled well. Thank God we were never in an accident.

[@AI-MusicPlanet]

Ford Focus was the first and last Ford I ever bought. Bought it brand new...transmission went out within 6 months, then waterpump, then power windows.

[@smolaether]

Must’ve been a faulty model. My 2013 Focus hatchback is still going strong to this day. Most reliable car I’ve had.

[@aldemir6127]

Those were the good old days for me, 1970s it was my first real job during the summer at the Ford Motor company Edison New Jersey.

[@justayoutuber1906]

Ah, acid rain that was more acidic than lemon juice.

[@SirKnight1096]

I was stationed in Hawaii. My first car was a Ford Pinto Station Wagon. Cost $50.

[@randykintzley5923]

You should cover the ignition key steering lock problem with GM a few years back. 45cents per unit or save lives? GM takes the 45 cents and then when they get caught they quickly switch in their first female CEO and say "Hey look!, We have our first female CEO! You guys wouldn't want to be mean to her and ask tough questions, would ya?

[@andrewcolsen]

Another Ford lover deflecting to GM.

[@runoflife87]

The funniest thing is they already had a decent compact car by 1970 - the european Escort.

[@slkric1724]

I had one back in high school. I loved my Escort. It ran GREAT!

[@runoflife87]

@@slkric1724 well Ford of Europe had a lot of good cars, not the ugly and gutless boxes.

[@howyoudurrinhunneh]

How they remained in business is baffling. I grew up loving Ford, I inherited that love. I’ve bought 2 brand new and 2 used and loved them all, mostly. But the 2017 model I bought new soured me forever on Ford. So now that I was finally read to buy a muscle car and not spend tons on insurance and interest, I got a Challenger instead.

[@plawson8577]

In 1980, my Stepfather brought a 1972 Ford Maverick, it was a Lemon and he was screwed over because Ford didn’t bother allowing aftermarket parts for it. In September 1985 while in Boot Camp for the USCG, he purchased a brand new Ford Mustang Convertible on a lien, but he soon grew tired of it and missed 2 payments on it, so it got Repoed after just 90 days. He NEVER bothered with Ford ever again.

[@socaljet]

from poular mechanics"Reports range from 27 to 180 deaths as a result of rear-impact-related fuel tank fires in the Pinto, but given the volume of more than 2.2 million vehicles sold, the death rate was not substantially different from that of vehicles by Ford's competitors."

[@johnmcmullen456]

@@socaljet That I believe, not this smear job of a video.

[@grapeshot]

I remember when three women were killed in an explosion in a Pinto when it was rear-ended.

[@Father_Brother_Son]

It's very fitting they showed a spoof of the Fight Club advertisement given that the main character played by Edward Norton in that movie explained this very same math behind his job at his company where they don't issue recalls for deadly Vehicles if they don't think it's financially worth it versus settling out of court

[@machupikachu1085]

That part of the book was based on the Ford Pinto controversy.

[@tudeflaming4355]

Actually my 73 pinto was a great little car for me. The engine was pretty much bullet proof for a teenager. Kinda wish I still had it.

[@OliverCaesar]

The second rule of the pinto memo is: YOU DON'T TALK ABOUT THE PINTO MEMO. Wait... Wasn't this a subplot in "Fight Club"?

[@NASCARFAN93100]

I love it when Weird History talks about cars And it would be even more awesome if Weird History talked about Motorsports and the history of Motorsports such as GRC, V8 Supercars, Formula 1, IMSA, IndyCar and Especially NASCAR

[@tigertalk2106]

This is the first time I heard some of the history of the pinto!! My graduation gift in 1979 was a Ford, Pinto. Metal flake royal blue, sun roof, white interior, the hatch was glass all the way down the back & had that new car smell. Around the 3rd week of January 1980 I was driving from Valley Center, CA to Escondido, CA. About a 25 minute drive. Leaving Valley Center to get to Escondido you have to drive down a steep down hill grade....someone had passed me & then slowed down in front of me, I instinctively slammed on the brakes as to not rear-end the car! The brakes locked up & the pinto began sharply fish tailing & I couldn't pull out of it! My ex grabbed the steering wheel yelling "turn into it!" pulling the steering wheel to the left....then all of a sudden the tires on the right of the pinto hit the birm (we were now facing the opposite direction) where the only turn out was on that down hill grade (the land in the rest of area was steep cliffs) then the car flipped several times crunching my side of roof about half way down then landing on its four wheels! We survived...this would injured my back pretty bad & had stitches in my right ear, my ex had pulled me out of the car, he was o.k., but I was taken to the hospital by ambulance! The article is in the Escondido Roadrunner, that's me being about to be put into the ambulance! How lucky we were not to go off the cliff or for the pinto to explode & no other accidents involved! But I question the brakes now!!! After hearing all this! (I was 18!) Thanks for the post! What was the final reason they stopped making them?! 🥴👍

[@FelisThis]

This narrative is brilliant. 🥰

[@jman4817]

So great. My buddy had a Mercury Bobcat, Pinto's twin...and just as junky

[@johnanderson1205]

You're right my mom had a Bobcat in the late 70's

[@plawson8577]

Ford started to manufacture garbage after 1971. My Stepdad purchased a 1972 Green Ford Maverick from a neighbor as a 17 year old back in 1980. He brought it on a handshake deal. Turned out, not only was it his first car, it was also a LEMON with faulty carburetors. It died within 4 months and he spent the summer trying to find and order replacement aftermarket carburetors for it. All in vain. Turns out, Ford not only stopped making Mavericks 4 years prior, they didn’t bother to patent aftermarket parts. There was no way he could back order them.

[@jman4817]

@@plawson8577 Ford is coming out with a new Maverick but it is a small pickup. Why bring back such horrific memories through a name.

[@plawson8577]

@@jman4817 Ford stands for “Found On The Road Dead”.

[@jman4817]

@@plawson8577 haha! When I bought my wife's last vehicle, she said she did not care what it was as long as it was not a Ford! She grew up with some bad Ford's as well!

[@zahara-]

Ah yes.. the classic “quantity over quality” mistake

[@LionWithTheLamb]

But with Ford it's "Quality is Job #1" LMAO

[@NoPainLorraine1]

Owned a '78 Pinto wagon, standard. It was an oxidized flat pea green. In the winter it was Frozen Phlegm on Wheels. Hot pink fuzzy dice hung from the rear view mirror. I miss that car. Great memories.

[@plainbrownwrapper9688]

I've always wondered if the Pinto was one of the first times the public was made aware how businesses place value to a life of their customers vs profits. I never understood how Ford did not go under and how they survived this PR disaster.....but the public continued to buy their cars. Now that's the real weird history behind Ford.

[@plainbrownwrapper9688]

@@harryhanz1690 true but there wasn't an actual memo with value of life vs cost of repair involved with the corvair. It was more of a design flaw and improper tire pressures. The Pinto memo should of been a PR bullet due to the brazen calculations.

[@FeedScrn]

The cheapness of the Pinto, and of other American cars... sadly almost forced the public to consider and to buy - Japanese competitors.

[@pcno2832]

Every carmaker, in fact, the makers of EVERYTHING make such calculations. They would never sell anything if they added every safety feature money can buy. If the supposedly $11 part had been an option (maybe $30, with labor and all), and people were told it would reduce the danger of death by 27 in 2,000,000 cars, they probably would have spent the $30 on something else.

[@lesliedavid1244]

The Ford Falcon station wagon wasn’t much different. We were rear ended and not only the gas tank fall off, 3 doors jammed.

[@MichelleIbarraMHAEdD]

"Ford" kinda says it all....😒

[@davidhollenshead4892]

@@MichelleIbarraMHAEdD Not really, as Ford didn't make cars like the F10, Corona, Civic CVCC, etc. some of these were ordered to be crushed by the US DOT...

[@mattskustomkreations]

@@davidhollenshead4892 That sounds like urban myth. I’ve never heard of any crush mandates by the feds. Only of internal company mandates to crush show cars and test mules, etc. so they would not end up sold to the public.

[@ferengiprofiteer9145]

Our Ford Falcon station wagon was awesome! Our favorite family car growing up.

[@herekongato]

My first car was an mk1 ford focus, loved that little bastard

[@deborahhiggins3071]

My first car was the bicentennial pinto and I loved it!

[@orcaartist]

That’s one extreme way of keeping tailgaters at bay. 🔥

[@netrioter]

I had one with a 351C and a 4 speed. It was extremely dangerous (but fun) past half throttle.

[@rtod4]

I had a coworker who did a full build on his 4-cylinder, it was a dedicated race car. I don't recall exactly but think he was running 14 second quarters.

[@portecrayon4083]

Sounds like a friends 62 falcon with a 429 cobra in it.

[@manicmechanic448]

I knew a guy with an 80 Pinto, a few years ago. It still had the cigarette lighter gas tank, and had the most adorable little carburetor I've ever seen.

[@dvdv8197]

My wife is like a 1974 Pinto. She always blows up for the slightest reason. 🤷‍♀️

[@ryproar11]

I'd love to hear about the Dodge Demon. The furious little car that went faster when you turned on the AC. 😆

[@justas525]

I think once 90's are finished. The 70's will be next timeline series.

[@WeirdHistory]

We shall see soon!

[@plawson8577]

Rampant Cocaine use, Hardcore Conservative Censorship and Cancel Culture, Crass Consumerism, Disco, Hardcore Corporal Punishment, lame Television, smoking in Theaters, Uncontrolled Sexual promiscuity. Stupid gimmicks and fads, and Idiot Detectives that didn’t know their way out of a paper bag: That was the 1970s.

[@some_metalhead]

*’90s *’70s

[@mariawesley7583]

When I was a kid in the 70's we had an AMC Gremlin. Towards the end the driver's door only opened from the outside and the passenger door from the inside. My brother and I would climb in and out through the window. Finally it would only go into park and reverse. But we had great stories and the Gremlin and the Pacer will always be reminiscent of a specific time.

[@plawson8577]

I’ll always appreciate early Simpsons for referencing the AMC Gremlin.

[@javajive25]

My one and only car crash was in 1983 when I wrapped my dad's 1973 Ford Pinto around a power pole. I remember sitting in the car after impact wondering if I were dead or alive and then thinking, "Shit! I'm in a Pinto! I need to get out of here before it blows up!" It was miraculous that I walked away from that crash and that the car didn't explode!

[@hullinstruments]

Dear narrator…, would you please come to my funeral and read my eulogy? Preferably sooner than later.

[@andycraddock7677]

Somehow Agent Starling survived Buffalo Bill, Dr. Hannibal Lecter AND owning a Ford Pinto!

[@reconsoldier135]

Corporate greed at it’s worst, if you’ve seen Fight Club this story should sound familiar

[@ragingjaguarknight86]

Yup, the conversation that Edward Norton's character had with the woman seated next to him comes to mind. ^_^

[@jaeboston9228]

I remember in early 1971 there were Billboards all over the place for the Pinto. The selling point was they were only $1995. They were sluggish and had poor acceleration.

[@arcturionblade1077]

My junkiest car was definitely a stock Dodge Neon. Glad I sold that clunker for $4K back in 2011.

[@plawson8577]

Mines was a 2008 Pontiac G5 Coupe. Motor blew out. This was only after 90 days.

[@MMAfighter38113]

The Neon and Metro were both pieces of crap

[@mulematt6225]

My sister in law had 2 pintos when my brother met her. (30 yrs ago) had them for a long time afterwards. One of the first cars i ever drove.

[@morrisgautreau6704]

All through the 80's, my dad drove a Pinto!

[@gaddyify]

Ah yes, the Pinto. Ford's rolling bomb on wheels

[@WindFireAllThatKindOfThing]

2001 Ford Exploder has joined the chat

[@johndef5075]

🤣

[@coxmosia1]

Now do a story on the AMC pacer. Practically made of all glass.

[@plawson8577]

Mom drove a 1978 AMC Hornet back when I was a toddler in 1984-1986.

[@wrench31e22]

@@plawson8577 I actually owned an AMC Hornet station wagon. Bought it for 100 bucks, drove it a year and got my money back at the scrapyard. It burned a couple of exhaust valves and fixing it would have been more than it was worth.

[@plawson8577]

@@wrench31e22 She got the ‘78 Hornet from a friend. Knew nothing about Lemons and it turned out to be one. The Engine overheated and nearly burned out. But luckily a fellow middle aged USCG chief helped her out because he saw that she was a young single mother. He had friends who still worked for AMC, so they fully repaired for her for $300 and installed a Serpentine belt and Torque Converter as well as a Coolant Tank. She drove it for 2 years.

[@MrPGC137]

I drove a '74 Pinto for a few years, after the problems with the gas-tank were corrected, but the car still had a lot of design-flaws. And I mean _a lot!_ For one thing, changing the spark-plugs for a tune-up wasn't the easiest thing in the word. Pulling 3 of the 4 plugs was simple & straightfoward, but the 4th plug, the one closes to the firewall, was a nightmare. Just above it was the input & output hoses for the heater-core, which made access to the plug with a socket-wrench virtually impossible without (a) draining the cooling-system and (b) removing the heater-core hoses & moving them out of the way. And you'd better pray that the new plug you put in was gapped properly, or else you'd have to repeat the whole stupid rigmarole all over again. But the biggest headache of all, the one that gave me no end of misery during the entire time I had the car, was the godawful vacuum-system. See, the car was built shortly after the new emission-control standards for cars went into effect, and to deal with them, the car's designers took a quick-and-dirty (very dirty) approach to solving the problem of positive crankcase ventilation, the result was a fiendishly complicated system of vacuum-lines running every which way all over various points of the engine, to suck out all the oily fumes of the crankcase-system & keep it from going into the atmosphere. Okay, fine. But the problem was when a leak appeared anywhere in that system (which happened with alarming frequency.) And it was never even a large, easily-spotted leak, either; usually it was nothing more than a tiny pinprick, not even detectable by human eye. Then the engine would run like crap, and you could either (a) spend days tearing your hair out trying to track down the leak or (b) in desperation you finally give in and take it to the mechanic and let them deal with the headache. Ultimately, I lost track of the number of times I ended up having to take it in to mechanics to deal with this same stupid problem. It was maddening. I mean, the car did have some good features. I liked the hatchback and the fact that the back seat folded forward, like in a station-wagon, which opened up plenty of storage-space in back. In that respect, it was for me almost the next-best thing to having a pickup-truck when it came to hauling stuff from the hardware store and the like.

[@pamelamays4186]

A highschool friend of mine had a brown Pinto. He drove it at least until he finished junior college, a total of about four years. Suggestion: The AMC Pacer, AKA The Mother Ship, AKA The Fish Bowl. So much glass! Another suggestion: Lowriders, especially Impalas. And also the history of the Lowrider culture.

[@NewMessage]

"Alright, Chris.. We're ready for your big trip to India. So.. we got a few ships here... um.. The Niña , the Santa Maria.. and.. um.. well, there's a choice on the third. We got a Pinta, and a Pinto." * explosion sound in the distance * "The Pinta it is!"

[@PixelOutlaw]

Classy joke.

[@karm65]

you forgot the cast aluminum cross member that was prone to snapping in half at highway speeds. my mom had one and it almost killed her when it broke.

[@tacticalteddy5556]

I still have my 1980 4 speed manuel pinto with 82000 original miles. My grandfather bought it new and i learned to drive in it then 2 yrs ago my dad gave it to me. I love this car!

[@MichaelWH]

I knew several people that drove one of these when I was a child in the 70's :) A few in my own family.

[@sortedsortof3474]

Our worst car that we owned was my wife's 1971 Chevrolet Vega. We had to replace the engine twice and the alleged 50,000 life of the air filter was closer to 3,000 miles and cost $50 to replace as opposed to the $3 paper filter replacement cost for my AMC Hornet.

[@muffs55mercury61]

Oh yeah. The first year Vegas reportedly started rusting out after just one year if you lived in the rust belt states. I dated a lady in 1987 who's mom had a '73 Vega. The car only had 30,000 miles on it (her mom was the original owner) and it used 1 quart every 150 miles.

[@ethandixon6580]

Damn, I didn’t know a car could take Martyrdom as a perk

[@adamandrews8534]

I owned 2 during my college years. The first was one of those exploding jobs; the second leaked oil continuously due to a problem with the cam. Crazy, but I still like Fords!

[@HeadupGarage]

This was a great video to get an ad from my local ford dealer

[@melindakinnaird]

How about a video on another Ford car, the Edsel?

[@mocat1]

I remember a teacher I had in high school, who told us one day how once his first kid was born, he decided he should trade in his ‘67 mustang, for a “nice reliable family car”. A pinto. 😂🤣 Apparently his kids gave him a hard time on that error of choice whenever possible.

[@AtomicReverend]

It was actually a really reliable car. Videos like this give the car a bad reputation but it was only one problem and it had nothing to do with the reliability. All the car magazines in the 1970s gave it rave reviews and they compared it against the competition like the Chevrolet Vega Chevrolet Monza or the Toyota Corolla or the Nissan b210 and the pinto did better on just about everything in the head to head comparisons. Just as an example of the cars proven bits, the suspension design is still used today in the street rod industry they call it a Mustang II style front suspension. The 2.3 Ford engine was put into everything ford made in that era that got good milage, the Ford Fairmont, Ford Thunderbird, Ford Ranger and about every other small Ford made in the 1980s, the engine was so good the basic design was ran all the way till 2004 or 5 in the Ford Ranger pickup and was even used in countless boats, there was even a turbocharged version that came out in the 80s that went into the Ford Mustang SVO and it was the fastest fox body Mustang produced in that time frame. The Pintos only downfall was the gas tank debacle which was fixed by mid year 1975 but the damage was done to the cars image when the news broke in 1977. The Ford Mustang II, built between 1974 and 1978 was the same car underneath and it too had good reviews for its time frame and because the car was 8 or 9 in longer it was not involved in the recall as far as I know but it too was reliable. The reality is Ford did not make a bad product in the 1960s or 1970s everything they had was super reliable in their perspective time frame and I say that being more of a Dodge fan.

[@ChipDip-wq8mi]

I would’ve never done such a trade

[@lorihicks340]

Both of my Grandfathers worked for Ford Motor Company. We had 2 Pintos, 1 avocado green compact hatchback, and 1 yellow station wagon. We had seat belts, but no child car seats. Good times.

[@thepaintingbanjo8894]

Exactly the kind of historical content I crave.

[@joermnyc]

Cheaper to pay off grieving relatives than to actually fix the flaw… putting profits over human life.

[@JimJones-gd2jy]

Sounds like your describing the United States Military industrial complex . .

[@WindFireAllThatKindOfThing]

@@JimJones-gd2jy You could describe ANY business in the US today like that. Of any size. From Bob's Neighborhood Bar to Goldmann Sachs, a good businessman never lets his customers health get in the way of his cash register with something silly like requiring masks to enter the premises. You might suffer a 5% dip in profits. Unacceptable. QUITE unacceptable.

[@massttrshrdrharmonicminor2002]

My meth smoking uncle by marriage had a big blue one with a C B radio, he got a dui and sold it. He also had a shed that he spent time inside of it. Miss the 90s so bad

[@ThisIsJessPaul]

I love the Weird History narration/narrator: such fun storytelling.

[@richcoleman469]

Interesting. I bought a 72 Pinto the summer of 75 and drove it for 3 years with well over 100k miles. It had ac and a sunroof and 4 speed. Was a lot of fun. Had to get something bigger for my growing family. Glad we never got rear-ended as two little girls were in back much of the time!!

[@ibtaba]

I had a 76 Pontiac venture that constantly broke down and when it did run made terrible noises.

[@sickoftheshit]

My mom thought the Pinto was the coolest and we were all forced to learn to drive, in a Pinto, much to our utter and complete teenage humiliation. We carry the scars still.😅🤣😅

[@kevinmachate59]

Growing up we had a '71 Pinto. (I was born in 71) and in '82 it spontaneously combusted while my mom and brother were in it. No one was hurt, but 6:26 looks AWFULLY familiar now...

[@jonkeppoch7978]

A 1999 Saab 95. Great trip car. Wonderful in every way, except reliability. Over 4 years of ownership, almost every system was replaced. Some times more than once by the dealer. The core engine block and the body survived. Traded it for a Subaru, my first Japanese car. Still have it and a Honda. Peace at last.

[@annradwan2070]

Worst car I ever had.....Ford probe. Had it 6 months every month in the shop. Eventually I wrecked it.....my family doesnt talk about the metal bass of death. (Called that because of how loud I had the cd player at the time of the crash. My fathers words were only "damnit boy, you can land a 747 on top of your car and you'd never hear it!!")

[@iriemonmon]

The Ford Probe was a dark era for Ford lol just a very very dark era bc wtf were they thinking 😂

[@jackiegillyard758]

My daughter had a used Ford Focus that had a recall, but Ford would not pay for it, she had to come out of her pocket with 2k and Ford knew of the problem.

[@AtomicReverend]

I loved my 1980 pinto that I had in 1996 for my first driving car. It Stopped good, was faster than a new Honda Civic (at that time) got great gas mileage, was rear wheel drive, was a stick and was a good car to drive. I drove the hell out of that car.

[@phishstx8328]

I never new this about the Pinto. My first car was '85 Honda Accord, damn good car.