Old Ford pics

[Wirenut]

I bought a pinto station wagon for my wife in the late 70's. She hated it and only drove it once. I started driving it and put some big box speakers in the back with a 8 track stereo system and actually enjoyed it. It was a 4 speed manual tranny and that helped a little with the rpm's and shift points. I drove it about a year and sold it. It was good on fuel mileage and I had no mechanical issues with it while I owned it. It along with the Vegas were disposable tin cans.

[djfordmanjack]

not a fan of these 1970s compacts , but the Pinto engine family was actually used up into the mid 90s in Euro Fords. I have considered those several times for daily drivers but I just can't get over their ugliness. Also right now the parts availability for these 80s or 90s cars can become more difficult than for our collector 1950s cars.
They had very nice OD 5 spd manuals. A friend of mine from Germany put a 2L Pinto 4 into his Model A coupe and it's actually a very reliable, reasonable and pretty quick little car.

[djfordmanjack]

Fiz's Pinto powered A cpe.

[Ecode70D]

 Günter
      I have to admit that full fendered Pinto powered Model A coupe does look kind of nice. 

[djfordmanjack]

Jay it is a very solid and nicely built driver car. Certainly not to everybody's taste, but he built it for long distance cruises which he does, getting great mileage and reliability. He also has modern brakes, an alternator and 12V.

[Ecode70D]

That  little Pinto engine is a smart decision with the price of gas in Germany. 

[Fairlane62]

The "fire trap" moniker was a Nader overreach similar to the corvair.  Ralph Naders organization petitioned the NHTSA in 1974 to recall Ford Pinto's but the NHTSA determined that there was not adequate evidence to warrant a recall. So in 1977 they published an article in the magazine "Mother Jones" leveling accusations against Ford and the NHTSA.  The article included a clip out complaint coupon for readers to mail to the NHTSA.  Nader held a press conference in Washington DC the following day, calling the Pinto a  fire trap and submitted another request for investigation which pitted the NHTSA gainst Ford.
Under this pressure the NHTSA used a worst case test to justify recalling the Pinto.  Rather than the regular rear impact test, they used a "bullet car" which was weighted to allow it to slide under the Pinto in order to impact the gas tank, and the headlights were turned on to provide an additional ignition source.  Also the fuel tank was completely filled with gasoline rather than a partially filled tank as was the common test in 1977.  This ensured that gasoline would be discharged from the tank.
A later review by Rutgers Law determined that the safety record for the Pinto was basically average for it class at the time.

[59meteor]

I also think the "bum rap" against the Pinto was overblown. I can`t imagine that my 69 & 70 Mustangs, which had the gas tank as the trunk floor, (if you were to remove the gas tank, there is a large, rectangular hole in the trunk floor, mere inches ahead of the tail light panel, "protected" by a laughably thin and tiny bumper, bolted to the trunk floor). I imagine the "death trap Expose`", was manipulated, like the TV documentary that showed how GM PU trucks with the outboard "saddle" style gas tanks, would burst into flames in a side impact. My understanding was that GM proved that the TV show couldn`t get the test truck to catch fire as expected, so the producers elected to place devices under the truck to CAUSE a fire, and then claimed it was simply from the impact. The TV producers were found guilty .

[Fairlane62]

Yes, regarding the GM trucks, they placed model rocket motors under the tank and filled the tank to the top , then placed the gas cap loosely so that gas would squish out on impact.  They lit the rocket motors upon impact which ignited the gas that pushed out of the tank.

As with the Pinto, there had been a few horrible accidents but the trucks were no worse than others of the time.

[FiveSevenLiter]

I remember the recall to install shields on the Pintos back when I worked at the dealership.  It was a piece of plastic abut 7 inches square and was like a piece of a Thermos lunch kit.
I also remember the NHTSA report that listed the highest deaths due to fire and Pinto was around #8 or #9.  I believe the Volkswagen van was #3.
And the GM pickups were #1.  Here is a report on them. https://www.autosafety.org/history-gm-side-saddle-gas-tank-defect/
I also spent a lot of time in the tow truck and never came across a burning Pinto, but one of the worst was a Father and his two sons in a GM pickup on fire, a very sad scene.
Terry

[rmk57]

I had a recall on my 1999 F-350 diesel. It was for "post collision fuel system integrity" or in layman's terms the fuel tank straps could break if you were t-boned. I guess it could be more of an issue if it were a gas engine.

[djfordmanjack]

Terry, the Volkswagen vans would self ignite on many occasions without an impact whatsoever. I love them dearly, but the fuel hoses and aftermarket filters, sitting right over the distributor and spark plug wires, and the tank sitting literally next to the engine and electrical systems caused many fires. even today. On our VW forum TheSamba, there is even a topic of buses on fire. Luckily some company has come up with an automatic fire extinguisher system (mainly a plastic hose filled with fire extinguishing chemicals) which cracks and spreads the powder when heat is applied. Good stuff that can also be used and zip-tied to conventional car hoods ( like our 57s) and may help in case of engine, carb or electrical fire in the engine compartment.

[hiball3985]

I see more newer cars that burn in collisions then I ever saw Pintos..

[glr7533]

Ford had a recall on their ambulances in the mid 1980's for fires. Our service had purchased a new 1986 E350 when the recall started. Ford would only allow certain Ford dealerships to even touch them. We had to take ours to a dealer 2.5 hours away just for an oil change. Ford replaced both fuel tanks, special fireproof coolant hoses, louvered the hood and did a bunch of other things to it. They never did find the cause of the fires and finally gave up and would only allow diesels until about ten years ago. Here is a link to the recall.

https://www.autosafety.org/ford-ambulancevan-fuel-fed-fires/

[59meteor]

That is interesting about Ford only allowing certain dealerships to work on ambulances. Where I used to live, there were 5 or 5 Ford dealerships within 45 minutes of my house, one always seemed to have 1/2 dozen ambulances in the service area, and none at the other dealers.