Ford Pinto

Ford Pinto at a glance

Development: 25 months to launch

Planning began in the summer of 1967. Ford president Lee Iacocca wanted a car for 1971 that weighed less than 2,000 lb (907 kg) and cost less than $2,000, and inside the company the project was known as "Lee's car". The design by Robert Eidschun dates from 1968; the programme was recommended in December 1968 and approved by the board in January 1969. Development took 25 months against an industry average of 43.

The Pinto went on sale on 11 September 1970 as "The Little Carefree Car", one day after Chevrolet launched the Vega and six months after the AMC Gremlin. It replaced the British-built Cortina that Ford had sold in America as a captive import. Iacocca's career and his role at Ford are covered in our article on Lee Iacocca.

Production and plants

The Pinto was built at Edison (New Jersey), at San Jose Assembly in Milpitas (California) and at St. Thomas Assembly in Southwold (Ontario). Lincoln-Mercury dealers sold a rebadged version, the Mercury Bobcat, from 1974 in Canada and 1975 in the United States; 224,026 Bobcats were made.

Output peaked in 1974 and fell by more than half the next year.

Sedan, Runabout, wagon and Cruising Wagon

At launch the Pinto was a two-door fastback sedan with a separate boot. The three-door Runabout hatchback was shown at the Chicago Auto Show on 20 February 1971 at $2,062. A two-door station wagon followed on 24 February 1972 with 1.71 m³ (60.5 cu ft) of cargo space, and the Squire version added imitation wood trim.

Option packages kept the range fresh: the Sprint Decor Group in 1972, Sport Accent and Luxury Decor in 1973, the Stallion and Runabout Squire in 1976, the cheap Pinto Pony from 1976 and the ESS trim in 1979. The 1977 Cruising Wagon was a sedan-delivery package styled like a small conversion van.

German Wikipedia compares the interior with the Volkswagen Beetle, the Pinto's main rival: at a similar wheelbase it gave 150 mm more shoulder room, 75 mm more hip room and 125 mm more knee room. The boot was small but could be enlarged by folding the rear seat.

Engines and gearboxes

The apparent drop in power in 1972 reflects the change from gross to net ratings rather than weaker engines. The 2.0-litre overhead-camshaft four came from Ford's European engine range, where it also powered the Cortina Mk3 and the Taunus. The 2.3-litre OHC four introduced for 1974 was later used in several other Ford vehicles; the V6 was dropped for 1980, leaving the 2.3 as the only engine. Gearboxes were a four-speed manual or a three-speed automatic. To compare these outputs with today's engines, use our power converter.

The fuel-tank controversy

Like many cars of its time, the Pinto had its fuel tank between the rear axle and the rear bumper. From 1973 Ford received reports of Pintos catching fire after low-speed rear-end collisions; its internal recall committee reviewed them and found no defect requiring action. In 1973 an internal cost-benefit paper, later called the "Pinto Memo", compared fixes of about $11 per vehicle (1973 estimate) with the value of avoided deaths and injuries. It used the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's 1972 figure of $200,000 per life.

In August 1977 the magazine Mother Jones published "Pinto Madness" by Mark Dowie, which claimed 500 to 900 deaths; English Wikipedia describes these numbers as wrong. The NHTSA opened an investigation on 11 August 1977 and on 8 May 1978 declared the fuel system defective. On 9 June 1978 Ford recalled 1.5 million Pintos and Bobcats, excluding the wagon, while disputing the finding. The fix added a polyethylene shield and a longer filler neck. The NHTSA counted 27 deaths in rear-impact fires from 1970 to mid-1977.

Court cases and later analysis

In Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Co., a 1972 Pinto stalled on a California freeway and was hit from behind. The driver, Lily Gray, died and 13-year-old Richard Grimshaw was badly burned. In February 1978 the jury awarded $125 million in punitive damages; it also awarded $2,841,000 (1978) in compensation to Grimshaw and $665,000 to the Gray family in 1978. The judge then cut the 1978 punitive award to $3.5 million.

In Indiana v. Ford Motor Co., a grand jury indicted Ford on three counts of reckless homicide after a 1973 Pinto crash killed three teenage girls on 10 August 1978. In 1980 Ford was found not guilty. About 117 lawsuits were filed over rear-end Pinto crashes in total.

Later research put the record in context. The legal scholar Gary T. Schwartz, writing in the Rutgers Law Review, found that Pintos made up 1.9% of cars on the road and 1.9% of fatal fire accidents in 1975–76. He judged the rear-end fire record somewhat worse than the subcompact average, but overall safety comparable to its class.

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