"Never mind the fact that this is a Ford Pinto, a car that has been plagued by safety issues throughout its life, most notably a serious rear fire hazard. No, it's the incredible state of disarray that this Pinto was found in that makes it perhaps the most unsafe car we have ever come across."
Careful what you say as I drove one just like that (my station wagon was baby blue color) for about 4 years. I kept it immaculate and I never had any accident but it was flimsy because I could dent it in certain places with a good punch with my fist. Also my carburetor came loose twice. It was also noted for it's acceleration.... that is if you step on the gas pedal and count to about 10, you will see some acceleration. I remember my mom who wasn't a fast driver ask me if it accelerated after she had to use the car. I think I seriously told her to count to 10 or so then. That may seem dangerous but you learn to compensate for it after a while. It was good on gas but I don't remember what it got because gas wasn't a costly item then.
Somehow that car reminded me of the Mel Gibson movie "The Road Warrior". ^_^
TDD
Gas tank aside, I've seen many other cars that rank up with it. I had a '64 Karmen Ghia convertible. I could make the front fender move up and down by shaking the windshield frame. Not to mention a lot of other things like no heat, no defrost (well, I did carry an ice scraper for inside) openings in the floor pan, etc.
think on it, I've
I had a 1972 Pinto and it was a great car. Never had one gas tank explosion. Excellent German made motor. Brand new I think it cost less than $2000.00
I'm not sure I see the problem.
What type of accident occurs more often - a rear end hit or a T-bone to the passenger side door?
What happens when a Pinto is rear-ended?
In this case the safety conscious owner simply moved the gas tank out of harm's way.
I give him credit.
I had a '66 Rambler Ambassador with a busted motor mount.
If I stomped on the gas during a left hand turn, the motor would shift and the fan would hit the shroud, bending the tips over so that they scraped the radiator when the motor came back down. It made a heck of a racket when that happened.
I kept a pair of vise grips in the car so I could straighten out the fan blades whenever it happened.
The Blues Brothers mentioned my car in one of their songs, 'B' Movie Box Car Blues:
Next I caught a ride with a gambler's wife She had a brand new lay down Rambler She parked inside of town, layed the Rambler down She said she sure could dig if I'd knew her
The term "lay down Rambler" referred to the fact that the back of the front bench seat reclined until it was level with the rear bench, turning the inside of the car into one large bed.
You OBVIOUSLY did not look at the pictures. A real flintstone machine
- no floorboards left - and the triver's seat perched on top of an old tire, a boat gastank where the passenger's seat should have been - not sure what was holding it up because there was no floor in the footwell area - - - -
The Ghia Convert had no heat or defrost from the time it was about 6 weeks old - - -
Not even close. A '65 or newer Corvair was as safe as any other car on the road - and a '64 or earlier no worse than a VW, which used an almost identical rear suspension geometry and had the same high polar moment of inertia
And he had a handy place to ditch the tank if he saw an accident coming - and an escape hatch in case of upset.
Being a glutton for punishment, I owned 4 Corvairs. Even the 61 handled great as far as I was concerned.
Also had a '63, '65 and '66.
From '65 on, the car had 4 wheel independent suspension like the Corvette Sting Ray.
Never had one that didn't get engine oil smoke into the passenger compartment.
I live in MN and see stuff like that on the roads all the time. There's no kind of regular vehicle inspection up here, and there are lots of rural communities with low-income families where vehicles get run into the ground, then revived and run some more. That and lots of deer to hit, and the harsh winters & road salt to really destroy the bodywork...
cheers
Jules
I think some official ones around probably weren't much better - e.g. chop off the existing steering column, add a new one on the other side of the vehicle, and sling a chain around sprockets attached to the two (AMC Pacer).
cheers
Jules
I know a guy who took a Pacer body & interior and mounted it way up high on an International Harvester frame to use as a snow plow.
When his Harvester body rusted out, he went with a body style that had lots of glass for visibility.
It was a very strange looking vehicle.
I had a '62 Corvair Monza. It had a comfortable bucket seat, handled well and was probably the most fun car to drive that I ever had. Great in snow too.
I've disliked Ralph Nader ever since his hatch job on the Corvair.
By 64', (I had one of those also) the Corvair had the upgraded rear suspension and handled great.
Of course all Corvairs were "street oilers"....... check the gas & fill up the oil. Also, the standard heater blew oil fumes into the passenger compartment. :(
cheers Bob
A set of Viton "O" rings on the push-rod tubes solved that problem permanently - in about 1969 they cost all of $15.
That was almost a days pay for many in the area I live in back then. Now it would be about $ 200 for the set. Also if you could not do it your self, it would be much more. Too bad GM did not spend a few extra dollars on them when the motor was built.
True. And the Federal minimum wage was $1.30 an hour.
That's about 14 hours worth of minimum wage work, after taxes.
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