posted
Comment: My father told me that he heard a radio broadcast years ago that told a story involving the designer of the Ford Pinto. Supposedly the young man in his childhood happened onto a burning Ford Model T. It turns out that his father was in the Model T and he burned to death from some kind of accident. The fuel tank at that time was located on the firewall between the engine and the driver. The son grew up, became a designer and decided to move the fuel tank in his new creation to the rear of the vehicle, which became the Ford Pinto. Oh irony!
Posts: 36029 | From: Admin | Registered: Feb 2000
| IP: Logged |
quote:Designer: under the direction of Ford executive Lee Iacocca
On same page of Pinto, Pangra was a redesigned Pinto
quote:The Pinto Pangra was a modified, sporting Pinto produced in limited numbers by a Ford dealer, Huntington Ford in Arcadia, California. Approximately 200 were sold during 1973 and (to a limited degree) 1974, and in addition the components were sold in kit form. A Pangra cost approximately $5,000.
quote:Designer: The Ford Model T car was designed by Henry Ford, Childe Harolde Wills and two Hungarian emigrants named József Galamb and Jenő Farkas. The revolutionary Model T factory assembly line system was devised mostly by Charles E. Sorensen and Charles Lewis.
-------------------- Joseph Z Posts: 1356 | From: Woodbridge, VA | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by snopes: Comment: My father told me that he heard a radio broadcast years ago that told a story involving the designer of the Ford Pinto. Supposedly the young man in his childhood happened onto a burning Ford Model T. It turns out that his father was in the Model T and he burned to death from some kind of accident. The fuel tank at that time was located on the firewall between the engine and the driver. The son grew up, became a designer and decided to move the fuel tank in his new creation to the rear of the vehicle, which became the Ford Pinto. Oh irony!
If you can find a transcript of the liability trial, you will find this is true. And the reason the fuel tanks on Pintos had problems was because a suspension bolt got switched to a longer length which in turn allowed the bolt to make contact with the fuel tank in an accident.
Posts: 129 | From: Dallas | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Most rear-wheel-drive cars from the 1950's to the 1980's had the fuel tank behind the rear axle. Putting it in front of the passengers would either lengthen the hood or intrude into passenger foot-space. You'd also have to wrap it around the transmission somehow. Putting it in front of the rear axle on a live axle car (which most RWD cars were) means you have to either have two tanks or wrap it over the driveshaft, which moves up and down (which is why the tank in the Crown Vic is still back behind the axle). Behind the axle and below the trunk is the only place on a live-axle RWD car that has enough space for a large one-piece fuel tank that has a simple shape.
-------------------- "My neighbor asked why anyone would need a car that can go 190 mph. If the answer isn't obvious, and explaination won't help." - Csabe Csere Posts: 1225 | From: Wichita, Kansas | Registered: Nov 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Gas tanks were in the rear of automobiles long before the Pinto was imagined.
One thing most people don't realize about the Ford Pinto gas tank problem is the nature of the accident that started the fuss. The driver of the Pinto in question had just filled her gas tank, and stopped on the highway to make sure she had put the gas cap back on. A full size van ran into it at 55 mph. That is a disaster for any compact car. Mother Jones magazine picked up the story, raised a fuss, and the Pinto gas tank investigation and recall happened.
Ken
Posts: 140 | From: Arlington, VA | Registered: Dec 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
One of my law professors worked on the prosecution of Ford over a Pinto death...a pretty big deal at the time.
Anyway, while there was a complex amalgam of engineering factors that all combined to make the Pinto more dangerous than other cars in a rear ender, one of the most significant was a trait that went back to the 1964 1/2 Mustang. The top of the gas tank was the bottom of the trunk- they were not separate pieces. This allowed for gas to more easily enter the passenger cabin when the tank ruptured.
-------------------- "I've argued in front of every judge in this state, often as a lawyer." Posts: 1021 | From: Northwest Indiana | Registered: May 2004
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by lawguy: One of my law professors worked on the prosecution of Ford over a Pinto death...a pretty big deal at the time.
Anyway, while there was a complex amalgam of engineering factors that all combined to make the Pinto more dangerous than other cars in a rear ender, one of the most significant was a trait that went back to the 1964 1/2 Mustang. The top of the gas tank was the bottom of the trunk- they were not separate pieces. This allowed for gas to more easily enter the passenger cabin when the tank ruptured.
This is a common ford design , from early mustangs to later Torinos.
Do you want to know the real problems? There were several. The main one was the filler spout into the tak was too short, when hit the tank wound crush and pull the filler tube out of the tank and gas would go every were. The recall was a longer filler tube that went further into the tank.
I know this one first hand, I was working at ford while the recall was going on. Heres a good link....
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic
