The Ford Pinto is a subcompact car that was manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company in North America, sold from the 1971 to the 1980 model years.
The smallest American Ford vehicle since 1907, the Pinto was the first subcompact vehicle produced by Ford in North America;
the Pinto was also the first mass-produced American car sold with rack and pinion steering.
The Ford Pinto was marketed in three body styles through its production: a two-door fastback sedan with a trunk, a three-door hatchback, and a two-door station wagon.
Mercury offered rebadged versions of the Pinto as the Mercury Bobcat from 1975 to 1980 (1974-1980 in Canada).
From 1974 to 1978, the Ford Mustang II shared a common platform with the Pinto/Bobcat, though with a different unibody and powertrain assortment.
For the 1981 model year, the Ford Pinto was replaced by the Ford Escort, as Ford transitioned its product line towards front-wheel drive.
Over 3 million Ford Pintos were produced over its 10-year production run,
with the Ford Pinto and Mercury Bobcat produced at Edison Assembly (Edison, New Jersey), St.Thomas Assembly (Southwold, Ontario), and San Jose Assembly (Milpitas, California).
Since the 1970s, the safety reputation of the Ford Pinto has been surrounded by controversy;
its fuel-tank design attracted both media and government attention after several deadly fires related to rear-end collisions.
A subsequent analysis of the overall safety of the vehicle indicated its safety was comparable to other 1970s subcompact cars.
The Ford Pinto has been cited widely as a business ethics as well as tort reform case study.
Named for the pony, the Pinto was introduced on September 11, 1970.
The Pinto was a completely new platform, but utilized a powertrain from the European-specification Escort.
Ford Chairman Henry Ford II himself purchased a 1971 Runabout (hatchback) to use as one of his personal cars.
Initial planning for the Pinto began in the summer of 1967, was recommended by Ford's Product Planning Committee in December 1968, and was approved by Ford's Board of Directors in January 1969.
Ford President Lee Iacocca wanted a 1971 model that weighed under 2,000 pounds and that would be priced at less than $2,000.
The Pinto product development, from conception through delivery, was completed in 25 months, when the automotive industry average was 43 months;
the Pinto project was the shortest production planning schedule in automotive history up to that time.
Some development processes usually conducted sequentially were conducted in parallel.
Machine tooling overlapped with product development, which froze the basic design.
Decisions which threatened the schedule were discouraged.
The attitude of Ford management was to develop the Pinto as quickly as possible.
Iacocca ordered a rush project to build the car, and the Pinto became known internally as "Lee's car."
The Pinto's bodywork was styled by Robert Eidschun.
On September 11, 1970, Ford introduced the Pinto under the tagline The Little Carefree Car.
After structural design on alternate body styles encountered obstacles,
Ford offered the Pinto solely as a two-door sedan, with entry level models priced at $1850, undercutting GM's Chevrolet Vega and directly targeting imported models
which included such new competitors as the Mazda 1200 in 1971, the Subaru DL in 1972, and the Honda Civic in 1973.
By January 1971, the Pinto had sold over 100,000 units and 352,402 for the entire 1971 production run.
1974 saw the most Pintos produced in a single model year, with 544,209 units.
The Ford Pinto went on sale on September 11, 1970 in one bodystyle, a fastback sedan with trunk and metal trunklid.
A hatchback became available on February 20, 1971, debuting at the Chicago Auto Show.
In 1971, the Pinto brochure came with a paper cutout Pinto that one could fold to make a 3D model.
Marketed as the Runabout, the hatchback went on sale five days later, priced at $2,062.
By 1972, Ford redesigned the hatch itself, with the glass portion of the hatch enlarged to almost the entire size of the hatch itself, ultimately to be supplemented for 1977-1980 with an optional rear hatch that was entirely glass.
On October 30, 1970, less than two months after introduction, 26,000 Pintos were recalled to address a possible problem with the accelerator sticking on once engaged at more than halfway.
On March 29, 1971, Ford recalled 220,000 Pintos, all Pintos manufactured prior to March 19, 1971, to address a possible problem with fuel vapors in the engine air filter igniting by a backfire through the carburetor.
On February 24, 1972, the Pinto station wagon debuted with an overall length of 172.7 in (4,390 mm) and 60.5 cubic feet (1.71 m3) of cargo volume.
In 1974, to meet federal regulations, 5 mph bumpers were added to both the front and rear.
In 1975, in a move to better compete with the AMC Gremlin, Ford introduced the 2.8L V6; while far less powerful than the Gremlin, the V6 gave the Pinto a feature unavailable in the Chevrolet Vega.
Sales of the Mercury Bobcat were expanded to Lincoln-Mercury dealers in the United States; it was sold as a hatchback and wagon.
As a minor styling update for 1976, the Pinto received the eggcrate grille and chrome headlamp bezels recycled from the Canada-only 1974 Mercury Bobcat.
For the 1977 model year, the Pinto received its first significant styling updates with slanted back urethane headlamp buckets, parking lamps and grille.
In 1978, the Pinto was no longer the smallest Ford sold in the U.S., as the company introduced the Fiesta.
For the 1979 model year, the Pinto saw its last significant styling update.
1980 marked the end of the Pinto's production run.
The safety of the design of the Pinto's fuel system led to critical incidents and subsequently resulted in a recall, lawsuits, a criminal prosecution, and public controversy.
The events surrounding the controversy have been described both as a "landmark narrative" and mythical.
The Ford Pinto has been cited and debated in numerous business ethics as well as tort reform case studies.
In April 1974, the Center for Auto Safety petitioned the (NHTSA) to recall Ford Pintos to address fuel system design defects after reports from attorneys of three deaths and four serious injuries in rear-end collisions at moderate speeds.
On June 9, 1978, days before the NHTSA was to issue Ford a formal recall order, Ford recalled 1.5 million Ford Pintos and Mercury Bobcats, the largest recall in automotive history at the time.
Ford disagreed with the NHTSA finding of defect, and said the recall was to "end public concern that has resulted from criticism of the fuel systems in these vehicles."
The Ford recall placed a polyethylene shield between the tank and likely causes of puncture, lengthened the filler tube, and improved the tank filler seal in the event of collision
Approximately 117 lawsuits were brought against Ford in connection with rear-end accidents in the Pinto.
The two most significant cases were Grimshaw vs. Ford Motor Company and State of Indiana vs. Ford Motor Company.
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