The 10 Most Infamous Automobile Scandals

Joking Around: The Ford Pinto Bites The Dust

In the 1970s foreign car makers (especially those in Japan) were introducing smaller, cheaper, and more fuel-efficient cars into the American market. As a result, Ford introduced the Pinto, an economical alternative to foreign imports. The Pinto was a solid success, with more than 300,000 cars being sold the first year.

Ford knew before it had sold even one Pinto, however, that the cars were dangerous. In a rear-end collision, the fuel filler neck was often knocked loose, and it punctured the fuel tank and sprayed fuel into the car’s interior. In accidents during the 1970s more than 900 people died as a direct result of the flaw. In 1973 a company memo pointed out that adding an $11 part could prevent the issue with the fuel neck, or adding a $1 shield to the tank could prevent ruptures. The company accountants had decided making those modifications was more expensive than just fighting lawsuits. After many accidents and a public outcry, the Pintos were recalled in 1978.

The Pinto became the butt of jokes, a car nobody wanted to buy.