smxi
11-12-2005, 12:37 PM
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 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 and Bobcat, though with a different unibody and powertrain assortment. For the 1981 model year, the Pinto was replaced by the Ford Escort, as Ford transitioned its product line towards front-wheel drive. Over 3 million Pintos were produced over its 10-year production run, outproducing the combined totals of its domestic rivals, the Chevy Vega and the AMC Gremlin. The Pinto and Mercury Bobcat were 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 Pinto has been surrounded by controversy. Its fuel-tank design attracted both media and government scrutiny after several deadly fires related to the tanks rupturing during rear-end collisions. A subsequent analysis of the overall safety of the Pinto suggested it was comparable to other 1970s subcompact cars. The safety issues surrounding the Pinto and the subsequent response by Ford have been cited widely as a business ethics as well as tort reform case study.
Background
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 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[5]). From 1974 to 1978, the Ford Mustang II shared a common platform with the Pinto and Bobcat, though with a different unibody and powertrain assortment. For the 1981 model year, the Pinto was replaced by the Ford Escort, as Ford transitioned its product line towards front-wheel drive. Over 3 million Pintos were produced over its 10-year production run, outproducing the combined totals of its domestic rivals, the Chevy Vega and the AMC Gremlin. The Pinto and Mercury Bobcat were 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 Pinto has been surrounded by controversy. Its fuel-tank design attracted both media and government scrutiny after several deadly fires related to the tanks rupturing during rear-end collisions. A subsequent analysis of the overall safety of the Pinto suggested it was comparable to other 1970s subcompact cars. The safety issues surrounding the Pinto and the subsequent response by Ford have been cited widely as a business ethics as well as tort reform case study.
Product development
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.m 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.
Offered with an inline-4 engine and bucket seats the Pinto's mechanical design was conventional, with unibody construction, a longitudinally mounted engine in front driving the rear wheels through either a manual or automatic transmission and live axle rear end. Suspension was by unequal-length control arms with front coil springs; the live rear axle was suspended on leaf springs. The rack and pinion steering had optional power assist, as did the brakes.
Production history
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 $1,850, 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.
Source: Wikipedia
Ford Pinto #1
The 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 and Bobcat, though with a different unibody and powertrain assortment. For the 1981 model year, the Pinto was replaced by the Ford Escort, as Ford transitioned its product line towards front-wheel drive. Over 3 million Pintos were produced over its 10-year production run, outproducing the combined totals of its domestic rivals, the Chevy Vega and the AMC Gremlin. The Pinto and Mercury Bobcat were 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 Pinto has been surrounded by controversy. Its fuel-tank design attracted both media and government scrutiny after several deadly fires related to the tanks rupturing during rear-end collisions. A subsequent analysis of the overall safety of the Pinto suggested it was comparable to other 1970s subcompact cars. The safety issues surrounding the Pinto and the subsequent response by Ford have been cited widely as a business ethics as well as tort reform case study.
Background
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 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[5]). From 1974 to 1978, the Ford Mustang II shared a common platform with the Pinto and Bobcat, though with a different unibody and powertrain assortment. For the 1981 model year, the Pinto was replaced by the Ford Escort, as Ford transitioned its product line towards front-wheel drive. Over 3 million Pintos were produced over its 10-year production run, outproducing the combined totals of its domestic rivals, the Chevy Vega and the AMC Gremlin. The Pinto and Mercury Bobcat were 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 Pinto has been surrounded by controversy. Its fuel-tank design attracted both media and government scrutiny after several deadly fires related to the tanks rupturing during rear-end collisions. A subsequent analysis of the overall safety of the Pinto suggested it was comparable to other 1970s subcompact cars. The safety issues surrounding the Pinto and the subsequent response by Ford have been cited widely as a business ethics as well as tort reform case study.
Product development
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.m 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.
Offered with an inline-4 engine and bucket seats the Pinto's mechanical design was conventional, with unibody construction, a longitudinally mounted engine in front driving the rear wheels through either a manual or automatic transmission and live axle rear end. Suspension was by unequal-length control arms with front coil springs; the live rear axle was suspended on leaf springs. The rack and pinion steering had optional power assist, as did the brakes.
Production history
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 $1,850, 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.
Source: Wikipedia
Ford Pinto #1