Oh the nostalgia

[Joeronimo Caffiend]

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

Ah yes, the famous Ford Hindenburg coupe.

[Alpo]

 

I remember a cartoon I saw in Playboy (I of course only read Playboy for the articles and the cartoons)

 

He got a campfire. Three cowboys standing around it. Got a picket line run between two cacti. Four horses. One of the horses, you can barely tell that it was black and white spotted, is upside down doing the dead cockroach, and is burning. The fourth cowboy is standing there staring at the burning horse.

 

The caption says, POOR SLIM. HIS PINTO EXPLODED.

[Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795]

I had a 75 wagon, that I lost in a divorce. Also a '72 a little later, butterscotch with the fake wood sides. 2000cc with a four speed. Also had a '79 Mercury version hatchback( glass yet!) 2300cc four speed. That one was bought new and had a lousy paint job that the factory had to pay for a repaint on.

[Singin' Sue 71615]

1 hour ago, Joeronimo Caffiend said:

Oh my WORD!!!

I really think I'm going to hell for laughing!!!

[Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062]

 ..... no Dear, not for laughing at that ........   

[Pat Riot]

1 hour ago, Alpo said:

 

I remember a cartoon I saw in Playboy (I of course only read Playboy for the articles and the cartoons)

 

He got a campfire. Three cowboys standing around it. Got a picket line run between two cacti. Four horses. One of the horses, you can barely tell that it was black and white spotted, is upside down doing the dead cockroach, and is burning. The fourth cowboy is standing there staring at the burning horse.

 

The caption says, POOR SLIM. HIS PINTO EXPLODED.

I went looking for that cartoon. Got sidetracked. Took me half an hour to realize I forgot what I was looking for…

[Alpo]

40 minutes ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Took me half an hour to realize I forgot what I was looking for

That sounds so damn familiar

[watab kid]

i cant believe there is still one intact in that condition , 

[Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438]

I was so taken with the flame job that I missed the flammable cargo sign on the rear deck....

 

LL

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

5 minutes ago, Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438 said:

I was so taken with the flame job that I missed the flammable cargo sign on the rear deck....

 

LL

 

Undoubtedly shod with Firestone 500 tires....   

[Cyrus Cassidy #45437]

They sure don't make nostalgia like they used to...

[Pat Riot]

When I left home some friends of mine had a Pinto. I actually liked that car and it drove very nicely. One day when I was driving Susan, my friend’s wife, to the store I asked her if the car had been fixed in the recall. She said “What recall?”. The car still had the original gas tank punching bumper assembly on it. 

We drove to the Ford dealer to have it scheduled for repairs which they did that day. 
After all the news over Pintos blowing up or catching fire these two somehow missed it. 
 

[Rye Miles #13621]

I had a 72 Pinto Runabout, 4 speed hatchback. Great little car and I never got rear ended so that's why I'm still here!!

[Alpo]

2 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

The car still had the original gas tank punching bumper assembly on it. 

So that's what it was all about? I never had a Pinto, or even ever rode in one, so for me it was just hearing about how Pintos exploded when they got rear-ended. Never knew why. Never was interested enough to find out.

[Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795]

I noticed it, but the backwards flame job caught my eye first.

[Utah Bob #35998]

Treś apropos! 

[Seamus McGillicuddy]

 

[Cypress Sun]

1 hour ago, Seamus McGillicuddy said:

 

 

From my favorite low budget comedy movie all time. The Gods Must Be Crazy.

 

I'm not sure what a Ford Pinto was doing in Australia though.

[Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062]

7 hours ago, Cyrus Cassidy #45437 said:

They sure don't make nostalgia like they used to...

 

 

 ........ please consider this line as STOLEN .......   

[Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062]

8 minutes ago, Cypress Sun said:

 

 

 

 

I'm not sure what a Ford Pinto was doing in Australia though.

 

 ........ not that much ....

[Michigan Slim]

I was in the back seat of one when the driver crossed the center line. A conversion van topped the hill also across the line. Didn't go well for us. 

[Alpo]

23 minutes ago, Cypress Sun said:

 

From my favorite low budget comedy movie all time. The Gods Must Be Crazy.

 

I'm not sure what a Ford Pinto was doing in Australia though.

I have not seen THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY, but that clip was from the Val Kilmer movie TOP SECRET, and they were in East Germany.

[Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795]

The Pinto in that movie clip had the later "Safer" rear bumper.

[Cypress Sun]

45 minutes ago, Alpo said:

I have not seen THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY, but that clip was from the Val Kilmer movie TOP SECRET, and they were in East Germany.

 

Oops, you are quite correct. Got my movies mixed up. The Gods is my favorite low budget movie though.

[watab kid]

i did not know there was such a thing as - ".. the later "Safer" rear bumper...." 

[Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438]

15 hours ago, Alpo said:

So that's what it was all about? I never had a Pinto, or even ever rode in one, so for me it was just hearing about how Pintos exploded when they got rear-ended. Never knew why. Never was interested enough to find out.

 

How quickly this stuff passes from our social consciousness.  Ford manufactured the Pinto on an accellerated design/build schedule, and missed the fact that the rear bumper and gas tank design left the tank exposed to a higher than normal likelihood of penetration (and resulting ignition) in the event of a rear end collision. (Note: there was a continuing debate over whether the result would have been any different even with the redesigned fuel system; the Pinto was stopped in the right travel lane while the driver searched for her car's missing gas cap, and was struck from the rear by a 2 ton van with a modified plank front bumper, doing 55 mph; the other driver was in possession of alcohol, drugs and other mind-altering substances, and never braked or changed course.)  After some dramatic accidents, it came out in litigation that Ford knew about the "defect", but after performing a risk benefit analysis concluded that the cost of recalling and retrofitting the cars grossly exceeded the likely cost of litigation and judgments from injuries and deaths in resulting accidents.  It was a method of assessing risk that had been suggested by courts in prior decisions, but on paper (and in front of a jury) it looked like cold-blooded greed and absolute lack of concern for the human lives lost in the accidents that followed.  The jury punished Ford with $126 million in punitive damages in one death case, sending Ford (and much of the auto and financial industries) into a tizzy.  Even after agreeing to retrofit the affected cars with gas tank protection, Ford could not give away used or new models, and one of its best sellers was poisoned and lost.

 

LL

[Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795]

The '72 wagon I had still had the thin bumper. I hadn't thought about it at the time. Had some carb trouble with it, but nothing else. The '79 Merc( Bobcat) had some carb troubles as well and didn't get very good mpg until gasohol hit the area. For some reason it really liked it and did pretty good mileage wise on it. Go figure!

[Sixgun Sheridan]

On 6/8/2021 at 8:24 PM, watab kid said:

i cant believe there is still one intact in that condition , 

 

They became even more rare after two dozen Pintos on parade collided when the lead Pinto suddenly had to stop:

 

[Henry T Harrison]

Don’t forget the Chevrolet Corvair with the rear engine and the fuel tank in your lap. 
Remember the mantra “Unsafe at any speed”

[Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795]

Yeah, Nader killed that one.

[watab kid]

those were two that came to mind with the gremlin - goldfish bowl on wheels 

[Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795]

That was the Pacer, I believe. Wife called them an "Upside down bathtub on wheels".

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

For what it's worth, the Pinto was statistically no more dangerous than any other car of it's size at the time... and in fact a bit safer than some.

 

I'd take a Pinto over a Chevy Vega!  The Vegas had aluminum blocks, but the early ones had no cylinder sleeves.  Gee... aluminum blocks, aluminum pistons, and cast iron rings - some folks were surprised when the engines wore out.  As I recall, the later engines were sleeved.  I knew a fella who had a machine shop, and he got good at boring the cylinders and sleeving 'em.

[watab kid]

4 hours ago, Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795 said:

That was the Pacer, I believe. Wife called them an "Upside down bathtub on wheels".

your right - the pacer , the gremlin was not much better tho