Ford rushed the Pinto to market in record time and paid in reputation
Lee Iacocca wanted a small car weighing under 2,000 pounds and costing under US$2,000, to fight the Toyota Corolla and Volkswagen Beetle. His engineers delivered the Pinto in 25 months, against an industry norm of 43, the fastest planning schedule in car history at that point. Staff called it Lee's car.
Speed came from doing things at once. Tooling began while the design was still being refined, and managers discouraged any decision that might slow the schedule. The car itself was conventional: a unibody hatchback or sedan with a four-cylinder engine up front driving the rear wheels, the first four-cylinder Ford offered in North America since the Model B of 1934. Its Kent engine came from Ford of England. It went on sale on September 11, 1970, a day after Chevrolet's Vega, at an entry price of $1,850.
Buyers liked it. Over 100,000 were sold by January 1971, and the best year, 1974, produced 544,209. Henry Ford II bought a hatchback for his own use. A station wagon and a jokey Cruising Wagon with round bubble windows followed, and over ten years Ford built 3,150,943, more than the Vega and AMC Gremlin combined.
Problems began early. Within two months, 26,000 cars were recalled for sticking accelerators, and in March 1971 all 220,000 built so far were recalled over a carburettor backfire risk. The lasting damage came from the fuel tank, which drew heavy scrutiny from the media and government after several fatal fires following rear-end crashes. Later analysis judged its overall safety comparable to other small cars of the decade, but the affair became a standard case study in business ethics and tort reform.
The Pinto was retired in July 1980, replaced by the front-wheel-drive Escort. By then the smaller German-designed Fiesta had already arrived.
Source: Ford Pinto
