Why the ford pinto has so many problems?

Answer 1

First off it was a cheaply built car, but it was also cheap to buy. Pintos equipped with the Kent engine were very dependable. Through early production of the model, it became a focus of a major scandal when it was alleged that the car's design allowed its fuel tank to be easily damaged in the event of a rear end collision which sometimes resulted in deadly fires and explosions. Critics argued that the vehicle's lack of a true rear bumper as well as any reinforcing structure between the rear panel and the tank, meant that in certain collisions, the tank would be thrust forward into the differential, which had a number of protruding bolts that could puncture the tank. This, and the fact that the doors could potentially jam during an accident (due to poor reinforcing) made the car a potential deathtrap. However, a 1991 law review paper by Gary Schwartz, argued that the case against the Pinto was less clear-cut than commonly supposed. 27 people died in Pinto fires. Given the Pinto's production figures (over 2 million built), this was no worse than typical for the time. Schwartz argued that the car was no more fire-prone than other cars of the time, that its fatality rates were lower than comparably sized imported automobiles, and that the supposed "smoking gun" document that plaintiffs claimed showed Ford's callousness in designing the Pinto was actually a document based on NHTSA regulations about the value of a human life rather than a document containing an assessment of Ford's potential tort liability.