6. Ford Pinto
Introduced in the early ’70s, Pinto was very popular due to its low price, fairly nice design and a long list of options. It was equipped with economical four and six-cylinder engines and the overall quality of the car was decent. So, what was the problem?
Well, while engineering the car, Ford somehow left out any protection to its rear-mounted fuel tank. The fuel tank was located below the trunk and just behind the rear bumper. On most cars, there is a strong cross-member which protects the fuel tank in case of a crash. However, the Pinto lacked this feature which became apparent when people started getting killed in fiery crashes caused by leaking fuel tanks. Families of people killed or hurt in such incidents sued Ford and eventually, the company spent millions settling the court cases.