Ford Pinto
In the ’70s, domestic car manufacturers answered the changing market climate and rising popularity of compact cars with several homegrown models. One of those cars was the Pinto, which didn’t become famous even though it sold millions. It became famous because it was downright dangerous. Introduced in the early ’70s, the Pinto was very popular due to its low price, reasonably good-looking design, and long list of options. It was equipped with economical four and six-cylinder engines and the car’s overall quality was decent. So what was the problem (via Mother Jones)?
While engineering the car, Ford somehow left out protection for its rear-mounted fuel tank. The fuel tank was below the trunk and behind the rear bumper. On most cars, a vital cross member 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. Despite improving the design of the Pinto afterward, the model was soon discontinued and the Pinto went into history books as the “car of death.”