Oldsmobile joins Plymouth: RIP

Incorrect. The fires, which were actual and not "alleged", happened
because in a rear impact, the fuel filler pipe was ripped from its body
moorings and tank grommet, causing fuel to be liberally sloshed around.

Actually, the Pinto led to the devisement and promulgation of Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 301, Fuel System Integrity, which caused
significant redesign and repositioning of fuel tanks in virtually all
North American-market passenger cars.

DS

 

I found myself looking all over, trying to find what you said - other
than your ignorant anti spam sig. Then I realized, you are just
another moron top poster.

 

There's actually an interesting "what might have been" scenario
regarding the Pinto. When the Ford engineers first designed the car it
not only had a dual walled fuel tank with a sealable filler nozzle that
would have completely prevented spills caused by a rear-end crash but
also front seat airbags as standard equipment. Both items were
revolutionary for an "everyday Joe" car and would have changed the
industry, however a business decision was made to save a few bucks
during the gas crisis of the day and those two items got the axe. So the
car that could have been famous for making safety a concern in a "good"
way actually ended up making safety a concern in a "bad" way. Either
way, the Pinto achieved everlasting recognition...

Makes you wonder what the engineers are designing into today's cars that
the executives remove in order to add $$ to the profit margin and make
the shareholders happy!

--


Alex Murphy

***Remove NOSPAM from address***

 

So people need a gas guzzler to tow their even worse gas guzzler? I live in
Florida, the boat capital of the US, and I think more attention needs to be
paid to boat fuel economy. I know people who burn 200+ gallons of gas per
weekend in their boats. People need to compromise and give up a bit, I
think.

 

....and as a result, the relationship between the automakers and US
regulators grew even more acrimonious and distrustful. US regulation of
auto safety standards is a shitmess compared to the international ECE
system adhered to in virtually the entire rest of the world outside North
America, but that's because the automakers in the part of the world where
that system germinated worked cooperatively with the authorities to
develop, promulgate and improve safety standards. It's shortsighted
actions like you describe from Ford that stuck us with what we've got now
in the US, which is why I have no sympathy when the automakers bitch and
whine about NHTSA. They made their own bed. Problem is, all of us have to
lie in it.

DS

 

If "here" is rec.autos.driving, then, yes - you are correct - I haven't
done any reading there other than what gets crossposted to r.a.m.c.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

Thats called voting left, living right.
wvk

 

I think a better statement than the one you posted would be - "That's called
the blind leading the blind"!

 

I highly suspect that we all, including you and I, have things that we
don't truly "need". The sticky wicket is that I don't think you want me
telling you what you "need" and that you have to get rid of everything
else, and vice-versa.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

I don't think the liberal elite are blind at all. They know exactly
what they are doing. They want to take from you so they have more.
Just like the feudal lords of days gone by.


Matt

 

I had to sit in the back of a Blazer for a 1.5 hour car trip. It was
not very comfortable at all. In terms of comfort and space, it seemed
pretty comparable to the back of a Corolla. For a long drive, I'll take
a luxury minivan any day, and any seat

Lisa

 

Wow! At more than $2/gallon, that's > $400 worth of gas a week just in gas
for a boat.

Back in the "good old Soviet days", Russians all drove pretty much the same
kind of car. The government specified the kind of car everyone could drive
and that's what everyone drove! They had between 40 and 90 hp with no
computer or complicated wiring. People felt very lucky to have one. No one
had a boat to tow.

 

Hmm. You're the one "looking all over." Who's really the moron?


** To email a reply, please remove everything up to and
including the underscore in my email reply header.

 

Turn it around. You are driving your VW beetle, and the Caprice
classic ahead of you stops. You don't get stopped in time, and the VW
catches fire, burning you to death.
The VW gastank was every bit as vulnerable, and more VWs had front end
collisions than Pintos were rear-ended.(neither one had terribly good
brakes)

Didn't hurt VW sales any.

 

What source did you use for your VW-front-enders vs. Pinto-rear-ender
crash stats? And what did it tell you about Pinto *fires* vs. VW *fires*?

The air-cooled VW Beetle was a deathtrap in numerous different ways. Does
that make it a valid defence of the Pinto? I think not.

DS

 

The only real serious deficiency on them was the door latch assembly -
the "pin" on the jam had a nasty habit of breaking out of the "B"
pillar.
It was not an easy fix.

 

There is always something. Anyway speaking of Timex... anyone
remember those commercials? Anyone remember when watches actually did
tick? Thank goodness for batteries and quartz crystals and all but
ahh the memories.

** To email a reply, please remove everything up to and
including the underscore in my email reply header.

 

IT's official, you're now an educated idiot. Perhapse you should go
do some reaserch on what caused the Pinto fires. It was only 1971 and
very early 72 models....

 

Incorrect. THat was not the Pinto fires. The Pintos had the tanks
explode. THe fuel neck problem was very early Mustangs and some LTDs.
Your information is inaccurate. Like I said, stick to lighting.

 

Tanks explode? Just how did this occur?


Matt