The worst thing about the Pinto's and the Vega's were how quickly they would rust out...but that was nearly every car in those days....other than that they were cute little cars...

For reference:

Let's see - the car was designed to be cheap and a little on the flimsy side, and was pushed through engineering and into production at double pace.

So... what does this observation 'Misunderstood' relate to?

I think they are referring to the rumors that they were unsafe because the gas tanks were in the back, there was a fabricated claim that when struck from behind they would burst into flames...However it turns out they were just as safe as other cars in this category....the upside is that they were cheap to buy used to turn into drag cars....

It was the Crown Vics that burst into flames.

Popular police cars Crown Victorias prone to explode, tied to dea

"Ford knew there could be issues with the position of the car's fuel tank as early as the 1960s, documents obtained by The Palm Beach Post show. Ford has known about this, said Patrick McGroder, an Arizona attorney who represented families of burn victims, including two in Florida. They have known about this forever."

"...there was a fabricated claim that when struck from behind they would burst into flames..."

Maybe the news media rigged them with igniters to get a good story...?

http://articles.latimes.com/1993-02-10/news/mn-1335_1_gm-pickup

What what WHAT? My understanding is that was in fact a proven FACT not rumour.

Can you provide some verifiable and reliable links to prove this was all some fabricated litigation con (which is the only reason I can think of that this was fabricated)!

This isn't going to turn into a global warming true/false argument is it, because those NEVER go well.

I learned to drive in a Pinto station wagon. That car had a rough life, and was the first car I'd ever seen throw a rod. Poor Petey, I miss rear wheel drive small cars every time it snows.

These were good running cars, there really wasn't anything wrong with them compared to all the other vehicles on the road at the time. Their reputation was destroyed because Ralph Nadir wanted to write about how unsafe cars on the road were and used Corvair as his example. The engine out performed volkswagon engines in dune buggies. My Dad made an off road vehicle by cutting down a '65 Volkswagon van and building up from that with angle iron and aluminum sheet metal. It was really unsafe for off road, with no door, no seat beats and no top or windshield and no back seat. It was two wheel drive, and he put a Corvair engine in it with a manual transmission. That thing climbed and was nicknamed the Tin Goat, even though its skin was all sheet metal with pop rivets. I could climb hills that were nearly vertical, where dune buggies with their Volkswagon engines would attempt and start rolling, and we saw buggies take a roll back down, my Dad would take our Tin Goat with no roll bar up those hills and make it. That flat six, rotary engine had the power. I don't have a picture of what it looked like, but to give you the best description I can. It's profile looked similar to a Volkswagon Thing with no doors and no top and no doors. It had fenders that were flat and boxy and you could sit on them. the headlights stuck out the top of the front fenders and you could put your legs around them and sit and we did sit on those fenders and ride around off road during hunting season. We took it places where 4x4's would chicken out and go back.

That flat six, rotary engine

It was a horizontal flat six (Boxer) not a rotary. A tremendously underrated car.

Yenco and John Fitch modified the cars and they were true Porshe eaters. I had a friend with a Yenco Corvair race me in my Triumph Spitfire at Lime Rock and he made me look silly.

The greatest mistake by owners was to run the front tire pressure to 33 or so lbs as it required 18 to 19. ALWAYS READ THE MANUAL!!!!

The movies showing the Corvair rolling over were made without sway bars and with the tire pressure bumped up. It was all staged. Ralph Nadar made his money.

The Pinto had its gas tank placement problems but even more so was the Crown Vic. Several cops died in rear ender collisions with the Crown Vic. by catching fire.

In 1978 when I got out of college and was at my first job, my best friend had a Ford Pinto hatchback. It was an ugly thing and had a NRA sticker on the back windshield.

We used to actually play tag with our cars, just slight bumps. Neither of us had nice cars - I had a Toyota Corolla (with a semi-automatic choke!).

8 years later, I had moved to another job across the country and my friend had developed mental issues and committed suicide - with a gun shot to his head in a commuter parking lot.

I will always remember that Pinto.

Good things about the pinto :

1. Easy to park in parking lots.

2. Small and manuverable.

3. Great gas mileage.

4. Lots of legroom for front seats.

5. Easy to work on engine.

6. Acoustically, great for putting in a high power stereo system.

Bad things about the pinto :

1. While the 4 cylinder engine was underpowered, the 6 cylinder engine was overpowered for the transmission and it was easy spin the rear wheels and burn up clutches.

2. There was a huge blind spot on the right hand side for the hatch back & with the trunk model, not only did you have the huge blind spot, but you also had another huge blind spot because the rear trunk lid was so high, making it easy to bump into things when you were backing up.

3. The solid rear axle and short wheel base made it easy to spin out when braking hard on slippery surfaces.

4. Teeny Tiny side mirrors.

5. Entry doors as wide and long as on the much bigger car, the Chevrolet Camaro.

The Pinto was not the first car to use the top of the gas tank as the floor of the trunk or to put the filler in the middle of the rear panel just above the bumper.

Pintos were tough. I have 9 acres and we used to have 2 Pintos we ran around the woods. Nothing could make it more than a couple hours but those 2 Pintos lasted all summer. One had so much oil leaked under the hood, we would drive it until it caught fire then drove it to the creek and put it out. Wait a half hour to cool and do it again. Both those Pintos ran until for some reason the ring gear on the flywheel would get sheared off and we couldn't start them anymore. Great memories!