The Pinto was a good idea for a car at the right time, but with one major problem: the gas tank would rupture and catch fire during a rear end collision. In addition, the doors would often jam in these collisions. The combination was not just fatal, but also very frightening to potential consumers. Deadly car crashes are a common occurance, but being burned to death while in a steel cage is just a lot scarier.

The Pinto body style was similar to the Maverick, but with a fastback rear and a little shorter. It came as a two door coupe, 3 door hatchback called a runabout, two door station wagon, and a Cruising Wagon that was more of a conversion van. Remember how popular vans were in the 70's? Yeah, even the little cars could be purchased as a van. In case you're wondering, there was a Pinto Squire, with the same faux wood side panels as the Country Squire wagon. People in the 70's loved fake wood as well.

The 1.6 L engine was more than capable for a car the size of the Pinto. A 2.0L, 2.3L, and eventually a 2.8L Cologne V6 were available later on in production. It was more reliable than the engine in the competing Chevy Vega. Road & Track rated the car lower than the Vega, but higher than the AMC Gremlin.

You can find these listed on eBay, and you'll also find some in classified car ads. They are not as rare as some will have you believe. There are all sorts of crazy urban legends about 90% of these being destroyed at some point due to fires from fender bender collisions. They are not true. Only 27 people were killed in Pinto fires, out of over 2 million sales. Most Pintos still on the road today have had a very minor repair that prevents the gas tank from being punctured as easily.