How much did it cost Ford to recall the Pinto?
In sum, the cost of recalling the Pinto would have been $121 million, whereas paying off the victims would only have cost Ford $50 million. The Pinto went into production in 1970 without the safety modifications.
What was the most famous Pinto rear-end accident lawsuit?
Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Company was one of the most widely publicized of the more than a hundred lawsuits brought against Ford in connection with rear-end accidents in the Pinto.
Why did Ford pay $82 million to settle an antitrust lawsuit?
This was allegedly done intentionally in an effort to reduce competition and artificially drive up vehicle prices in places like the state of California. Now, Ford Canada has agreed to pay an $82 million antitrust settlement as a result, according to Top Class Actions.
What was the award for the Ford V Pinto case?
Ford appealed the judgment, and the court reduced the award of punitive damages to $3.5 million. However, the court denied Ford’s request to have the punitive damages award thrown out entirely, finding that Ford had knowingly endangered the lives of thousands of Pinto owners.
How much money did Ford lose on the Pinto?
In the Richard Grimshaw case, in addition to awarding over $3 million in compensatory damages to the victims of a Pinto crash, the jury awarded a landmark $125 million in punitive damages against Ford. The judge reduced punitive damages to 3.5 million.
Who won the Pinto case?
An Indiana farm country jury in the 10-week landmark trial found Ford "not guilty" in the deaths of three teen-age girls whose 1973-model Pinto exploded when a speeding van struck it in the rear Aug. 10, 1978.
How much did the Pinto recall cost Ford?
$50 Million in Costs For Ford, the nation's number‐two auto maker, the Pinto controversy has cost more than $50 million, with no end in sight to the legal battles.
How much would it have cost Ford to fix the Pinto?
Ford did a cost-benefit analysis to determine how much it would actually cost to repair the Pinto's gas tank. The actual work to the car would just cost $11 in parts and man-hours, but the delay in launch coupled with the number of cars needing repair would cost Ford a staggering $113 million.
How many Ford Pintos are still on the road?
10,000Once among the most popular cars in America, the Pinto is an endangered species. Of the 3 million Pintos manufactured, experts estimate that fewer than 10,000 are still on the road.
Why did Ford not fix the Pinto?
Simply, Ford's internal "cost-benefit analysis," which places a dollar value on human life, said it wasn't profitable to make the changes sooner. Ford's cost-benefit analysis showed it was cheaper to endure lawsuits and settlements than to remedy the Pinto design.
Why did Ford Pintos explode?
The poor design of the Pinto's fuel tank and rear end made it vulnerable to crashes, even at low speeds, in which the fuel tank would suffer extreme damage and catch on fire, often trapping the car's occupants inside.
When was the last Ford Pinto made?
1980The final production year was 1980, as Ford Escort replaced Pinto in the Blue Oval lime-up. But for 10 years, Pinto was a huge part of American automotive consciousness, with 3,173,491 models built, but cut from the line well before its predicted 11-million-unit build-and-sale.
Was the Ford Pinto a good car?
While reliability was decent, the 20 MPG fuel consumption was good for the time. The Ford Pinto is far from the single worst car ever made, but the thoroughly mediocre quality, an abundance of cost cutting, and a fatal flaw that was willingly ignored make it hard to think of it as anything but one of the worst.
What was the outcome of the Ford Pinto case?
The lawsuit involved the safety of the design of the Ford Pinto automobile, manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. The jury awarded plaintiffs $127.8 million in damages, the largest ever in US product liability and personal injury cases.
What was the outcome of Ford Pinto trial?
Ford Motor Co. was acquitted of reckless homicide by the Pinto jury today after 25 hours of deliberation. The verdict climaxed the 10-week trial of the first American corporation criminally prosecuted in a product defects case.
What happened to Richard Grimshaw?
Mrs. Lilly Gray, the driver of the Pinto, suffered fatal burns and 13-year-old Richard Grimshaw, a passenger in the Pinto, suffered severe and permanently disfiguring burns on his face and entire body. Grimshaw and the heirs of Mrs.
What is a Ford Pinto?
The Ford Pinto is a subcompact car that was manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company in North America from the 1971 to the 1980 model years. The Pinto was the first subcompact vehicle produced by Ford in North America.
What was the Ford Pinto?
The Ford Pinto - The American Museum of Tort Law. Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Company, 1981. The Pinto, a subcompact car made by Ford Motor Company, became infamous in the 1970s for bursting into flames if its gas tank was ruptured in a collision. The lawsuits brought by injured people and their survivors uncovered how the company rushed ...
Who drove the Pinto?
In 1972, a Ford Pinto driven by Lilly Gray stalled as she entered a merge lane on a California freeway. Her Pinto was rear-ended by another car traveling about thirty miles per hour.
Why did Iacocca make the Pinto?
Iacocca, a rising star at Ford due to his success with the Mustang, argued that Volkswagen and the Japanese were going to capture the entire American subcompact market unless Ford produced an alternative to the VW Beetle. As Executive Vice President and later as President of Ford, Iacocca was the driving force behind the program to produce the Pinto.
Why was the plastic in the Pinto thrown out?
So, even when a crash test showed that a one-pound, one-dollar piece of plastic prevented the gas tank from being punctured, the alternative was thrown out as extra cost and extra weight. When Ford was developing the Pinto, the company needed a low-priced car in a hurry to compete with Volkswagen and Japanese imports.
What was Ford's cost benefit analysis?
Ford's cost-benefit analysis showed it was cheaper to endure lawsuits and settlements than to remedy the Pinto design.
How much did the Grimshaws get for their injuries?
Grimshaw and Gray’s family filed a tort action against Ford, and the jury awarded not only $2.516 million to the Grimshaws and $559,680 to the Grays in damages for their injuries, but also $125 million to punish Ford for its conduct. Ford appealed the judgment, and the court reduced the award of punitive damages to $3.5 million.
How did the Pinto exploded?
A spark ignited the mixture, and the Pinto exploded in a ball of fire. Gray died a few hours later.
How much money was awarded to Pinto?
Civil actions were numerous, expensive and embarrassing. A California jury awarded an unprecedented $128 million for a claim against the company as a result of an accident in which a woman was killed and her 13-year-old passenger was burned over 90 percent of his body when her Pinto stalled on a Los Angeles freeway.
When did Ford stop making pintos?
By the time Indiana authorities indicted the automaker in 1979, U.S. sales had declined to 187,708. Ford ceased Pinto production in July 1980, building just 68,179 Pintos that year.
Why was Ford's entry delayed?
Ford's entry was delayed by internal debate. Ford President Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen argued that Ford should stick to where the profits were: large and medium-sized vehicles. Iacocca, then executive vice president of Ford North American Automotive Operations, countered that the imports would capture the American subcompact market unless Ford built a contender. Knudsen lost. Iacocca ordered a rush program to build the Pinto. In 1970, Iacocca became president of Ford.
How many people died in the 1978 Ford Pinto?
On June 9, 1978, Ford agreed to recall 1.5 million Ford Pinto and 30,000 Mercury Bobcat sedan and hatchback models.
What was the low point of Ford?
The low point for Ford came in 1979 when Indiana authorities charged the automaker with reckless homicide in a criminal trial. The case stemmed from a crash in 1978 in which three girls in a Pinto had burned to death after the vehicle was rammed from behind.
What was the first auto company to be indicted for homicide?
A 1979 landmark case, Indiana vs. Ford Motor Co., made the automaker the first U.S. corporation indicted and prosecuted on criminal homicide charges. The Pinto case did more than enrich an army of lawyers.
Why did Ford make the exploding gas tank?
But because assembly-line machinery already was tooled when engineers found the defect , the magazine said, top Ford officials decided to manufacture the car anyway - exploding gasoline tank and all - even though Ford owned the patent on a much safer gasoline tank. Iacocca's $2,000 limit on the car's costs left no money to protect the fuel system, not even a $1 piece of plastic that would have protected the gasoline tank from being punctured, Mother Jones asserted.
When was the Pinto made?
Never one to take a back seat to the competition, Ford Motor Company decided to meet the threat from abroad head-on. In 1968, Ford executives decided to produce the Pinto. Known inside the company as “Lee’s car,” after Ford president Lee Iacocca, the Pinto was to weigh no more than 2,000 pounds and cost no more than $2,000.
Why did Ford crash test the Pinto?
Before producing the Pinto, Ford crash-tested various prototypes, in part to learn whether they met a safety standard proposed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to reduce fires from traffic collisions.
What percentage of fatalities would have survived if Ford had located the fuel tank over the axle?
According to the sworn testimony of Ford engineers, 95 percent of the fatalities would have survived if Ford had located the fuel tank over the axle (as it had done on its Capri automobiles). NHTSA finally adopted a 30-mph collision standard in 1976. The pinto then acquired a rupture-proof fuel tank.
How many lawsuits were filed against Ford in the 1970s?
Between 1971 and 1978, approximately fifty lawsuits were brought against Ford in connection with rear-end accidents in the Pinto. In the Richard Grimshaw case, in addition to awarding over $3 million in compensatory damages to the victims of a Pinto crash, the jury awarded a landmark $125 million in punitive damages against Ford.
What explains Ford's decision?
What explains Ford’s decision? The evidence suggests that Ford relied, at least in part, on cost-benefit reasoning, which is an analysis in monetary terms of the expected costs and benefits of doing something. There were various ways of making the Pinto’s gas tank safer. Although the estimated price of these safety improvements ranged from only $5 to $8 per vehicle, Ford evidently reasoned that the increased cost outweighed the benefits of a new tank design.
When was Ford convicted of homicide?
On March 13, 1980, the jury found Ford not guilty of criminal homicide.
Did Ford upgrade the fuel tank in the Pinto?
Likewise in the Pinto case, Ford’s management whatever its exact reasoning, decided to stick with the original design and not upgrade the Pinto’s fuel tank, despite the test results reported by its engineers. Here is the aftermath of Ford’s decision:
What were the problems with the Pinto?
Consequently, the Pinto contained a major and potentially dangerous design flaw – the car had no classic, heavyweight bumper, as well as little reinforcement between the rear panel and the gas tank. When a Pinto got rear-ended, it was far too easy, even in a relatively minor accident, for the fuel tank to be ruptured, or worse, driven into the differential and punctured by the large bolts that held it in place. On top of this flaw, the doors could very easily jam after an accident, again due to the cracker-box construction that caused the metal to be so easily twisted and compressed. In other words, the Pinto was considered a deathtrap on four wheels.
Did Ford know about the construction problems?
Now the conspiracy begins. Ford was fully aware of all these construction problems. However, people didn’t know that until Mother Jones magazine published a stolen copy of an infamous memo that was sent out to all senior management at the Ford Motor Company.
Was the Pinto a deathtrap?
In other words, the Pinto was considered a deathtrap on four wheels. Now the conspiracy begins. Ford was fully aware of all these construction problems. However, people didn’t know that until Mother Jones magazine published a stolen copy of an infamous memo that was sent out to all senior management at the Ford Motor Company.
Why did Toyota settle?
Toyota Motor Corporation’s $1.2 billion settlement in 2014 was due to unintended sudden acceleration in over 10 million vehicles. The settlement was reached after a four year criminal investigation. The federal court found that the company was negligent in informing consumers about the safety issues, fixing the problems, and was not forthcoming about the problem and its scope. Toyota’s violations also include misleading regulators and Congress.
How much did Fiat Chrysler pay for the steering problem?
Fiat Chrysler paid $105 million for failing to disclose defective steering parts in its top-selling Ram pick-up trucks. Previous repairs to the problem, which causes drivers to lose control, have been unsuccessful. To settle the resulting legal problems, in 2015 the company will offer to buy back over 500,000 Ram trucks and other vehicles. Additionally, more than one million owners of older Jeep models with vulnerable rear-mounted gas tanks will have the option to trade them in or have the repairs paid for by Chrysler.
Why did Nader sue GM?
After more cost-cutting and unscrupulous behavior by GM was exposed, Nader sued the company and used part of his settlement to establish the Center for Auto Safety.
How much did Volkswagen pay for a smog test?
This year Volkswagen Group has agreed to pay an astounding amount, $14.7 billion to consumers as compensation for the company’s use of a device that fabricated emission readings. This is a result of a major class action suit overseen by the federal district court in San Francisco. The Environmental Protection Agency’s investigation determined that this maneuver masked the fact that the cars were producing particles and smog-causing oxides that were up to 40 times higher than the United States requires. Over 475,000 Volkswagen and Audi diesel vehicles were involved.
What is the Ford Pinto case?
Ford Motor Company (119 Cal.App.3d 757, 174 Cal.Rptr. 348) was a personal injury tort case decided in Orange County, California in February 1978 and affirmed by a California appellate court in May 1981. The lawsuit involved the safety of the design of the Ford Pinto automobile, manufactured by the Ford Motor Company.
When did Ford start making the pinto?
In 1968 , Ford began designing the subcompact car that would eventually become known as the Pinto.
Why did Ford challenge the trial court judgement?
Ford contested the trial court judgement on the basis of errors, and contested the punitive damages award on the grounds of an absence of malice and that the punitive damages award was not authorized by statute and was unconstitutional.
What happened to the Pinto hatchback?
A 1972 Ford Pinto hatchback stalled on a freeway, erupting into flames when it was rear-ended by a Ford Galaxie proceeding in the same direction. Lilly Gray, the driver of the Pinto, suffered severe burns to her entire body and resulted in her death by congestive heart failure. 13-year-old Richard Grimshaw, a passenger, suffered severe, permanently disfiguring burns to his entire body. Grimshaw underwent numerous skin grafts and extensive surgeries, but still lost portions of the fingers on his left hand and his left ear in the accident. Doctors estimated that Grimshaw would require many more surgeries within the next 10 years.
What was the Grimshaw v Ford case?
Ford Motor Company was one of the most widely publicized of the more than a hundred lawsuits brought against Ford in connection with rear-end accidents in the Pinto.
How fast was the Pinto in 1972?
Ford tested two production models of the Pinto and prototypes, some of which "were true duplicates of the design car," "to determine, among other things, the integrity of the fuel system in rear-end accidents." Proposed federal regulations required impacts "without significant fuel spillage," up to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) impacts by 1972 and 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) by 1973.
What was the Pinto project?
The Pinto project team held regular product review meetings chaired and attended by Ford vice presidents. The Pinto was approved by Ford's Product Planning Committee, which included Iacocca and other Ford vice presidents. At an April, 1971 product review meeting, a report prepared by Ford engineers entitled "Fuel System Integrity Program Financial Review" was distributed and discussed, which referred to the crash tests of Ford vehicles and estimated the financial impact of design changes to comply with the proposed federal fuel system integrity standards. The report recommended deferring fixes in order to accrue cost savings. Harley Copp, a former Ford engineer and the executive in charge of the crash testing program, "testified that the highest level of Ford's management made the decision to go forward with the production of the Pinto, knowing that the gas tank was vulnerable to puncture and rupture at low rear impact speeds creating a significant risk of death or injury from fire and knowing that 'fixes' were feasible at nominal cost."
How much did Ford pay for the recall of the Pinto?
In sum, the cost of recalling the Pinto would have been $121 million, whereas paying off the victims would only have cost Ford $50 million. The Pinto went into production in 1970 without the safety modifications. According to www.fordpinto.com, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began to investigate the Pinto shortly after its release.
When was the Ford Pinto considered a death trap?
Nowadays, most people are aware that the late great Ford Pinto was widely considered to be a rolling death trap during its reign of terror from 1970 through 1980.
Why did Ford recall the safety kits?
Public outcry and various legal battles forced Ford to institute a recall for dealer–installed “safety kits.” The kits consisted of plastic safety wrappings intended to dull the pointy objects that might otherwise tear through the Pinto’s gas tank in the event of an accident.
What is the slogan of Pinto?
These are just the arguments of the critics, mind you. The general public came up with the unofficial Pinto slogan, “the barbecue that seats four.”
When was the Pinto released?
Critics argue that before the Pinto was released to the public in 1970, Ford knew it was a potentially murderous and tacky–looking compact. Only, instead of recalling the cars for safety retrofits, Ford ran a cost-benefit analysis on the matter and found it would be cheaper to pay off the possible lawsuits of crash victims in out–of–court ...
Can you find the memo for Ford?
An official copy of the memo is nearly impossible to find, presumably because Ford would rather not verify that they did in fact conduct a study weighing a dollar-valued human life against the costs of recalling a car.
