Which company manufactured the defective Ford Pinto involved in the 1970s fuel-tank controversy?

Ford Motor Company manufactured the Ford Pinto involved in the 1970s fuel-tank controversy. The compact car was introduced for the 1971 model year to compete with small imported vehicles and domestic rivals.

The Pinto’s fuel-tank design was vulnerable to rupture in certain rear-end collisions. Critics argued that Ford had recognized the potential danger and weighed the cost of a design change against the cost of possible injury claims. The controversy intensified after reports of fires and deaths, and it became a landmark case in debates over corporate safety decisions.

In 1978, Ford recalled about 1.5 million Pintos and related Mercury Bobcats to address fuel-system risks. The scandal is often simplified as a single “cost-benefit memo,” but the broader record involved engineering tests, regulatory standards, lawsuits, and disputed interpretations of internal decisions.