Size and width does matters!

Pinto in the Top Gear Studio

Hello and welcome to the classic Ford Pinto. This car was featured on Car Town as a starter car, we drove it on Forza Motorsport 4 a couple of months ago, and Adam Ferrera drove one at the Top Gear USA's Dangerous Cars episode. The Ford Pinto is definitely not more of a classic but it is very rare to see a Ford Pinto driving around the streets of Seattle. Despite the fact that it produced over two million Pintos are sold, it's too rare to see one, making it a rare classic car you would find in Seattle.

The Pinto emblem

Burning rubber in my Pinto

The Ford Pinto was introduced to the market since September 1970 and it has a powertrain proven in Europe from the European Ford Escort. This is the Runabout model and some say, it competes with cars such as the AMC Gremlin and Chevrolet Vega as well as Volkswagen, Datsun, and Toyota. By January 1971, the Pinto sold over a hundred thousand units and on its last model year, Ford built almost 70,000 Pintos. During its 10-year tenure, over two million Pintos are sold.

Sadly, some media criticized the Ford Pinto not only as the worst car in America but also one of the most dangerous cars to drive, partly because of the fuel tank mounted and the back and rear-ending the Pinto's fuel tank will result in fires from spilled fuel. This resulted the conspiracy of THE PINTO MEMO, coined from a 1977 Mother Jones article where a cost-benefit analysis that it said Ford had used to compare the cost of an $11 repair against the monetary value of a human life. Ford was aware of the design flaw and they don't want to pay for a redesign but rather preparing for lawsuits from casualties.

Leave no asphalt burnt

No wonder the media called the Pinto not only it's one of the worst cars according to TIME Magazine but this is one of the most dangerous cars to drive because the gas tank is bolted to the back and crashing through it may cause flames. That's why there are only a few Pintos lurking around the Fast Food Nation. Something bugs me...this Ford Pinto somewhat do have an identical twin. Something more of a substitute for the Ford Pinto....

Hey! You're that last place from the Top Gear Olympics!

This might be a contender. It's called the AMC Pacer.

The AMC Pacer was been produced in 1975 in the wake of the energy crisis. The Pacer was supposed to be clean and frugal but it turned out to be dirty and very thirsty. In "old" Top Gear, Vicki Butler-Henderson reviewed the AMC Pacer. Several years later, the AMC Pacer took part in Top Gear's Carlympics Challenge episode. Sadly, the power-to-weight ratio of the Pacer didn't make this American compact jump high, 6.2 meters to be exact, sending this to the last place. The AMC Pacer made a movie appearance in Wayne's World. It inspired Cars 2 character, Acer, one of the baddies.

This is the X model of the AMC Pacer. It was available from 1975-1978 on the coupe version of the car until it renamed this variant as Sport in 1978 and later discontinued. It has vinyl bucket seats, sports steering wheel, custom trim, as well as a floor mounted gear shift and front sway bar.

The catchcopy for the AMC Pacer was "The first wide small car". Despite the AMC Pacer discontinued in the 80's, it still gained supporters, including stuntman Evel Knievel, country singer Conway Twitty, and Bridgitte Bardot.

This Pacer is all about charisma

Question...is the Pacer and the Pinto identical? Which is better? The Pinto or the Pacer. I pushed both the Pacer and the Pinto on the straight and the Pacer mullered the Pinto. What about Lap Times? Let's bring it to Le Chevalier D'Stig!

By personal best, the Ford Pinto did 1:48.275 while the AMC Pacer did it in 1:47.448, meaning that they're both very close by a second. That's unbelievable.

By general, I prefer the Pacer more than the Pinto because it has presence. Despite the Pacer is dying due to the oil crisis, it gained many supporters such as Evel Knievel, Conway Twitty, and Bridgitte Bardot. It made an appearance on a film WAYNE'S WORLD and it inspired Cars 2 character Acer. I think this Pacer is becoming more of a fan favorite than the utterly dangerous Pinto. I wouldn't blame anyone who drove the Pacer or the Pinto because they're both epic.