To be fair. The 'Exploding' Pinto was a focused hit piece. Many cars of that era had similar, rear mounted fuel tanks, resulting in some fiery crash scenarios. While not necessarily as safe as it might have been, it was not worse than others in the field. And Ford did extensive testing to get the design certified by DOT.
The people who did the exploding Pinto video destroyed several Pintos with ever increasing speeds and destruction in attempt to create the desired explosion. But without success. Frustrated, they mounted a remotely triggered ignition device and proceeded with a final run at a speed and force which collapsed the rear of the Pinto all the way into the back seat. Fuel spewed everywhere, but still no explosion as the larger car pushed the Pinto along. At which point they triggered the ignition device they had rigged. This is why the resulting explosion was so delayed in the video. The previous videos where no fire resulted were not shown or mentioned. Making it appear as if their first attempt was successful. In other words. It was agenda, not scientific test, driven.
None of this was revealed until after the law suit against Ford was settled.
Not exactly a fair and equitable way to determine fault.
