But at least its bulletproof!
this post was submitted on 09 Feb 2025
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The Pinto got well known for a couple of reasons.
One, the classic "exploding in a rear end collision." The design flaw here was that in certain rear collisions, the fuel tank would be pushed into the rear differential. Not only could this rupture the fuel tank, it could also produce a spark. Boom. Lots of cars had this same design in the 70s, with the fuel tank low in the rear, right behind the rear differential.
Two, the infamous Pinto Memo, which did a cost benefit analysis that determined it would be cheaper for Ford to not fix the problem, and just settle whatever cases came up. This very clearly inspired the Fight Club recall formula scene. Take note that the car used in that scene is a Lincoln Town Car, produced by Ford Motor Company.
The kicker for the Pinto recall? What they did to fix it:
- Two sheets of 1/8" plastic, each about 18" square
- Some long zip ties
- Layer the two sheets over the rear diff, zip tie them to the axle
That's it. My dad pointed this out to me in his shop some time in the late 80s or early 90s. He had a Pinto in for an oil change or something, "Hey, let me show you this." It was such a hacky "repair."
Curious: how effective was that “repair”? Did it actually make a difference at all?
It would have prevented the "spark" part of the failure condition, but not the tank rupturing part.
Stopping the explosions seems like a good enough sort of solution to me
A more appropriate solution would be a plastic shield designed to fit around the whole front of the gas tank, and then appropriately fixed to the vehicle, as opposed to "some hardware store shit."
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Is it me or are there guts in this picture?
Hard to tell. The picture was widely used in the media, and they're usually quite careful about that kind of thing. There's something reddish in it, but it could be material from the truck or its contents. One of the photos the police released of his guns had some red foamy material in it, another photo had some stringy red material (plastic?) lying in the road, and there were various red items in the bed too. I'll mark it NSFW just in case.
The driver was inside the vehicle at the time, so I'm sure some of that is his remains. But a lot is probably burned seat material and such. It's hard to say for sure.
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Really took the wind out of my satirical comment that Musk wanted to bring back the Pinto.
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No shit, it's literally just a big bullet. Or a wrecking ball on wheels.
The only thing that makes the cyberfuck safe is it's pricetag and it's virgin protector looks
And some people wonder why the cybertruck is barely sold outside the US.
Everything I hear about this thing is bad.
keep in mind that while the cybertruck might seem like a bad vehicle, it also is a bad vehicle
It's barely sold outside the US because other places (like the EU) also care about the safety of people outside the vehicle. That's why European and Asian cars (except the models explicitly for the US market like the Tacoma) are designed for pedestrians to be deflected, while US cars are a moving brick wall which will squish them like a bug.
Also, I suspect you'd need commercial plates and a special license to drive it most other places, due to the weight.
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It’s only available in North America / Mexico. It won’t fly with many vehicle regulations outside of the US.
I imagine the sharp edges are more than enough to keep it out of Europe forever. Pedestrians need to be able to roll onto a vehicle in an EU pedestrian collision. The Cybertruck will lop you in half.
But it is so financially efficient! It isn't wasting money on safety.
It seems obvious in hindsight. Sheet metal doors will crumple in a way that can't be opened, trapping occupants. The fire doesn't need to start in the relatively safe and armored battery system. It could be pinched wiring causing a short that ignites plastic interiors, or a fire from another vehicle spreading to the cybertruck.
I'm sure someone mentioned all this to them during design.
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I would trust a Smart Fortwo more than the POS Cybertruck.