10 Cars That Sank Detroit

[Nickdfresh]

In what sense? I don't follow.

Why do Americans buy lots of BMWs, Mercedes, Porsches, Toyotas etc but Europeans and Japenese buy so few Chryslers, Dodges etc.

GM certainly owns a lot of car manufacturers that do significant business in Europe, but cars made by Americans have never really taken off over here to the same extent. I was wondering why American manufacturers haven't really focussed on those markets.....

You used to buy GM when you bought Vauxhalls and Opels...

Buicks are HUGE in China...

[ULTRAMAN VH]

Good call Kwami, nice thread to break from the doom and gloom. I will be defending the Pinto, my family had one for years and I learned to drive in it. The damn thing actually had orange interior and wood panels on the side. Ugly as hell, but it got us around just fine. My cousins grandmother had one also which was passed down to him. She had it for years. Guess we were fortunate not to be blown to bits.

[FORD]

Good call Kwami, nice thread to break from the doom and gloom. I will be defending the Pinto, my family had one for years and I learned to drive in it. The damn thing actually had orange interior and wood panels on the side. Ugly as hell, but it got us around just fine. My cousins grandmother had one also which was passed down to him. She had it for years. Guess we were fortunate not to be blown to bits.

I think it was only the first year or two of the Pinto that had the exploding gas tank. Ford moved it after that. My sister had a Pinto in the late 70's. She wasn't afraid to drive it, even when she had a baby, so I know it wasn't the exploding model.

[chefcraig]

I think it was only the first year or two of the Pinto that had the exploding gas tank. Ford moved it after that. My sister had a Pinto in the late 70's. She wasn't afraid to drive it, even when she had a baby, so I know it wasn't the exploding model.

I had an '86 Mustang 5.0, which pretty much used the Pinto chassis as a blueprint. When the car was rear ended while sitting at a light one rainy Florida evening, I could not get the car to start. Come to find out, there is a cut-off switch governing the fuel line from the gas tank that needs to be reset after a rear collision. There was also one in my Ford Ranger, as well. All because of the Pinto.

[Little Texan]

God...I can remember being a kid in the early-mid 70's...and the news reports on the poor Pinto owners who had their cars EXPLODE on them.....

I can remember seeing some on the survivors....BRUTAL

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[chefcraig]

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That is a far better clip than the one previously posted, for one important reason. Watch the "soldier" in the back of the Nazi vehicle. When the truck explodes, he is blasted straight up in the air and lands right back in his seat! I showed this to friends over and over when I first taped it off of a movie channel back in the eighties. It's simply to damned funny to be planned.

Thanks for posting it.

[hideyoursheep]

The Ford Taurus was the Rethuglican car of the early 90's if there ever was one.

I don't know how a car whose debut began in '86 became a Rethuglican car of the early 90's,. If it were such a POS, it wouldn't have sold for 20 plus years.