(Dark humour, a mild warning.)
The Flawed Concept. Mr Ford viewed the tiny cars flooding in with fear, Gutting sales of the gas-guzzlers Henry held so dear, So into the new geeko-friendly no-smoking atmosphere Henry trotted out his Pinto, with its pertly kicked-up rear, So cheeky, chic and cheerful- and so cheap to engineer. His Pinto putting dents in imports sales elicited a grin, But making a profit on compacts means making 'em thin, So, skinnier welds here, there, replace heavy steel with tin; Ford's salesmen lightly told customers 'take 'er out for a spin,' Is emphasising gas mileage over driver safety such a sin?
In harness with rising gas prices, sales of the sippy Pinto rose, In his boardroom see, along with his profits, how his smile grows? Until a rash of memos brought about a wrinkling of Henry's nose; It's safe to say a Pinto's economy is great, as far as gas milage goes But in a tail-ender one is not safe, as any crash dummy knows. Was it a question of saving lives or saving on the cash? Placing a gas tank waaay back was more dumb than rash, The Pinto was a pain in the ass when in a nose-to-tail smash; Percolating Pintos were hotly looked at by Police, Fire and Crash- Hank's cheap-ass petty penny ante profits tanked, and in a flash.
(Mockery aside, a case of money over humanity. Apparently, for the sake of a few nickels and dimes per vehicle in producing these bombs cars Ford could have redesigned and alleviated the problem. Corporate cost-cutting at its best/worst. Ford lost a court case and paid through the nose.)
‘For Sale, Ford Pinto, cool retro classic, original Fire Engine Red paint.’
©Obbverse
