Dave, You mean like the "Exploding" saddle tanks on the Chevy/GMC trucks? All NBC had to do was ignite the fuel tank with a firecracker and claim it was GM's fault! They tried to Re-ignite (pun intended) the contraversey with the Crown Vic police cars. Made Ford jump through hoops to "correct" the problem. Didn't stir up the folks near a smuch as the Pinto deal.
I use a 2005 Crown Vic Police Interceptor as a daily driver. In Ford's "Police Interceptor Modification Guide" they take a lot of care to emphasize how modifications should and should not be made in the trunk. They identify zones which are adjacent to the fuel tank and state that metal fasteners, especially those with sharp points, should not be used to mount equipment in those areas. They state that long metal objects (guns, jacks, tools, etc) should not be stored in the trunk in such a way that they might puncture the fuel tank in a rear-end collision. The message is clear: whatever "exploding police car" problems there have been (and it's debatable whether the problem is any worse than any other car) are due to modifications to the car. The car is safe. Just to cover their a$$, Ford developed a fire supression system which was optional on the CVPIs. In the event of a severe rear-end collision, the system first waits for the vehicle to stop rolling, then empties some halon containers at the rear axle to douse any flames from leaking fuel. The driver can also activate the system manaully. My guess is very few police departments opt for this expensive option.
And everything Toyota builds is gold ou: http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forums/general-discussion/39106-attention-all-current-fjc-owners.html
I recall that NBC thing where they ignited it artificially. GM should have sued them to their skivvies on that, but since they're the media, would spin it around and make GM look like the bad guy. That Pinto thing was bad, but there were a whole lot of other cars with that same fuel tank, filler neck, and trunk to fuel tank relationship like the Pinto. Must be none of them were hit by a drunk in a pickup truck while backing up on a highway with no fuel cap on their car. GM proving grounds was smashing up cars of all flavors back then to analyze the problem. There were dozens of them parked in one area of the grounds in Milford. Some were really burned up. Not all were Pintos. We got a call one day to get our asses out to the assembly line, stop the use of pointed rear suspension bolts and turn around the upper control arm bolts such that the bolt head was facing the tanks,not the nuts with the end of the bolt sticking through.....starting yesterday. Had to change the process around real quick, but l;ike anything else, found a way to get it done.
Don't forget that the previous generation of Chevy/GMC trucks ('68 - '72) the fuel tank was in the pickup cab...behind the seat. K
Wow - several things to cover here! Of course the 63 SD tempest on E-bay was advertised without the owner knowing what he had - makes me wonder if the $4k buy it now would have been honored - probably not. My parents had the musclecar in the 60s and the flower car (no - not a Caddy-camino!) - first a 61 Beetle then a 59 Beetle. The 59 had more options, like a hand-cranked sunroof and some sort of gasoline heater. My dad was driving to Ft. Carson in Colorado (in the winter) and something was wrong with the heater control - my Dad was basically driving in his skivvies - he got a lot of strange looks! (The other car is a 65' 421 HO Catalina - we just moved it a few weekends ago so Dad could start to get it on the road.) A 70 Saab 96 V4 replaced the VW - put over 100K on that Saab. Ah, the media. I still drive my wife nuts when NBC Dateline comes on and I say, "Blowup any pick-ups lately?" Bastards. The Crown-Vics are now "rated" to withstand a 70 MPH rear-end hit. The Panther chassis (Police Interceptor, Grand Marquis, Town Car) are among the safest car one can buy these days. Finally, why is it that many folks will bring up problems with domestic cars but problems with foreign makes is "glossed over"?
I call it The Consumer Reports Effect. They have had an obvious bias for years. Before I bought my used Crown Vic, I researched it and other cars in Consumer Reports at the library. While I don't value their opinion, they do collect a lot of data regarding repairs. The Crown Vic, being based on the Panther platform which has been refined to death for literally decades, had lots of orange circles. In virtually every category, it is a very reliable car. The Toyota Camry had slightly less orange. Yet when it came to giving these two cars an over-all rating, strangely the Toyota outscored the Ford. Hmmmmm. Whatever criteria they are using to arrive at an overall reliability rating, it obviously includes more than just the raw data. Back in the early 80s my family owned two diesels: a VW Rabbit and a Chevy Caprice wagon (with the Olds diesel). My opinion? The GM car was a much better car than the German, despite the eventual demise of its engine at high mileage. But of course the "experts" at Consumer Reports didn't agree. All Hail Volkswagon!
