[Bret L]

Those were the primary brands' flagship small cars in the 1970s. It
is interesting to look at both and see where their makers went wrong.

The Vega was a stylish little car that on the surface seemed to be a
worthy successor to the Corvair, which cost a fortune to build. GM
spent as much to build a Corvair as Porsche did to build the 911,
which was more than twice the price (and in its current iteration
costs about five times as much as a comparable non-WGBD car). The
Vega was designed for low build cost above all else, incorporated much
innovative technology, and was built in a factory built from scratch
to produce it economically.

The Vega was at first very popular with performance buffs who would
modify it and it was easily made into a fine handling little car.
However, within a couple of years it was apparent that the Vega had
serious issues. GM had shaved so much build cost that the Vega was
really a disposable car, one that could not be kept from
disintegrating if driven on roads very much. Corrosion proofing was
nonexistent, and the sheetmetal was as thin as they could make it.

Mechanically it was a disaster too. The engine was built without iron
liners and the bores wore out in thirty or forty thousand miles, the
automatic transmission was undersized even for the small four, the
rear end was undersized too. The front brakes were fine if you drilled
the rotors but the rear drums just didn't hack it. The steering was
marginal too in terms of ruggedness. GM had indeed designed the whole
car with precision...precisely just too little metal to hold up.
Though pretty, it was a lost cause and most went to the crusher with
gaping rust holes in an all too short life.

The Pinto was a different story. Not as stylish as the Vega, it was
mechanically well built with a selection of US, Brit and German Ford
engines most of which were quite reliable and hot-rodder-friendly.
(They are still well supported and used as race car and dune buggy
engines.) The front end of the Pinto was well designed, so much so
that the Pinto front end is still popular 35 years later as the
underpinning for street rods, custom trucks and all sorts of resto-mod
cars. The solid rear axle, while not the legendary nine inch Ford, was
entirely adequate. The car was not glamorous but it did provide
reliable and even fun transportation. It had one flaw: if rear ended
the gas tank could rupture and ignite. In fact it turned out Ford had
reason to know of the issue but did nothing, and the publicity tainted
Ford for decades.

The sad thing is that if the Vega had been well rustproofed and had
the Pinto's driveline and front end, it would have been a great car.