I guess some of the older siblings were taking a stroll down memory lane lately, and got on the topic of our 1972 Ford Pinto, and the abuse it suffered at their hands. And yes, that model was in the years that Ford was forced to recall because the gas tank was not reinforced properly, which caused it to explode in moderate rear end accidents. This is a guest blog, written by my brother, Tom, but in my voice. 

The older Weizeorick kids were not very good drivers when they first started out. One car in particular, the 1972 Ford Pinto with the exploding gas tank, was completely beaten up over years of abuse inflicted by the first time drivers. It’s safe to say that there was not a fender or bumper on this car that was not replaced at least once.

The perfect example of our first time drivers starts with my brother, Tom.  He didn’t waste any time making his mark on the Pinto. Within the first ten minutes of driving on his brand new permit, he got in an accident, with our poor mother sitting next to him and a few kids in the car. He was hit in a parking lot, on the rear end of the driver’s side, right by the gas tank. It may, or may not have been Tom’s direct fault, but I’m pretty sure he contributed.

On two separate occasions, my brother John inflicted some serious harm to this car. His first accident happened in the driveway of the house. With his friends standing at the top of the driveway, John decided to show off by speeding up the driveway and taking a sharp turn at the top. Unfortunately he did not clear the brick lamppost at the top of the driveway and took out the back half of the passenger side of the Ford Pinto. In his effort to undo his predicament, he reversed and turned the wheel in the wrong direction, taking out the front passenger side too.

Shortly after the long suffering Pinto was repaired, John was driving to church in the winter and slid past his turn on a patch of black ice.  A car pulled out in anticipation of John’s turn and John hit him with the front end of the car.  While standing around, sorting out insurance on the side of the road, they got to watch another car slide thru the intersection, miss the turn, and smash into the rear end of the Ford Pinto, forcing the Pinto into the back of the first car, causing damage in two entirely separate places on the pinto and that first car. 

The Weizeorick girls were far from perfect. My sister Teresa, (while pulling out of the McDonald’s parking lot after work), somehow rolled over a decorative boulder and took out the underside of the car. The damage included the muffler, tailpipe, and anything else you could damage while driving over a huge boulder. It also took a few McDonalds employees to roll the car off the boulder.

Because there weren’t enough new drivers learning to drive on that long suffering Pinto, my sister Sharon let an unlicensed 15 year old male friend drive the Ford Pinto. He managed to smash into the back end of his parents car while speeding into his family’s driveway.  Sharon originally took the blame for this, but seeing that our parents still got angry, decided to reverse her decision to…. the truth…. which didn’t really work out in her favor either. I think the truth only doubled her punishment. Moral here: make a story… stick with it!

Needless to say the repair shop appreciated all the repeat business for one sorry car.

Recap of damage:

Tom –  Rear driver’s side

John-  Entire passenger side,

John – Front and rear and more

Teresa – underside

Sharon – Front….again

Now if you think this is as much pain as a bunch of kids could inflict on a poor little Ford Pinto .…. you would be wrong.

Many of my older brothers learned that if you go in reverse really fast, drop it into drive suddenly and punch the gas, you could spin the tires. This was their attempt to imitate the muscle cars of the 70s. Unfortunately, the transmission did not appreciate this repeated activity and yes another repair job.  Our dad never understood why the transmission failed with only 30,000 miles.  Maybe now he will. 

So, if you think your car has taken a beating over the years.  Just think about this poor little 4 cylinder, 1972 Ford Pinto (with the exploding gas tank) that had to endure the pain of 1st time drivers from one of the largest families in the neighborhood.

Have a great week everyone!