For this special live benefit episode recorded in Atlanta, Josh and Chuck go back to the 70s and look at the decidedly ungroovy course of events that led to Ford recalling its Pinto after people started burning up in them.
AI Summary
# Summary
In this special live episode recorded at the Buckhead Theater in Atlanta, Josh and Chuck dive into the fascinating and disturbing history of the Ford Pinto, one of the most infamous cars ever made. They explore how Lee Iacocca's aggressive timeline and cost-cutting mandates led to dangerous engineering decisions, including a fuel tank positioned dangerously close to the rear bumper with sharp bolts nearby that could puncture it in low-speed crashes. The episode reveals how Ford engineers knew about these catastrophic safety flaws before production even began, conducted secret crash tests proving the danger, and had three simple solutions available—but chose to ignore all of them, largely because of corporate culture that prioritized cost and trunk space over human safety.
Fight Club
1999
2h 19m
★ 8.4
"Do you guys see Fight Club? Remember Edward Norton's job? — Chuck references Edward Norton's character in Fight Club who calculates whether recalls are worth the cost, comparing it to Ford's cost-benefit analysis regarding Pinto safety."
— Chuck
"On the podcast, Hey Dude, the 90s called, David Lasher and Christine Taylor, stars of the cult classic show, Hey Dude — Hey Dude is referenced in the advertisement/intro segment promoting a nostalgia podcast about the 1990s featuring stars from the original show."
Straight Talk
1992
PG
1h 31m
★ 6.0
"I used to think in a happier time that it was called Straight Talk, but that's a Dolly Parton movie. — Josh confuses Lee Iacocca's book title 'Talking Straight' with the Dolly Parton movie 'Straight Talk' before being corrected."
— Josh
Stranger Things
2016
★ 8.6
"It's Winona Ryder's car in Stranger Things 2. — Josh mentions that a Ford Pinto is featured as Winona Ryder's character's car in Stranger Things season 2."
— Josh
"I'll read it in the voice of Lionel Hutz of The Simpsons. The great Phil Hartman. — Chuck adopts the voice of Lionel Hutz, a character from The Simpsons, to read a quote from a Ford attorney about settling Pinto cases rather than going to jury trial."
— Chuck
The Wizard of Oz
1939
1h 42m
★ 7.6
"they started circling the courthouses, like the flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz — Josh uses the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz as a metaphor for lawyers circling Ford with lawsuits regarding Pinto safety cases."
— Josh
Top Secret!
1984
1h 30m
★ 7.1
"Has anyone seen the movie Top Secret? Remember that one? Val Kilmer? — Josh references a scene from Top Secret where Val Kilmer's character on a motorcycle causes Germans to swerve and hit a Pinto, which explodes, as an example of how the Pinto's dangerous reputation was reflected in pop culture."
— Josh
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