The Ford Pinto · 1968 to 1970
The $11 Question
A small car must weigh under 2,000 pounds and cost under $2,000. A crash test just showed a problem.
- Ages
- 13 to 15
- Time
- About 20 minutes
- Shape
- 3 decisions and a defense
Part 1 of 3 in the series Engineers on the Line
The situation
In 1968, Ford set out to build a small car under 2,000 pounds and under $2,000, ready in about 25 months. No federal rule yet covered rear-crash fuel safety.
Then the company's own rear-crash tests showed the fuel tank could puncture. Engineers knew of fixes that cost a few dollars a car. The price, the weight limit and the launch date were all set from above.
Your teen sits where the engineers and managers sat, at three points in the life of a small car, and decides what a few dollars is worth.
The background is real. The decisions are an imagined game set in it, so your teen can practice the same kind of reasoning. What really happened is shown only after your teen writes a defense.
What it builds
Weighing cost, schedule and safety when every option has a price, and saying who carries the risk.
Weighing trade-offs
Names what is gained and lost for each option and chooses on purpose.
Using evidence
Backs each claim with a specific fact from the simulation.
Judging risk
Names likely and severe risks and how to reduce them.
Seeing other sides
Explains how other players see it and predicts their moves.
Subjects it touches: History, Engineering, Ethics, Business. It sits beside your core curriculum; it doesn't replace it.
Try the first decision
A short preview. It has no AI and saves nothing. Want the background first? Play the free taste
Decision 1 of 3 · Preview, no AI, nothing saved
It is the design stage of a new small car. A rear-crash test on an early prototype shows the fuel tank can push forward and tear at a moderate speed. No one has been hurt; this is a lab test. Leadership wants a recommendation this week.
Opening soon.
Accounts open shortly. Every student gets 15 free tutor messages, enough to try a mission. After that, $888 a year or $88 a month for one student.