"The White House is running like a '72 Pinto."

[Mopar151]

35. That's an exaggeration, and they ran quite well.

The problem was a filler neck that was too short, and came out of the tank in rear collisions. This was not the case with Pinto station wagons ( I had a '72), and the Ford recall fix worked, and was easy to verify (plate and Torx screws under the gas cap) The larger of the 2 engines was the 2-liter "Cologne" SOHC 4, which was anvil-tough, and the basis of several racing series (Ultimately, the mighty "Sierra"-Cosworth YBM, turbo'd to 400+ hp in World rally). The chassis was a good deal better than the GM offering (Vega, Monza, clones), the front end was the basis for thousands of race cars, street rods, and kit cars.
The real deathtrap of the era was the misbegotten Chevette (I was a GM dealer mechanic then), which had large, pointed bolts in the rear suspension aimed at the gas tank, and inches away. The recall fix was pretty hokey, too. The rest of the car? Opel leftovers and riding lawnmower parts.