There was a 1990s car that did even worse than the (original) Ford Pinto in rear crash testing. And yes, it was sold in the USA.

The Ford Pinto was well known as being a death trap in rear-end collisions, even for its time. These things would spew gas and sometimes catch fire even when hit at speeds of less than 30 mph, leading to numerous lawsuits and a bad reputation that persists nearly a half-century after the last one rolled off the assembly line. Ask a random person on the street to name a dangerous car, and there's a good chance they'll say "Ford Pinto". Even if they weren't born yet when the car was in production. 

The Pinto's design goals were to be cheap and light; Ford president Lee Iacocca wanted the Pinto to cost no more than $2,000 and weigh no more than 2,000 pounds. The Pinto went on sale as a 1971 model for $1,919 ($15,863 today) and weighed 1,950 lbs. Safety features add both cost and weight, so Ford kept safety features to a minimum, and even lobbied to have Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 301, which would require the vehicle to withstand a 30 mph rear impact with no fuel leakage, delayed. By the time the standard went into effect on September 1, 1976 for the 1977 model year, Ford had built six years of explody Pintos. Ford did fix the Pinto as the standard went into effect, and the 1977-1980 Pinto passed the test. 

Around 1978, NHTSA did a series of rear-end crash test to gauge how dangerous 1971-1976 model Pintos were in rear-end collisions, and the results proved the danger. The crash test I've shown had a 1971 Chevy Impala rear-end a 1971 Pinto at just 30 mph. Unfortunately, the exact amount of fuel leakage is lost to history, but it was obvious enough to catch on camera. It's obvious that it exceeds the 5 ounces in the first 5 minutes following the crash by several times, though. 

By 1988, new cars that could catch fire in moderate-speed rear crashes seemed to be ancient history. Everything - from econoboxes to luxury sedans - offered that baseline level of protection at 30 mph. It had long been Federally mandated; it was like expecting a car from 2009 to come with functional airbags. 

In late 1988, for the 1989 model year - the 13th model year that FMVSS 301 was in effect - Peugeot released their 405 sedan to the American market, one year after its domestic French introduction. On the surface, the $14,500-20,700 ($38,994-55,667) Peugeot 405 was a sophisticated European sports sedan, an offbeat alternative to a Mercedes 190E, BMW 3-Series, Audi 90, Saab 900, or Volvo 240. All of which were known for being safer than the average car. 

The Peugeot 405, on the other hand, had a nasty secret hiding under its sleek skin. When NHTSA tested one in a 30-mph rear end crash test, it leaked 42 ounces of fuel in the first 5 minutes - over 8 times the maximum allowed. And while the Pinto's occupant compartment remained largely intact, the 405's rear seating area was crushed enough to severely buckle the doors, roof, and push the rear seats forward by probably a foot. Keep in mind that the Pinto was a hatchback and the 405 a sedan with a full trunk with what should have been a much larger rear crumple zone. 

The 405's crash test was actually EASIER than the Pinto's. The barrier was 3,998 lbs. - about the exact same weight as a 1971 Impala - but the 405 weighed 2,648 lbs. instead of the Pinto's 1,950. This meant that the Pinto was dealing with an impact from a barrier 2.05 times its own weight, while the 405 only had to deal with 1.51 times its own weight. In other words, the 405 had it about 25% easier (kinetic energy is force = mass x acceleration). If the relative forces had been evenly matched, the discrepancy between the Pinto and 405 would have been even greater. 

Peugeot was forced to recall the 405, but they continued to export 405s to the USA through the 1991 model year. 

In effect, what we had was a car that had a design 17 years newer and was about 3 times the base price adjusted for inflation manage to be even more dangerous in rear-end collisions than the extremely infamous Ford Pinto.

So why wasn't the 405 considered the poster child for a "rear-end death trap" and not the Pinto? Sales numbers. Ford Pinto sales peaked at 544,209 units in 1974. The Peugeot 405 peaked at just 3,825 sales in 1989 - not even 1 percent of the Pinto's sales numbers. That meant there were very few 405's on the road, and consequently very few opportunities for them to prove their danger.