Like an old pair of jeans that got back in style, when gas prices are stratospheric, so are "classics" like the Honda Civics and Geo Metros of the 80's and 90's.
Ken Bensinger of The Los Angeles Times has a neat article on the next "it" cars, those old tiny sedans you couldn't wait to get rid of for SUVs when gas was $1.25!
Another favorite among hypermilers is the Geo Metro, a bare-bones car sold by GM in the late '80s and early '90s that came in an extremely efficient XFi version. That car, powered by a tiny, 1-liter, three-cylinder engine, had no air conditioner and came in one pony short of 50 horsepower. But it was rated at 55 mpg, it's a snap to work on and parts are readily available.
This spring, Stephen Mills, a mechanic in Midland, N.C., spotted a surge in demand and began buying up Geo Metros to restore and sell on EBay.
His first restoration, a 1993 model with low mileage, sold in June for $8,075, an amazing price considering the car sold for little more than $6,000 when new. Since then, he's sold one for $7,200 and another for $6,500 and has eight more Metros he's sprucing up for sale.
"I started to think these would go out of sight once the price of gas went up," says Mills, whose first customer was an attorney tired of pumping gas into a 16-mpg Honda Pilot.
According to Experian Automotive, 11,318 XFi models were registered in the U.S. in the first quarter of this year, a high number for a car that's been out of production for nearly 15 years.
(Photo: Lori Shepler/LA Times)
current favourite of mine is the smart car.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_(automobile)
http://www.dicomwg12.org/mpg/SMART/fortwo-coup-/50-bhp-175-rear-tyres/
capable of 60-70mpg
Take a standard car and strip it and you'll get a raceing car, do the same to a compact car and you get serious fuel economy.
Top Gear, UK tv show about cars, did this with a big old Jaguar, they stripped it down to engine and seat and it became a terrifyingly fast beastie.
Then they NOS'd the blighter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoxEis_Y7F0
basically, the more hefty rubbish you lug about, the worse your car will perform.
What the Rocky Mountain Institute refer to as Nega Wattage.
If you don't carry it about, you don't need the extra fuel.
Why do people have AC in cars anyway?
I heartily agree with you on excess weight except for one minor thing: Trust me, in Texas...AC is a necessity. Admittedly it's an overused necessity in most cases, though. Why people have their windows rolled up and their air conditioner running on a gorgeous Spring day mystifies (and disgusts) me. But in heavy start-and-stop traffic with 120-degree Summer temps and diesel fumes...? Crank that thing up!
Oh BTW--I left a comment at the doughnut-burger post for you, but it got buried under other posts.
--TwoDragons
Oh I don't doubt it for a second. I used to live in Australia which is not reknowned for being too chilly.
Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain institute makes some brilliant points re AC in cars.
like...
Why aren't cars double glazed? Sure it is a bit heavier, but it is a LOT lihgter than car AC, which is essentially a domestic AC unit, and can chill a whole house.
Actually everything Amory says is pretty much brilliant. look himm up on YouTube, well worht the 10 mins of anyone's life.
I replied to the donut burger thing.
I think we are on the same page on that one, despite any previous crossed wires.
I agree that cars should be better insulated (it's amazing how much of a draft we get around the windows of our 2006 Kia!) and that vehicles would benefit from a considerable amount of scaling-down of the AC unit. Perhaps the delivery system can be modified. A gross amount of energy is wasted trying to cool the back half of the car from the front console. And the air warms up considerably as it travels through the ducts, especially on really hot days.
If car makers can strip a car down to its bare essentials and still keep the safety factor high, then they've gone a long way to improving things. Unfortunately, it's a matter of convincing a very spoiled public just what constitutes a "bare essential"...LOL
--TwoDragons
He calmly says he's got plenty of gas to make the hour trip to San Diego from our house when the needle is just above E; Meanwhile my 06 sentra has a dodgy sensor and only tells me when I'm running out when I'm on my last 12 miles or so.