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Hey jdemaris- you were psychic!

M

Mike (WA)

Well-known Member
Think it was on Paul Harvey this morning- talking about renewed interest in compact cars of the '70's and '80's, which had much better mileage than is available today. Didn't mention diesels, but I thought of your collection of diesel cars of all stripes from that era- their mileage is even better! Hang onto those puppies- they may be your retirement someday! I remember when my folks were commuting about 60 miles a day roundtrip in 1960- even though gas was only a few cents a gallon, they bought a '56 VW Bug- got over 40 MPG, and was kind of fun to run around in, due to its funkyness. Especially memorable were mountain passes, at 25 miles per hour in 2nd gear, with me standing up through the sun roof, slapping the bug on the butt with an imaginary whip, urging it on, to the delight of passers-by. Of which there were many. Including fat boys on bicycles, fully loaded semi trucks, your faster raccoons, etc.
 
I think our Brother Gary in TX needs to read this just for a giggle. It's the little things that mean so much. Thanks for the image.
 
I had a 1949 Volkswagen Beetle, but never had any idea what the fuel mileage was. In 49, they didn't have gas gauges - just a tiny little reserve fuel tank that held a couple of quarts. So, you drove 'till the engine died - then flipped the aux. fuel-tank switch and hoped you could find a gas station somewhere near. Set up like a motorcycle. It seemed to go forever on a tank a gas . . . and die just when you weren't expecting it. Also, froze my butt off many times due to virtually no heat. On cold winter mornings - it was a common sight to see Volkswagen owners driving with their heads hanging out the windows - since there was no defroster and the windshiled was iced up.

On the subject of small cars, the 90 Geo Metro XFI is the most fuel efficienct gas car ever sold in the US and got over 50 MPG. The 60s German Isettas were close but they had BMW motorcycle engines in them. I just read that most of the new so-called efficient hyrbrids use a huge amount of BTU energy just to come off the assembly line - i.e. no net-gain. In their overall life, they use up more fuel than a simple car.
 
There were two people that I worked with in the 80's that had Ford Escort station wagons that had four cylinder Perkins diesel engines. They were getting 60 miles to the gallon.
 
Geo metro's are going for big bucks now. There is a cottage industry springing up of people buying them and fixing them up for resale.
I wish I could get a VW Polo TDI. It's costing me about $.11 a mile now in my Jetta TDI.
 
1982: drove my blue Beetle from Wis. out to Colorado & back. Drove over Wolf Creek Pass, visited Telluride, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Doc Holliday's grave, Aspen... Good trip for a Wisconsin guy. That Beetle was a good, fun car, for someone on a budget like myself. Would I trade my 1999 Camry for a Beetle of that era? Never.
 
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