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Bill K & group - The only thing about the Mobilgas fuel economy runs is that they were done with all of the everyday reality of EPA highway testing. The Chebby Venture van I owned for 269,000 miles never got the rated 25 MPG highway - once, on a 4 hour trip kept under 55 MPH, I got 23 MPG. Normally I got 16-17 MPG. For that matter, when I was a teenager (25 years ago), I made a 120-mile run in my 1964 Chrysler 300K with the 413 cubic inch 360HP single 4BBL V-8 at a steady 50 MPH, just for grins. I got 17 MPG! Normally, with the lead foot I normally drove with, the 300-K got 12-13MPG, sometime dipping to 10 MPG.
John in Lake Worth Florida
"Bill K." <pontiac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
With all the talk of late model cars and fuel economy am I the only one amused to note that in 1951 a V8 Studebaker (232 CI if I remember right) with manual trans and overdrive won the Mobilgas Economy run that year, driving from Los Angeles to the Grand Canyon, with a TWENTY-EIGHT mpg average???? It's featured in the Buyers Guide in this month's Hemmings Motor News. That translates to about 20-24 MPG in one with a fair amount of miles on it, equipped the same, in more casual driving conditions. From a V8, rear wheel drive, manual trans car. By one of the independents, at that. So to
heck with the Hondas and all that foreign junk, I'll find me a solid Studey. They're not that expensive, I passed on a solid '48 4dr last fall for $800 (was a six, they get a little worse MPG). Or finish off my $200 '50 Chevy with an S10 5-speed and an open rear - those mods will get you close to 25 MPG too. The best part of that car is it has so many botched repair jobs and is worth so little I could run it into the ground and get another one if I wanted. And with simple tools and a few spare parts I can fix anything short of a crankcase explosion, on the side of the road - Prefer a Forward Look? In '61 the Chrysler Newport with a 361 engine was the winner in the fullsize class. Around 22 MPG. I don't remember how the Lancers and
Valiants faired. But a '61-'62 4dr Newport is not that expensive either. FWIW, if I were buying a new car just for utility's sake, I'd look at that Ford Fusion or it's Mercury clone. I can't understand why they wouldn't sell just as well as the Taurus, they look snappy and have good features and economy. Maybe if they just rebadged them as Volvos... (the Ford 500, err new Taurus, is built on a Volvo platform). Bill K. *************************************************************
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