For our younger DUers. Good gas mileage isn't rocket science.

[libnnc]

Detroit used to make cars like this...

And this...


Toyota and Datsun weren't the only small cars on the market back in the day.
Both the Chevy Chevette and the Plymouth Horizon got around 39 mpg.

[ComerPerro]

1. Yeah but they are ugly as sin.

But, then again, so are most SUVs

[Atman]

4. They are NOW

But they weren't back then. Look at just about anything from back then...from leisure suits to wallpaper, seventies styles were all "new" and "fresh" back then, but they're just old now. Unless you're a teenager wearing bell bottoms and insisting your not wearing what mom and dad used to wear! LOL!

[T Wolf]

2. I do remember the high-mileage cars of years gone by.

Now, the auto companies brag about getting 25 mpg.

[hobbit709]

3. Unfortunately

Detroit's small cars at the time had some major design flaws in them.
Like the infamous Ford flaming deathmobile and the checette's problem was that the frame was built too light to take the stress of normal wear and tear driving and the front end would come apart as it warped.

[libnnc]

5. I didn't include the Pinto just for that reason

My mother had a '79 2 door Horizon and she loved it. Cheapest car she ever had. A family friend always drove a Chevette. She owned three over 15 years.

[rucky]

6. We've been conditioned to pay more for crappier stuff.

and if you don't think there's collusion between the auto and oil industry, you're dreaming.

[TahitiNut]

7. Don't forget the 1975 Vega GT - 29mpg highway.

We owned this one, as well as a Volvo 244. The Volvo 244, with a 4-cylinder engine, was supposed to get highway mileage around 26 mpg ... but ours got 12 mpg. Bought new, we took it into service five times in the first year, at two separate dealerships. While the chief mechanics (off the record) admitted it was probably faulty (Bosch) fuel injectors, Volvo of America refused to replace them, saying "we don't advertise gasoline mileage." I'll NEVER buy a Volvo ever again.

[KeepItReal]

8. Ask Ford and GM's European Divisions...they've been doing it for years

Like the Ford Ka:

[Warpy]

9. They also got a bad rep

for the Pacer (fugly), the Pinto (rolling firebomb) and the Vega (famous for rusting on the showroom floor, engines self destructed).

The current crop of small cars shows that Detroit finally figured out that small car owners don't want cheap as much as they want efficient. The Ford Focus got nosed off the top 10 this year, but has been in the top ten small cars for several. The other makers also have good, solid small cars. Most of Detroit's offerings of little cars are in cooperation with Asian or European makers.

Litte cars are great. Not only do they get phenomenal gas mileage, they're generally more fun to drive than a TRUCK and you can park them anywhere.

And that, dear children, is how Granny got through the 70s, when the oil cartels jacked the prices up instead of an evil oilman in the government and the government blamed the people for wanting enough of a paycheck to pay for it.

[meegbear]

10. I drive a GEO Metro ...

38 MPG and does the job. Glad I bought it.

[Atman]

11. The Metro is a Suzuki, likely built by Cammi in California

Depending upon what year it is. Earlier models were Suzuki's built overseas.

[meegbear]

12. Mine is a 98

[Warpy]

13. I went Asian

because the US cars had as options what came standard on their Asian cousins, and those options drove the price WAY up. Plus, one of the Asian cousins had superior cargo room, something I need during sheep shearing time (fibre crafts here).

Cargo room disqualified the Mini. Price disqualified the Europeans.