The year 1986 saw some significant brand and model introductions: the Ford Taurus, the Acura line, the Hyundai line, even the Yugo. So let's consider another U.S. market introduction from that year, significant in its own way: the Chevrolet Sprint. You think we're kidding, right?

Just as the 1986 Excel led the way for Korean cars in the United States, the Chevrolet Sprint led the way for ultra-fuel-efficient cars in the United States, notably the Geo Metro, the darling of that cult of hypermilers and others who seek to squeeze the most out of every last drop of gasoline they put in their tanks.

Nowadays, thanks to hybrid technology, further research into aerodynamics and engine management development, we can see the same sort of mileage figures that the Chevrolet Sprint reported, but in larger, roomier and more comfortable cars; back in the mid-1980s, however, GM's solution to pulling drastically high mileage numbers out of a car was to make it small, make it cheap, and import it from the Japanese.

The Chevrolet Sprint has its basis in the Suzuki Cultus, a front-wheel-drive three- and five-door hatchback introduced for the Japanese market in 1983 with a choice of a 1.0L three-cylinder engine and a 1.3L four-cylinder engine, both carbureted, adding a turbocharged version of the 1.0L engine later on.

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