Miles per Gallon for Early Cars

from Wiki:

According to Ford Motor Company, the Model T had fuel economy on the order of 13-21 mpg_-US (16-25 mpg_-imp; 18-11 L/100 km).^[14]

"The Model T was introduced on Oct. 1, 1908. It had a 20-horsepower, four-cylinder engine, reached a top speed of about 45 miles per hour, got about 13 to 21 miles per gallon of gasoline and weighed 1,200 pounds. It was the ninth of Henry Ford's production cars."

It should also be noted that it was a FLEX-FUEL vehicle.

Gee, we've come a long way in 100 years.

Well, at least my car doesn't need a hand crank.

Yeah, and see how much protection a 1200 pound car yields when hit by a truck or even you hitting an object.

I'll gladly pay for lower fuel economy for higher safety.

Well you can get a smart car which weighs about 1600 lbs with the 3.4 diesel rated around 70mpg...

and I could just load it into the back of my Sue-baru.

I drove with a friend in a Model A pick-up with a load of wood from Massachusetts to Maine one fall day.

The Model A sucked gas so badly we actually stopped and looked to see if the fuel hose or fuel tank was leaking. I calculated it at 9.2 MPG. It had an original engine, that had been rebuilt at one time.

My '49 Ford straight 6 got 14 MPG. My '50 Merc V-8 flat head V-8 got 14 MPG on a road trip from Monterey, California to San Angelo, Tx.

The GM vehicles of the late '80's, '90's with the 3200 V-6 did 30-32 MPG, loaded with people on a road trip. About 23-24 MPG around town.

The chevy at that time 1911-12 series C Classic Six, was much heavier rivaling modern day autos at ~3600 lbs, and costing four times as much as the Model T, but still with 299ci engine only produced 40hp with a 65 mph top speed, probably got Hummer mileage...Chevy later came out with the 490, to compete with ford, which was outselling everyone else put together...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Series_490

These are all interesting figures. But, does anybody know what the most expensive vehicle is to operate?

That would be a US aircraft carrier.

Or the Space Shuttle.

Air Force One

Yes and it's carrying a lot of S---Crap..

I'm sorry, I should clarify the question better, It's a vehicle that everybody uses, Sorry for the lack of complete details.

1970 426 Hemi 6-Pack Cuda???

OK so not everybody uses one

Alright, I give up

I was hoping to stump everyone, but I forgot about you, lyn

I always hate it when I get to the check stand and question, "I spent how much" in the few feet I traveled ?? I'll spare everyone anymore humor

We feed three growing boys at my house. Two play soccer and one plays football. We have a reserved cart at the growcery store down the street.

I guess they were rated GPM !

I hi-miled a 1949 Dodge Wayfarer salesman' coupe from Indianapolis to Key West in 1959 and beat 30 mpg for the trip. Bought regular in Perry Florida during a gas war for 22 cents per gallon. I was very poor and going home for Christmas. Never went more than 50 mph, coasted a lot. The car had a tall rear end and I think the 196 cu in motor. Inflated the tires to 50 psi. http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/1949-1952-dodge-wayfarer-8.jpg

The February , "Consumer Reports," magazine Lists the following

Mercedes Benz S550 cost per mile at $1.70 (USD)

Jaguar XJL at $1.58.Most of the really small cars at less than $.50 per mile.

I can give you the answer on three. I had a Lincoln 1932 KB2 6mpg. A 1940 Willys 16 and a 42 Plymouth 13. I have a friend who has a 1912 Cadillac I will ask him. There are Model A Clubs, Model T Clubs and clubs for virtually every model of every car made. Keep at it you will eventually find out.

The AAA auto club probably has statistics on such matters.

I had a 1929 Ford Model "A" which got between 13 and 25 mpg. Looked into why there was such a variation in mpg and found the best mileage was driving down to the shore (Garden State Parkway). The car attracted many looks from many jealous old geezers and young ladies. Worst mileage was traveling around town with people in the rumble seat and riders on the running boards.

My father drove one also when he was young and didn't get as good of mileage. He attributed it to the better gasoline in the "50-60's" as compare to the "20-30's".

Oh how I miss that car!

My 1960 6 cyl Chevy Biscayne usually got 18-20 mpg. Better on the GSP or Turnpike but not as attractive to young ladies.

Good Luck, Old Salt

The Renault FT17 (1917 design) was the first "modern" tank, with the driver in front, engine in the rear, and a turret in the middle. It was very popular, and there were still 3500 in the French army at the start of WW-2. It used an automobile engine (35hp?) but had a top speed of about 4 mph. On a road, it could go 20 miles on 20 gallons of fuel.

Studebaker was Making Electric Cars before Gasoline, and wagons before that!

How's that for progress?

Several years ago my brother bought a barn find '51 chevy passenger car. It still had the original operators manual in the glove box. Along the edge of one page the previous owner had noted the miles and gallons used and I saw several notations that worked out to 20mpg. I was quite surprised. Makes you wonder what kind of mileage cars could get now if all the smog crap was eliminated and we have the advantage of the computerized fuel and timing metering that we have today.......

Look what they're doing in Europe, today.

That would be a really interesting experiment: take all emissions-control equipment off an engine and see how much fuel economy you could squeeze out of it. At the end, I wonder if you might come close to breaking even on emissions (total pounds of each pollutant emitted) simply because you've burned much less fuel.

On a similar note, my "low volume" toilet at home ends up wasting water because you have to flush the silly thing twice almost every time you use it.

1974 Mitsibushi Dodge Colt, 4 door sedan...52 mpg both in the literature and on the road.

My girlfriend back then had one and we drove it everywhere!

We could get that kind of mileage today out of almost any car if the engine were tuned for maximum torque at 1900 rpm's and they had the right gearing and tires.

We are still into 0-60 times unfortunately.

My 1974 long wheelbase chevy window van got 20 mpg on the Interstate with a 350 cu in motor and 2.73 differential gears!

Do you have a link for that mileage? Best I have found was The 1.4L with 4 speed got 28/37 mpg (city/Highway).

Bear in mind the 1974 also had a curb weight of just 2,100 pounds. You will not find 4-door sedans at that weight today and for good reasons - safety.