Classic Cars/Fuel Economy

What is your favorite car of all time? http://classyauto.com/v/Chevrolet+Impala/28108 If the sky was the limit, this would be me. Except it would have to be a 4-speed. It should be illegal to put an automatic on a muscle car. I am writing to my senator.

It is amazing how efficient engines have come in the last 40 years. My dad had a '62 409 and I think he said it got, on a good day, about 8 mpg. Well, that is running her pretty hard. My uncle in VA had a '64 Continental with a 460, and I can attest to 7 mpg. You could watch the gas gage move in that baby. It was slow as hell off the line, but from 60-90 you could burn a gallon of gas pretty quick.

I had a recall on my current car and borrowed one of those new Cadillac SRX's for a couple of days. It kind of looks like a station wagon, but under the hood was 320 ponies. The moon roof was as wide as the roof and went all the way back past the rear passenger seats. If you drove very calmly it would get 24 mpg on the highway. Then again the urge to hear her sing put me back to 18 mpg.

I wonder if that '62 Impala would really keep up with the new Corvette?