Celtic Dragon

Power economy was viewed as a significant factor in their pick of a new car by a minimum of 1/3 of buyers in America. Given the preoccupation today with pollution, global warming and America’s dependence on foreign sources of oil, it’s actually shocking to learn that as long ago as 1992 a car that got 100 miles to the gallon was built by General Motors. There was also a car that looked a lot like the Geo Metro and weighed 1000 pounds, which boasted 75 miles per gallon gas mileage. Balanced growth of the vehicle, the engine that had 3 cylinders, was dropped because, in order to meet American safety principles, it had to be reinforced which added 200 pounds to its weight.

It was certainly not the only protype developed by GM which ended up on the scrapheap. The GM Lean Machine of 1982, which could obtain 80 mpg, as well as the GM Ultralite which reached a fabulous 100 mpg, were two of these vehicles. GM was offering cars to the buying public in 1992 that did 20 mpg, while Honda was getting 50 mpg with their Civic VX, but right then GM already covertly had cars doing 100 miles per gallon. In the event that cars which were able to do 100 miles per gallon had already been developed way back then, why is it that such cars are not being sold today?

It’s really a peculiar phenomenon that some companies market traditional vehicles in the US, but sell different, more efficient cars in other countries. Consumers in Japan and Europe have for quite some time now managed to get cars that do 70 miles per gallon and more. A case in point of a vehicle never offered within the US and capable of 78 mpg, is the Lupo by Volkswagen. Honda introduced to the US market in 2007, a car called the Fit, but known as the Jazz in other parts of the world. You can get economy-boosting features with the Jazz in Japan, say for example a smaller engine and other ways to reduce consumption, but not so with the Fit in the US.

In America the manufacturers say they have to build big cars because that is what the American public wants. Building a small commuter type vehicle doesn’t make the manfacturer big money, unlike with a large SUV. A Tank on Wheels is the thing to have – that’s the message that the commercials beguile the American public with. Fuel-saving choices from the large companies are uncommon, so it’s pretty easy to deduce where their motivations lay. Rather than being associated with SUVs, GM today could have been identified as a leader in fuel-economic vehicles. A number of other manufacturers also have developed fuel-efficient cars, but they’ve all ended up the same as GM by not offering them to Americans.

In spite of climatic change and the incredible pollution of the world environment, US car makers have yet to respond positively and at least give Americans the option of a fuel-efficient car. The question comes up: how many Americans could have appreciated the option of obtaining a car with good gas mileage but weren’t ever offered it? Maybe the instant has come to restart building those cars that were developed only to be abandoned all those years ago. Watch escalade wheels.