GasSavers Hall of shame / Rogues gallery
 

I thought I'd start this thread for fun so GasSavers participants could publicly vent their consciences, Oprah-style, and seek forgiveness. (You'll have to use your imagination to hear our collective gasps, applause, and empathetic "awwwww"s however.)

This isn't meant to be a guzzler gallery exclusively. Any part of your automotive history, other than your current car, is welcome. Post just for kicks.

Pictures required! (OK, not strictly required - but if you don't have one, I bet Google images does ;) )

I wasn't born with an interest in fuel economy, as you will see from my very first car...

I've vented enough in the thread below this one. I could vent some more, I got plenty left.

My first car: 1964 Pontiac Catalina hardtop sedan
389 V8, 2 bbl, 4-speed Hydramatic

I got this when I was 15 and restored it. There's a certain symmetry in my automotive history, since I started with Pontiac, and have gone full-circle and ended up back at Pontiac :)

https://www.gmphotostore.com/images/53218747_pr.jpg

I remember finding a mileage log in the glove compartment after I bought it. The previous owner had busted through the 20 MPG (US) mark on one occasion and slapped a bunch of exlamation marks after it. Most of the ratings were low-mid teens though. I never tracked my mileage in this beast.

Let's make this thread for cars OTHER than our current ones. No need to vent more about the Altima in this one.

My first car was a 1989 Dodge Ram 50. I don't know much about this car, except that it was assembled using other cars. The cab was two colors (by design) and the bed was black. The tailgate was blue, but a different blue than the front of the car.

I paid WAY too much for it.

I drove it every day from our house in Yorba Linda, CA to college at Cal Poly Pomona, CA. I then drove to work 5 days a week in Anaheim Hills, CA.

Overall I somehow managed to get 15mpg on a 4 cylinder engine.

This is the best picture I could find thanks to google image. I have a snapshot of my actual car here somewhere. I'll try tofind it and scan it in.

https://www.autoaubaine.com/auto-pics/15588/2.jpg

I filled up every other day. If I ever drove in 5th gear I could actually watch the gas gauge go down. It was kind of freaky. Luckily gas was only around $1/gallon back then.

I ended up selling it to the state of CA for $1000 because it wouldn't pass smog.

Oh, BTW... under the hood is a sticker that said, "Made by Mitsubishi for Dodge."

I was never into FE until I bought the Metro and not into fixing cars until a few years ago...I didn't know what I was missing.

Anyway, when I first got my license my Dad owned a 1980 Chev Malibu with a 267 ci V8 and 3-speed automatic, plus a 1980 Pontiac LeMans with the exact same configuration (but it was geared differently or had more torque output...it was more "peppy" than the Malibu).

Both cars actually managed 25-28 mpg US on the hwy when driven carefully (probably low 20s most of the time). I remember my Dad pulling our 1-ton tent trailer with the LeMans summer after summer and still getting 20+ mpg US (I'm converting his Imperial mpg numbers). Not bad for a baby-eight with a big load.

https://www3.telus.net/metro/malibu.jpg

The Malibu was mine for a number of years, but I never recorded mpg figures. This picture is of an '83 Malibu. Mine was identical except for the front grill and twin headlamps.

https://www.toyota-corolla.net/galler...lla_453150.jpg

My first car was a 1989 Toyota Corolla DX 3 speed automatic. It got totalled when a guy hit and ran me. It stood in the garage for 3 months wrecked and we ended up giving it to a charity. I didn't have collision on it, only comprehensive. Insurance didn't want anything to do with me. Basically I got screwed.

It was okay on fuel, it got like 26mpg in the city, ROFL I downgraded on the fuel economy. My parents gave it to me and paid for insurance and gas. The gas was like $30 a month and insurance was $16 a month.

Now I'm paying $98 for insurance and $100 for gas a month in a gas guzzler.

https://img255.imageshack.us/img255/6227/rambler1rc.jpg

My first car was a 1968 Rambler American 2 Door (baby blue). 199 CID Inline Six worth 128 HP. The tranny was a three-on-the-tree.:D Later I dropped in a 401 CID V8 with a 3 Speed Chrysler 727 and a Chrysler 8 3/4" rear end with 3.55 FD. Nice Royal Blue metallic paint job. I was 16-17 at the time. FE with the stock six cyl was 25 Max. After the swap it was around 10.

https://img332.imageshack.us/img332/2...aird6409ge.jpg

Second car was a 1970 AMX, 390 CID worth 325 HP, four-on-the-floor, white paint job. Rebuilt that engine lots of times including bent valves from putting the timing chain on wrong. I was 18-20 at that time. FE was 8-10 depending on my mood.:D

My first vehicel was a red 1975 Toyota pickup work truck that was passed down from my 2 older brothers who learned to drive in before I got my hands on it. :eek:There was not a panel that was not dented on it. The R2000(?) engine was bullet proof. I don't think the oil was ever changed but once a year and it just ran and ran. I remember that the muffler had a hole in it and with the standard I could make it backfire at will. I don't remember what happened to that truck but I drove it for 2 years with no problems. I bought a 280 ZX after that and took much better care of it. But I still have found memories of the old bullet proof Toyota.:) This is a google pic. I can remember gas for .50 a gallon. Everybody date them selves and list what you remember buying gas for.

https://www.velocityjournal.com/image...76truck01t.jpg

https://images.securedwebform.com/sto...05/4pu-4-l.jpg

My other ride (mostly a lawn ornament now)

https://www.mazspeed.com/Reg-Pass.jpg

My first ride 1983 mazda RX-7. And to date myself I remember buying gas for 67.9 a gallon. And you could get the 109 octane airplane fuel for $1.15 a gallon.

Ive owned so many cars and trucks. I dont know if I remember the first one. GOSH

Had a 1983 Toyota Pick up (22r engine)...two tone rust. :)
Classic 'YO' on back, had to patch the floors two years in a row for PA Insp.

Also had two 280zx's...1980 2+2 and a 1982 Turbo Cpe...also both rust prone.

My first car was a 68 VW beetle I that My Dad had originally bought in the Netherlands. It gave me 33MPG and had a max speed of 86MPH. Its front end eventually rusted out in 1992 at 280,000 miles.

one car, 40000 km of experinced driving, and of course it was a stick!

https://img151.imageshack.us/img151/9...ecar0651ab.jpg

the NOS sign is what I bless everytime, I fill up gas in the tank. I use the window washer to make that part shine everytime while the rest of my car remains in the dirt of nature.

Luckly that car was given to me.

Well, believe it or not, my gas hog was actually my last car: 1992 Honda Civic VX! Of course it was no longer stock, but instead home to a turbocharged B18A1. I think it's ironic that I destroyed this champion of gas mileage in favor of a gas guzzling power plant. I did make some impressive numbers though - 240 whp / 236 wtq - pay special attention to the last. That torque was nuts, and it was so much fun.

Anyhow, I got between 19 and 29 mpg, depending on how hard I drove it, and I usually averaged about 22 mpg.

If you're interested in reading about what all I had done to my car, you can click HERE and scroll to the bottom to read all about it. You can also click HERE to see a shot of my dyno pulls.

Here's a picture of it:

https://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gte085u/pics/vx.jpg

My first car a 92 sl1. I wanted to get a small car with a stick shift (that is what i ended up with). I drove as fast as the 85hp would take me. When I tracked my mpg I averaged 28 (when I was "babing" it). I probally got as low as 20mpg when I drove like a nut. If i owned it now I know i could get it in the mid to upper 30s.

https://www.msrecycling.com/images_320x240/059552_df.jpg

The first car I ever bought was a '73 MGB with a blown engine in 1980. It was blue and never as nice as this one, but it taught me automechanics while it moved my past.
https://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/carfol...73MG/cover.gif



In '83 that, I bought a white Celica GTS new. It was stolen in Boston in '92. Cops said "they make low-riders out of those." I got a nice settlement for it.
https://www.geocities.com/killer_sill...ca-iii-002.jpg

My gas guzzler
 

Here's my contribution to the Gas guzzler hall of fame

https://www.cgauto.com/images/autorev...1990114LRG.jpg

The 1993 Isuzu trooper 2 door. It came with a 19x hp V6, 4x4 with locking rear-diff, wipers on the headlights, and was notorious for having parts that cost 3x as much as any other vehicles similar to it.

By the time my dad handed this thing dow to me, the exhuast system had a couple holes in it. 3 of the oxygen sensors were fried. It had some extra tall tires on it, and sounded like a sherman tank.

When gas was around 1.30 or so it wasn't too bad to drive. But once gas hit 2 bucks it was costing me 45 bucks to fill (22 gallon gas tank). I think it averaged around 10mpgcity/15 highway

The most fun I ever had with this thing was doing doughnuts in the college parking lot while it was snowing. That and going light off-roading when camping.