More than 40 years ago, you could have bought an economical car. No such cars are made today. Even the term economy car has passed out of general usage in favor of entry level. It’s a subtle shift in the way cars are talked about that causes memories of the way cars were once made to fade away and – eventually – be forgotten altogether.
So let’s try to remember.
More than 40 years ago – in the early 1980s – every car company that was not a luxury-car company made what were then commonly referred to as economy cars. They were made to be both inexpensive to buy and to drive. Today, there is very little that is inexpensive to buy. In fact – as of the 2025 model year – there isn’t a single new car you can buy for less than $20,000. In part because there are very few cars left on the market that are even entry level. The handful that were – models such as the Hyundai Accent and the Mitsubishi Mirage – have been taken off the market in favor of crossovers that cost thousands more – and that aren’t particularly inexpensive to drive, either.
As opposed to something like the 1982 Chevrolet Chevette diesel.
Laugh if you like. The joke’s on us.
The Chevette was inexpensive to buy. Its base price of $6,700 works out to just over $20k in today’s attenuated dollars. And it was extremely inexpensive to drive, because its diesel engine enabled it to take you 40 miles – in city driving – one one gallon of fuel and 55 miles on the highway.
There are a handful of hybrids that can go that far – but they need to be hybridized to go that far. In other words, they need a tandem powertrain that includes an engine and an electric motor/battery pack paired with it, which is used to to augment the power of the gas-burning engine and to take over for it when the system shuts the gas engine off. Which the system does as often as possible – as when the vehicle is stationary or coasting/decelerating.
This is how the hybrid delivers gas mileage comparable to what the ’82 Chevette diesel delivered.
The difference being the Chevette didn’t need a tandem drivetrain. And – back then – diesel fuel cost less than gasoline, which effectively decreased the driving costs even more.
It is interesting to think about what kind of mileage might be possible today given 40-plus years of technical advances, most especially in terms of lightweight materials, low rolling resistance tires and so on.
If, that is it were feasible to manufacture a lightweight vehicle such as the Chevette – which weighed about 2,200 lbs. – and to put a diesel engine in it . Such a car would probably be able to take you 50 miles in city driving and 60 or more on the highway.
Today’s hybrids do remarkably well given how heavy they are. A current-year Toyota Corolla hybrid, as a for-instance, weighs more than 2,800 lbs. It still delivers 53 MPG in city driving and 46 on the highway (hybrids get worse mileage on the highway because on the highway the engine is always running whereas in stop-and-go city driving, the hybrid system keeps the engine off often).
Imagine what the Corolla hybrid’s mileage might be if it weighed the same as – or less than – a 1982 Chevette.
There is no reason why it couldn’t, in terms of what is possible. The problem is government – which renders it impossible. A 1982 Chevette would be flamed as “unsafe” if that exact same car were offered new for sale today. Never mind that millions of people drove them every day for years and most never lost control or ran into anything – and if they did, it wasn’t the fault of the car.
A modern hybrid that weighed as little as an ’82 Chevette would probably be capable of better than 60 MPG in stop-and-go city driving and 50-plus on the highway. With a gas-burning engine.
But how would it do with a diesel engine?
Given that a diesel engine is generally about 20 percent more efficient, a diesel-hybrid that weighed about the same as an ’82 Chevette would probably be capable of 70 MPG or even more than that. This isn’t a hypothetical, either. VW – which used to specialize in economy cars – many of them diesel powered – was developing an ultra-lightweight diesel-hybrid commuter car that was capable of traveling 100 miles or more on a gallon of diesel. This was right around the time – circa 2016 – when the government came down hard on VW for designing its diesel-powered cars to pass federal emissions certification tests.
This was characterized as “cheating.”
Of a piece with the way Captain Kirk from Star Trek “cheated” the Kobayashi Maru test.
The government was not amused. But that’s no why VW was hammered by the government. Such “cheating” has been going on for as long as there has been testing. It’s been a game, up to now. It got serious – not because VW cheated but because it was threatening to reintroduce the economy car. In addition to the lineup of economical cars it had already introduced.
And the government can’t have that.
. . .
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A small light EV for around town makes more sense the 6000 lb whales they are pushing…forcing…….
In Italy these small electric cars (nanocars) that are apparently classified as quadricycles so teens can even drive them…..no licence required?….
good for putzing around town for shopping or whatever. Limited range from 75-160 km.
Cheap too. €7,990 to €12,980 for the 2 below.
Nissan has one that came up on my Instagram feed. 1 or 2 battery packs, portable, etc. called:
900 lb 28 mph top speed
https://silence-mobility.nissan.it/
Slightly cheaper is Citroen’s… Ami
https://www.citroen.it/ami
Renault has a version as well called the Twizy. Popular with the teens
https://it.renault.ch/veicoli-elettrici/twizy.html
It’s more expensive than the other 2 but the teens sure love theirs.
Nissan has one that came up on my Instagram feed. 1 or 2 battery packs, portable, etc. called:
Silence SO4
Eric – some nice information regarding rising car costs and relative purchasing power (not my site)
https://www.oftwominds.com/blogdec24/big-lie-prosperity12-24.html
Anon
My dad had a Renault Alliance in the 1980’s that could touch mid 50’s on the highway. It was small and light so it could do so. Bought it brand new in 1986 for just under $6000, including taxes fees and other nonsense. I don’t remember it breaking down very often, so for being a s##tbox car it could have been worse.
Ha!!! My dad had one of those also, a white one. We called it the Appliance.
‘Laugh if you like. The joke’s on us.’ — eric
And the tab just keeps getting more risible. US fedgov deficit for October and November 2024, first two months of the fiscal year: $624 billion. That’s up 64% from the same period last year. Chart:
https://ibb.co/nL9yqBL
America has gone full Weimar, as ‘Joe Biden’ and Janet Yellen spend their final weeks looting the Treasury on behalf of their grasping cronies: the poison dwarf Zelensky, the indicted war criminal Netanyahu, and various small-fry EeeVee swindlers and panhandlers.
The US is not a serious country anymore. Uncle Sam is a dementia-ridden drunk, throwing poorly-printed hundred-dollar bills off balconies just for laughs. Consequences will ensue.
I got a hundred dollars smokin’ in my billfold
I know I oughta save it, but it’s burnin’ a hole
Right through my pocket and into my skin
Come Monday morning, I’ll be broke again
It’s finally Friday, I’m free again
I got my motor running for a wild weekend
It’s finally Friday, I’m out of control
Forget the workin’ blues and let the good times roll
— George Jones, Finally Friday
Wow! See, this ship of fools called the US Govt is going to burn down, crash, and sink into its own swamp. I think we’re just about headed to exponential debt mode. When even taxing the slaves at 100% won’t pay the debt, then it’s all over except for the gnashing of teeth!
Been saying much the same things for years, except that most of the ‘experts’ portend that what is now $36 trillion debt is ‘ours’… yet it’s not our debt, it’s their debt. Con-gress holds the purse strings, yet all that debt was not acquired for your benefit. Usury… creating ‘money’ with nothing of substance to support it is illusory. Illusion defined is ‘ An erroneous perception of reality’. Most have no inkling of what that figure represents until one quantifies it. For example, 1 trillion one-dollar bills creates a stack 4,300,000,000 inches tall whichis 358,333,333 feet, or 67,866 miles… more than 1/4 of the average distance to the Moon. Times 36. Yee-haw.
Ron Paul’s (paid for by him) Chevette vs Tip O’Neill’s (paid for by us) Lincoln
https://www.speednik.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/10/RPChevette.jpg
When I was in Portugal earlier this year, I saw a Mercedes E sedan which was a diesel-electric hybrid. I think the designation was “E-350de”. And they never stopped selling diesels in all of Europe. Not yet. Clean enough for the green eurofags but not the USA?! b.s.
I also saw nice American made wagons out in Portugal that are not sold in the USA. Fuck these automakers. They act like they’re the only mega multi-national corporations that are somehow not controlling government.
I forget where I read it, but we make engines here that are capable of over 70mpg but can’t sell them here cause of emissions and crap, think one of you fine folks said that.
Regardless, why can’t I have a little diesel sports coupe or hatch that weighed under 2500lbs if I wanted. FW/RW/AW, do we really need all the damn weight and stuff? Figure out a way to build a car around the engine so the weight of the diesel isn’t a negative but factored in, and as a bonus, gas versions benefit with the weight savings as well.
Imagine the weight savings once the rules and regs are cut and the govt isn’t breathing down the industries neck, hopefully be a proper econo-tuner renaissance to boot
Spot on Eric. Can’t have the economy car.
I was listening to the Alex Jones show a couple days ago,
He said that one of his crew went to the Sundance film festival to talk to some people.
They would offer unlimited money for a new movie, as long as it is dark and depressing.
I’d buy a CRX new today if I could. As for the Chevette, I can’t get Bill Hicks’ monologue out of my head LOL.
CRX w/a NA K20 that has an aftermarket turbo would be legit
my ’84 civic CRX-Si weighed 1800 lbs. The Si version said it got 50mpg highway
Of course I never saw that, I don’t even think I ever computed it, who cared. Fun car.
0-60 in 9 seconds, hahahaa. And we thought that was pretty quick…….
The 1987 Honda Civic CRX Si was 1,978 pounds, guess that’s when ‘safety’ started, or honda just started making them a little bigger? Don’t remember. Google says this ’87 got 30mpg, what the hell? 200lbs make that much of a difference or was their more ’emissions BS’ by then?
1991 Geo Metro XFI EPA MPG sticker:
https://i.ibb.co/4g4vfyP/P1020955.jpg
Says it gets City 53 mpg, highway 58 mpg
The XFI was very light, 1621 lbs
For comparison, a 1982 Honda Civic 3 door hatchback, with the 1.5 liter 4 cylinder weighed around 1700 lbs, about the same, slightly less fuel economy, but a much higher quality car.
My daily driver now is an 8th generation Civic, weighs 1,000 lbs more – and gets less fuel economy – but has a very efficient VTEC engine.
I had a 1984 HF. Easy 55+mpg on the road. Crank windows, no ac, just a motor and a manual.
Loved that car. Too old for no AC, but I’d buy one again.
The Geo Metro is the king of a lightweight fuel efficient vehicle with no hybrid system. Unfortunately it was a cheaply made throw away car. A 1980s Honda Civic is of similar weight and very high quality compared to a metro.
A friend of mine has a 1990 Geo metro made in Japan. Still no engine problems and I was curious why, since I owned 9 geo metros myself. Well, his has no EGR system – the EGR is absent as well as the exhaust manifold casting duct on the #3 cylinder – thus this 1990 metro has no exhaust gases being resent to the intake – thus no catastrophic burning of the #3 exhaust valve which plagues normal geo metro engines.
Making it worse is that the EGR pipe itself was eliminated by GM, the exhaust gases travel through a hole bored through the head and the intake manifold has an internal port as part of the casting – which means that when fouled with carbon deposits – the manifolds must be removed to be cleaned. When the EGR ports are clogged the #3 exhaust valve burns – losing compression – and for a 3 cylinder car – if you lose compression on one cylinder the car becomes inop – no horsepower.
Long live the Geo Metro – although the car could use a few improvements to make it last longer. But who cares about that when you live in a profit driven “planned obsolescence” economy driven by politics and greed – and I see that GM finally canned Cruise after blowing 10 billion.
Cars are now Galloping Gerties in the Tacoma Narrows.
Pulp mills make for the Aroma of Tacoma.
A long time ago, Yakima peaches were the bomb.
Make Native Americans Great Again!
Wasn’t there some idiot woman bureaucrat doing some logical fallacy about how to solve the human problem was to get rid of all of the white people?
That’s not racist, is it?
Analogous to removing all cars and coercing everybody to believe the solution of over-population and too many cars is for you to die now.
White people should just die off and the problem will be solved, whatever the problem is.
Einstein was right all along. har
People say I have a drinking problem
But I don’t mind
You call it a problem
I call it a solution
People say I have a drinking problem
But I don’t mind drinking at all – Midland, Drinking Problem
The wife works remote from home. Her place of employment is about 2 hours away. Drove there the other night for her office Christmas party. The 2 hour drive was emptiness, wide open spaces, rolling hills and sparse trees of rural Oklahoma.
The overpopulation problem only applies to cities.
But please, keep the city folk corralled. We don’t want ’em.
Indeed. Drive across Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Idaho, etc, and you will be impressed by how open our world is.
And 80 speed limit in areas of ID and UT. Fun times on cycle trips
“I don’t have a drinking problem, ‘cept when I can’t get a drink.” – Tom Waits
In the UK and other places…there is a movement to the old world order structure….Absolute monarchy…king at the top slaves at the bottom…as opposed to a Republic….Presidents from the same elite bloodlines taking turns ruling….
Absolute monarchy…king at the top slaves at the bottom….but….. replacing troublesome white slaves with easier to control Muslim slaves…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZouxwMO6x68
I remember reading that Ron Paul had a Chevette back when he was in congress in the ’70s. Not sure if it was a diesel though. Apparently, he pissed off Tip O’Neill by taking a picture of it next to Tip’s land yacht during the second oil crisis.
I miss those days when there were lots of oddball diesels available. Domestic diesels were pretty crappy at times but the Isuzu powertrain in the Chevette was the best thing about that car. I’m sure the body and frame rotted out long before. The Escort could be had with a nice Mazda diesel and the Lincoln MK VII even had a BMW engine as an option. Gone are the days!
After the alleged gas crisis of the early 70’s, even with a lot of interference by the feral government, the car companies redesigned and retooled. By the early 80’s we had a whole slew of economy improvements coming through. The 4 speed auto overdrives became ubiquitous, and v8’s had shrunk and been choked to death with electronic carburetors and catalytic converters. And there were small, fuel sipping, reliable, mechanical diesels in Chevettes, Escorts, Rangers, VW’s, etc.
Unfortunately, people didn’t buy them. Americans were already sybarites, addicted to living beyond their means, and slow, noisy, cheap, and long running cars were only an easy sell to the smart and the cheap (Venn diagram is about 95% overlapped…).
Worse, the feral government was already out to get diesel cars, starting with higher license taxes. And the social justice warriors of the world just knew diesels were dirty, since you could actually see black smoke coming out of them (even though mechanical diesels were cleaner than carved and catalyst equipped gassers).
It pains me to say it, but Europeans were already more sensible about their cars, with displacements limited by license taxes, on the eminently reasonable theory that bigger heavier cars imposed more wear and tear on the roads and streets, and that every Jacques and Fritz didn’t need or want a 300HP beast to get to work. Added to the fact that European countries are smaller and layed out for non-motorized transportation, so a car was a luxury in much of Europe and a 2CV or VW Kafer were plenty of car for Jacques and Fritz, or a Mini for Clive, to get around in and even have some cheap fun.
What’s my point? Wise traditional leadership doesn’t ban or restrict, but makes public policy by making sure the options are available for those who are willing to pay for them. Democracy is communism, and it sucks. Democracy/communism always devolves to envy, and resorts to force when free people refuse to obey.
GM had a diesel that was terrible. That had a lot to do with the Americans’ distaste for them.
Yes, the Olds 350 diesel. A great heavy duty block to build a gas race car, but a head cracking, miserable piece of junk which gave American diesels a black eye. In fairness, putting it in front of an automatic and selling it to American drivers in a 4000 lb car is a recipe for lugging a diesel and killing it regardless.
It was also really easy to swap in an Olds 403 to your diesel Cutlass which made it a lot of fun.
My 80 VW rabbit diesel went thru ss fuel lines faster than fuel. That made the thing a total POS. I carried a box of fuel lines at all times.
It wasnt even worth experimental attempts at repair. Junk.
The diesel in the Chevette was made by Isuzu.
I simply am in disbelief. I cannot believe the stuff getting posted on a libertarian leaning automotive site.
Social engineering to limit what sorts of cars people can own now seen as a good thing?
Wise leadership in Europe that makes sure only the rich can afford powerful cars?
🙁
No, Burn. First, I would prefer anarchy, but it is an unattainable ideal. As soon as a group organizes it gains power, and the will of the individual be damned. Human nature is written in our genes, it never changes.
The best we can do is struggle to control and minimize concentrations of power. I had to fight quite a few battles before learning this simple lesson. There needs to be multiple competing power blocs to keep power under control.
Second, my point that more powerful and heavier cars should pay more to use the public roads. This is far more palatable than democrats and communists making rules and forcing obedience. Under my logic the current fad EV would pay a lot to use the public roads because of their outrageous weight and power (technically torque).
Wise leadership is an irrelevancy. But it is to be preferred to unwise leadership without foresight.
My thoughts exactly.
“every Jacques and Fritz didn’t need or want a 300HP beast to get to work”
Excuse me, but who the hell are you to consider my needs for me? Please take your reasonable and sensible jackboot off my neck.
I like to give the freedom averse their opportunity to speak up about communism’s supposed merits, but they need to be prepared for the inevitable beat down here in a place like this.
Need, Or WANT. I want a Jag XKE, but I don’t need it and won’t afford it.
My jackboot is safely on my foot and not on your neck. Highly polished they look really bitchin’ with my vintage SS overcoat and hat. (/s)
Communism/communism/socialism of any stripe has NO redeeming virtue. In case I wasn’t clear enough. My point was that European aristrocracy did have some redeeming virtues, people who own things take care of them. And there are always stupid peasants willing to tear down civilization to steal its fruits.
Good lord, man, If youre going to have a battle of wits, at least come armed and informed. And never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line…
My second car I owned was 1978 Olds Cutlass with a 260 c.i. V-8 2-barrel carburetor. That car got 25 mpg highway and it was a full frame vehicle. That was way before the ethanol mandate. Another way government hinders efficiency.
My 79 Gran Prix with the 301 V8 would touch 23 MPG on a steady 65 mph freeway cruise. Also note like you say an all steel car with full frame, crash reg beefy bumpers, cast iron block and heads, solid beam rear axle (steel and iron there too). A three speed automatic with NO overdrive and NO locking torque converter. Imagine the mileage with a four speed locking converter transmission and a throttle body fuel injection system.
Our neighbors had a 90s something Buick Lesabre would easily get 25 mpg with the tried and true 3.8 V6. Nice sized car with real comfort what a sweet spot for automotive design. Stupid Feds had to ruin it all.
The only new car my parents ever bought was a 1982 escort wagon.
The only option it had was automatic transmission.
Around $8000
Lasted until my brother blew the engine around 1995
I don’t remember the mileage it got, but dad kept a log book at every fill up
Used to pack that thing full of campong gear and 5 people
Only problem it ever had was a flat tire once
bought new, that is
Chevy made a Cruze diesel with a manual transmission until quite recently. The gas Cruze seemed like a decent car, I rented one in 2014 and I enjoyed it.
It must be said that in GM’s defense, though, that government nonsense aside, the driving public was not exactly buying Cruze diesels by the millions.
Unfortunately they’re both gone now so the point is moot.
Every month or so there’s a story in the Colorado Sun about Denver traffic, or mass transit, or usually both. This past Sunday there was a feature about how the (voter approved) taxes added to Denverites’ tax burden earmarked for light rail are now being shunted toward dedicated bus lanes on Colfax ave. To put that in some perspective, Colfax is 26 miles of roadway that runs the length of Denver. They’re going to introduce more buses too. But no new light rail, which is what the voters voted for. Those bus lanes are going to remove lanes for all traffic, adding to the already horrible traffic situation.
The “nudge” to get you out of your car is becoming a “push.”
Will it work? Perhaps for some the “convenience” of sitting in an unheated graffiti covered shelter with the unhoused is a charming slice of life in the city. For most everyone though, we’ll let someone else enjoy that experience every morning. My grandad didn’t build the modern infrastructure so that I could shiver in the cold every morning on the way to my call center job, no sir. The world’s supposed to be getting better, not worse. Just because some Malthusian came up with some back of the envelope calculation that says we’re all doomed (while not enjoying the mass transit experience for himself). The catastrophe that is highly unlikely is the only one presented.
The free market was working on a solution, pushing efficiency to new levels. But that wasn’t good enough for the doomsayers, no sir. They don’t want solutions, they want to make money off the problem. Preferably by talking about it and only offering distasteful draconian solutions they know won’t be accepted by the public. But unlike the boy who cried wolf (eventually there was a wolf), these chicken littles aren’t going to realize what they see is not the sky falling, but just the way things are. The difference this time is we’re there to record it.
How many $ per ride does Denvers bus grifting ops hide? Neon F² at duh wheel.
Bus dept budget/total rides in one year. Medford OR was around $37 a ride a few years ago according to our buddy Bill. I cringe every time I have to navigate around the stupid rolling traffic jams fulla usually empty waste.
God, please damn the regulatory state to hell.
Thank you.
Just as masks and “vaccines” had nothing to do with health, the push towards higher mpg has nothing to do with the environment. I think Eric has well documented that fact.
My first car, a Vega station wagon, got 25 mpg, give or take. If the “raped ape” was still with us, its 25 mpg would be considered average mpg amongst today’s offerings (I say that without a shred of evidence).
My Cherokee Trailhawk gets about 22 MPG on the highway with winter blend gas. Summertime I will see 23-25 on 87 Octane and about 26 on 89. On ethanol-free 89 it will top out about 27 MPG if I’m not towing (which is the only time I buy it). The other Cherokee models do better but not much. I could probably pick up about another 1 MPG if I took off the roof rack and changed over to slicker tires, but then what’s the point of having a vehicle that can go on dirt?
I drove a Chevette. Total piece of junk. But it was cheap and sipped gasoline.
I tried to fix up a Chevette for a niece in the mid 90’s. Paint and body was easy (never expected it to last that long so a quick patch and some quick putty work made it look great). Plastic interior was a different problem, but was able to patch it up enough for a kids first car. But the damned thing just wouldn’t keep running. She only drove it for about 6 months, then the shiny paint was parked behind the barn for years while the mice ate it up.
Yes, it was crap. Which is why a decent one is now ultra rare.