Are there any old cars that are fuel efficient?

Question

When I say old, I don't mean something built a few years ago. I mean cars that were built in the 1950's or 1960's. Realizing, of course, they weren't as efficient as today's cars, and I'm pretty sure that in the 1950's there weren't any cars that got 36 miles per gallon. What I do mean is, were there any cars that got 20 miles per gallon or so?

Answer 1

Sure.  V8 engines were not the main engine out there.   Mostly 6's, and there were foreign cars out there from England, France, Germany, Italy with 4 cylinder engines.      V8 did not appear till 1955 in Chev.   The 6's would get in the 40's hwy driving.

   My parents 1967 Chev Impala 327V8 got 32 on average with automatic transmission.

   My parents 1960 Buick Electra 455 got 20.

So the new cars have not improved(as far as I am concerned) - they have gotten smaller, lighter, but are thirstier.    And one cannot fiddle with the carburator, and timing like we could with the older cars to improve on it.

Answer 2

Yes:  American Motors built several models in the early 50s thru mid 60s that got great gas milage.

The engines were 6 cylinders and most ran automatic transmissions.

It was common for these cars to get 24-28 mpg.

Answer 3

20mpg isn't good at all. I still doubt it though - during the 60s everyone wanted a 350ci or bigger engine and gas was dirt cheap.