I put my old slant six Dodge truck to work today. I was heading home on a secondary road, hauling a bit more than 1000 lbs. and traveling about 45 mph in a 40 zone. I was passed, slowly, by an early Geo Metro/ Suzuki Cultus hatch. It seemed in pretty good shape and by the sound of the fart muffler, was a 3 cyl. 1.0 lt. I was in the perfect vehicle to be passed by that car.
It occurred to me that I haven't seen one of those in quite a while here in the rust belt. I've known two people casually that had purchased new one's decades ago and both ran them into the ground at respectably high mileages. I believe that they had a rep for doing 40 mpg or more with a manual. Crash unworthiness aside, I had once thought that the later models with the 4 cyl. would have been a good commuter.
It occurred to me that I haven't seen one of those in quite a while here in the rust belt. I've known two people casually that had purchased new one's decades ago and both ran them into the ground at respectably high mileages. I believe that they had a rep for doing 40 mpg or more with a manual. Crash unworthiness aside, I had once thought that the later models with the 4 cyl. would have been a good commuter.