HISTORY: Mobilgas Economy Runs 1936-1968

[Old Tele man]

...anybody read this before?

http://homepages.udayton.edu/~heitma...conomyRuns.doc

...I remember reading "about" them in the magazines Popular Mechanics, etc.

...sounds like something that aught to be resurrected and made universal.

[Big Dave]

I'm old enough to remember the Cretaceous Period.

The manufacturers were quite proud of their cars.

Runs like this were replaced by the EPA's MPG modelling (which I don't believe to be all that accurate).

The economy runs could be brought back running on speedways instead of normal highways. Figure a track like Talledega only gets used maybe four or five weeks a year. Plenty o'time lying dormant good for MPG runs.

[ALS]

Here is a Buick ad from 1964 bragging about how well their cars did in the Mobil Economy Run.



I'm with you guys I would love to see this brought back.

Here is an article from 12/24/06 asking the same question

nytimes.com

[Old Tele man]

...that was a nice white Riveria near the end of the film.

[MetroMPG]

Retracing the 1952 Mobilgas Economy Run in a VW Jetta TDI

Relishing the Thrill of a 60-Year-Old Hunt

Read more: Retracing the 1952 Mobilgas Economy Run in a Volkswagen Jetta TDI - Motor Trend

[Sven7]

OP's link is broken

[MetroMPG]

Try this:
University of Dayton : News - Bring Back the Economy Runs

from:

History of "economy competitions" at SAE meeting, Detroit - April 14/11

[California98Civic]

I love this retracing article. A Yosemite run or Grand Canyon run would be cool. But I wouldn't care so much about the "bone stock" rule. Maybe that could be a category. But the modders ought have their own category.

j

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Retracing the 1952 Mobilgas Economy Run in a VW Jetta TDI

Relishing the Thrill of a 60-Year-Old Hunt

Read more: Retracing the 1952 Mobilgas Economy Run in a Volkswagen Jetta TDI - Motor Trend

[old jupiter]

I'm old enough to remember the DIY magazines my dad was getting in the Fifties . . . Mechanix Illustrated, Science & Mechanics, Popular Science, . . . and see not only feature articles on that year's Run, but cover articles telling you the "secrets" of winning cars and drivers of the Run.

I wish I had saved some of those articles on the Run; I did save an article on the Fish carburetor, which along with the Pogue carburetor was one of those "miracle inventions" that were ultimately killed off by dark forces in the auto and oil industries, according to the conspiracy lovers of the time.

As far as the "secrets" of the Run, I think they were a combination of hyper-miling by the drivers, and very close tuning by the factory mechanics (possibly some cheating??), plus tall, skinny tires with the tread shaved and pumped up to 60psi.

[Old Tele man]

...and, speed limits of only 55-60 mph!