[elhigh]

I'm scrounging materials to start doing mods on my truck - it's getting priority because it gets the better mileage of my two rides, and because it only seats two people. When there's only one or two people to go anywhere, my gas-saver has a better chance of getting used.

Does anyone besides me remember the HMVFreeway?

I'm utterly incapable of inserting a photo of the Freeway; I just got done blowing about 30 minutes trying to make it happen. Trust me, it's cute, it's small, and it got up to 100mpg using a Tecumseh lawn tractor engine.

Mother Earth News loved that thing; it inspired them to start building their own. I just liked it because it's a fellow Minnesotan. But the thing that grabs me more is that of all the cars I see every morning, as much as 60% of them are only carrying one person. Seventy-five percent of the rest are only carrying two. It's a really small portion of the motoring population that's rolling with a significant number of seats filled, and so many of those cars are HUGE. But now the huge cars are getting parked in the yard with a FOR SALE sign in the windshield, and small, lightweight econoboxes like the Metro are enjoying that rarest of rarities, an increase in value on the used car market.

I've noticed that a lot of us are willing to accept a few sacrifices for better fuel economy, including fewer or tighter seats in the Insight or Metro, lower speeds in general, and many of us are opting to power our commute with ham sandwiches. Are we getting close to an environment where minimalist transportation options like the Freeway can find a market?

Anybody want to weigh in with an opinion on this? I'm still going to add cladding to the truck, but a little side project like a homebrew Freeway or a super aero nacelle a la Craig Vetter for my '81 Honda Express moped might not be out of the question. It's all a matter of time and money.