Man, a kindred spirit!
I have toyed with this exact idea 100x!
I too have a long commute so mileage is important but modern(ish) fwd vehicles bore me to tears, which leaves precious few options.
Personally, I planned on going with a 27 Track-T. The frontal area on it is TINY (less than 15 sq.ft) and the aero is surely a bit better than the Tudor. Its shape also seems to me like it lends itself well to aero-modding.
Drivetrain would consists of Ford Ranger bits (2.3l engine, 5sp, 7.5” axle with 3.08 or 3.55 ratio) for simplicity and availability, at least on revision 1.0 (these things are always ‘works in progress’
). An S10 could be an equally good donor as either will provide PILES of usable parts for very little cash. A walk farther on the wild side, if cash permitted, would include a GM 2.0/2.2L Ecotech or a Ford 2.0 Zetec/Duratec strapped to a light duty T5 as adaptor bell housings are available for either. Another possibility (in my dream world) is a VW 1.9L TDI strapped to a Toyota or Suzuki (Samurai) RWD trans.
I think surely these combos would approach 40mpg with a diligent driver, with the diesel being much higher, and the fun/cool factor would be off the charts.
The biggest problem with the Track-T will be coming up with a roof, windows, heater and other necessities for cold weather driving and rain (I would plan on driving this thing year round). I assume though that if you’re considering this kind of project your building/fab skills are ‘above average’
at least.