Quote:
Originally Posted by Grant-53
In the early 1980s I drove a used '72 Cadillac hearse. It weighed 6000 lbs and with the 472 cid engine I got 10 mpg city/13 hwy. How does that compare with a pickup truck from the same era?
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In the 70's pickups got horrible MPG, mostly due to rear axle gears and cheap gas. Your Caddy was probably about the same. In 73 the crunch hit and guys started changing rear axles, which dropped pulling capacity but helped MPG. At $1.50 a gallon after .50 cents, it made a difference. I was still in my Hot Rod stage of life but had enough common sense to buy a Ford Falcon Ranchero with a 6-cylinder and automatic for my daily driver. Later I got a 55 Plymouth with a flathead 6 and auto for work commuting. With a major tune-up it got OK MPG at 15 to 17, which for the mid 70's was not bad in traffic. No air conditioning, no cruise, no power anything, but the flathead was bullet proof dependable.