What was your first car, and first eco-car?
 

What were these two cars and how soon did you get the eco car ?

'94 Saturn SW2 automatic.... mmm dual cam I4 :thumbup:

No idea what fuel economy it got... The odometer was busted :p

For the record my first car was a 1964 Dodge Polara 4 door with a 318 V8. Actually not bad miliage for the day, it routinely got about 18mpg when i wasn't on it this was before all the muscle cars so my big plus on this one was you could fit a lot of people in it to go to the drive in movies. Four Dodge Chargers and a Challenger were to follow; all with 440 Magnums. Hey, gas was 60 cents a gallon! The first eco car was a 1974 Datsun B-210, And that got an honest 32mpg.

My first car was a Chevy Sprint... Maybe a 1984? 0.9L, 3cyl, 2 doors and a hatch. We usually got around 45 mpg, and we (mom, dad and I all drove it for the great economy) drove it to about 250,000... And we saw it around town for another 5 years or so. What a great little car!

Guess my first car and my first eco-car were one and the same?

1964 Triumph Spitfire

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r...102528_std.jpg

My first car was also my first eco car. It was a 1990 VW Golf Diesel. All of its 52 hp were needed to reach 90 mph.

guudasitgets -

My Dad let me drive his 1971 VW Karmann Ghia ... (lots of light 4-banger compacts in between) ... 1999 Saturn SW2.

My last two cars have been S-Series Saturns because they were American UAW-built cars with competitive MPG. The MPG wasn't the best on the market, but it was "good enough" to make my buy American.

EDIT: Ok, now I think I understand the question. *All* of my cars have been "eco-cars".

CarloSW2

Well, my first car was a 1976 Pinto, and it was getting a respectable 29-31 MPG in 1983 despite the automatic transmission. I suppose I was Hypermiling without realizing back then(little old ladies sometimes passed me on the road!).

My next car for well over a decade (12 years I think) was a 1968 VW Beetle. It achieved about 30MPG after the initial rebuild, 36 after the Slick 50 treatment and 40 after I had a Weber carb placed on it and did a partial Baja conversion after it was struck by a Camaro(I created a fiberglass cover for the motor instead of the stock 'cage', modded the front and fenders but didn't lift the chassis or mod the mufflers-took off over 300lbs!). At long last the poor beastie was hit by a bus-in the Parking Lot no less! :eek: The claims adjuster was going to total it but one of the passengers offered me $800 for the parts-half my parts ended up in a VW Roadster kit he was working on...

I pocketed most of the cash and followed a tip from my VW mechanic to a local salvage yard-found a 1971 VW Squareback Sedan with two smashed headlights, knifemarks in the paint and a broken windshield...$225 later and it was mine! One windshield, one Master Cylinder,two headlights and 6 cans of Tractor paint later, I was happily driving my new toy up the Interstate! :D I routinely achieved 30MPG+ with the Squareback despite a heavier frame (the engine had an early-model Fuel Injector). Eight years later a fellow VW fan offered me $700 for the car, and once I found out he wanted to do a factory restoration I let him talk me down to $600. He may have that VW still.

My current vehicle is a '93 Festiva that I purchased for $800 from a dealer who specializes in Technical Totals (mostly dent-and-ding stuff though, he'd rather part out a vehicle that's not roadworthy). There was wear and tear on the seats, missing paint and a few dings (I suspect a hailstorm) but the motor purred like a kitten. I used fabric glue and leftovers to re-upholster the seats, slipped on new covers and touched up the peeling paint with a spraycan (cheap? MOI?). I've consistently had between 42-46 MPG on the Red Menace, and no maintenance costs other than oil changes and new tires-though I did finally replace the starter this year(factory original it was too!).

I'm finally sanding and filling out the minor dings and have the whole body roughed and primed-but since the factory laid me off in September and i'm going back to school for A+ and Network+, any further work is on hold. Once I pass the exams and get a decent career going though, I intend to have the first 1993 Festiva in Metallic Ruby Flake with a Layered Clear finish! Well, I may play with some Bodymods first... ;)

My first car was a 95 Dodge Caravan 2.5L 4 banger. Could haul 7 people decently. It was no speed demon but it got you from A to B and it averaged around 25 MPG. It was a good car, till the cylinder head cracked in half. Got the Jeep after that which is anything but eco friendly. So in effort to correct that I got my Insight.

Frank Lee , love the Spit! I had a 62 XKE when I was 15 (Lucas electrics UGHH!), Wasn't technically mine I had to share it with my one year older brother. Heay if you took it easy that thing got 19mpg when you had all three SU carbs in sync. I have to mention Vegas here. At that time I worked (of all places) in the warranty repair department at a Chevy dealer. For one solid year, ALL I worked on were Vegas (rust on front fenders, floor pans, Head gaskets and warped blocks). You guys want to know about Vegas? Somebody better start a new website. I can't fit it all in here.

I bought and sold my first car before I ever got a drivers license, a 1982 VW Rabbit Pickup Truck, I think it gets around 32mpg, then my first car I owned while I could drive was a 1987 Ford Econoline van, put a full 300 miles on it before selling it a year later, got around 17mpg, the first car I put any number of miles on was a 1984 Honda Civic DX hatchback, averaged 42.2mpg over the entire time I drove it, was rear ended by someone going about 40mph and retired the car to the back yard.

Guud- still have the Jag? I wish I still had many of my old cars...

Long-long gone Frank. it's a sad story, the old man sold it for 250$ I can't tell you how pissed my brother and I were. That was when I was 18, I'm 52 now buddy. ya, a long time ago.

Ah! the British made LUCAS IGNITIONS. A piece of engineering history (on how not to do it). :p

During the great aerial BATTLE OF BRITAIN in WWII, the Royal Air Force lost 792 aircraft.

The Luftwaffe was credited with 50% of the losses and...

... LUCAS IGNITION (which was in all RAF aircraft) was equally credited with other 50% of the RAF losses. :eek:

First was a 1937 Ford 2 dr. sedan, three on the floor w/ a 85 hp. 21 bolt, 221 c.i. (3.6L) case iron V8. Mileage unknown.

First Econ was an early Pinto but the best was an 80's Olds Cutlass 4Dr. w/ a V6 4.3L diesel, w/ auto trans. The Olds would carry 5 adults comfortably with 35 mpg hwy.:turtle: The Olds V8 diesel was a disaster. They took a gasoline V8 and made it into a diesel. The bottom end of the block, crank, main bearings, rods could not the 14.5:1 compression ratio of the diesel. The V6 was a true diesel and well designed.

All hail Lucas, Lord of Darkness!

The first car I got that was something I really wanted, rather than just what I could afford, was an Austin-Healey Sprite. (Not the BugEye, but the subsequent model.) Probably counts as the first eco-car, too. I think it would get 30-40 mpg, even the way I drove it. Had a couple of other good British sports cars, a Sunbeam Alpine and a Jaguar XK-120, so I've sacrificed much blood on Lucas' altar.

The Lucas motto: "Get home before dark."
Lucas is the patent holder for the short circuit.
Lucas - Inventor of the first intermittent wiper.
Lucas - Inventor of the self-dimming headlamp.
The three position Lucas switch - Dim, Flicker and Off.
The Original Anti-Theft Device - Lucas Electrics.
>Lucas is an acronym for Loose Unsoldered Connections and Splices
Lucas systems actually uses AC current; it just has a random frequency.
"I have had a Lucas pacemaker for years and have never had any trou..."
If Lucas made guns, wars would not start.
A friend of mine told everybody he never had any electric problems with his Lucas equipment. Today he lives in the countryside, in a large manor with lots of friendly servants around him an an occasional ice cold shower...
Back in the 70's, Lucas decided to diversify its product line and began manufacturing vacuum cleaners. It was the only product they offered which did not suck.
Q: Why do the British drink warm beer? A: Because Lucas makes their refrigerators
Alexander Graham Bell invented the Telephone.Thomas Edison invented the Light Bulb. Joseph Lucas invented the Short Circuit.
Recommended procedure before taking on a repair of Lucas equipment: Check the position of the stars,kill a chicken and walk three times clockwise around your car chanting:" Oh mighty Prince of Darkness protect your unworthy servant.."

Oh as have I; and as have my other English car brethren

Lucas - Prince of Darkness - Lucas Electrical Humor Jokes
you guys will love this

My first car was a 1964 1/2 Skylight Blue Mustang coupe. 289 V8. 3 spd auto. AM radio. Power brakes. White vinyl interior. I bought it in 1974 from a local garage when the original owner couldn't pay for the transmission rebuild they did. I drove it for 2 years until body panel rust accelerated more than my meager repair skills and I sold it for $1K. Years later I plugged the VIN into the Mustang Registry and found out it was the first of 50 made in 1964 with that color/option combo. Skylight Blue was discontinued as a color in August 1964.

My first eco car was probably my new 1979 orange Pinto wagon. "The Great Pumpkin". It carried me and all my stuff back and forth to Louisiana and never missed a beat unitl I traded it for a new 1983 Mustang GT.

First car was a 97 renault clio. It had a 1.1 engine and wouldn't draw your attention, let alone a load of any kind. I forget what it's mpg was like but i drove it hard so i guess it didnt matter. My first eco car was my civic i guess. Got down to 4.2L/100k over the summer. I recently got a yaris with a 1.4D4D engine so here's hoping i get some interesting mpg out of it.

ollie

Neat cars.

Like Ryland, I also got my first one before I could legally drive. An abandoned 1964 Pontiac Catalina that I fixed up (see http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...near-5560.html ).

First "eco" car was one of a string (hutch?) of late 70's and early 80's VW Rabbits.

First car was a '77 Corolla, 1.6L with the 3-speed auto. Got in the high 20's driving like a teen. First eco-car was a '99 Metro LSi 4 cylinder, bought new with 34 miles and sold with 165,000 miles. Best tank was 42 mpg with no eco-driving techniques.

I had a sports commentator tell me once when I was working Indy for the month "if theres one thing anyone will talk about and get a conversation going it's what was your first car, no matter what walk of life, you always remmember that one"

My first car was a 1935 Chevrolet, Master deluxe, coupe. My first eco car was a 1971 Opel station wagon. It had a 1.0 litre engine and a four speed stick. It averaged about 35 mpg.

My first car is my tbird, bought at 141,000 and its sitting in the driveway at 170,001 awaiting an engine. It got 30 highway pretty easy and on one short highway trip I got 34mpg. This was all before I knew about hypermiling or any of the sort, I was just easy on the gas.

My first eco car is my second car, the festiva.

1985 Ford Tempo coupe. With the 'sport package' which means it had the alloy wheels and the 5 speed manual. How I loved that car! It was all mine, you know? I loved it in spite of fellow classmates describing it as a 'disposable' car. It was fun to drive, dependable, and pretty good on gas, though I never calculated the mpgs.

1964 Renault Caravelle. 48 cubic inches of raw 4 cyl. power. I know I must have gotten close to 40mpg. The odometer was broken so who knows. It was a converitble. Wish I still had that car.

well when i got my license my dad let me drive his 91 silverado 4x4 auto 350 excab. it may have got 13mpg.. then 4 months later i got my truck my first car/truck that was mine. a 98 toyota tacoma 4x4 (the one i still drive) it had 47047 miles on it and was a year old 12k out the door. now it has 255k miles on him. and i drive it almost everyday. the valve cover still has the stock seal, and up till a few weks ago stock transmission, but a gear came loose (how odd) and screwed it all up. mostly everything else is still stock. i nave beat the hell out of this truck multiple jumps, submirged up tot the hood in mud, racing it at the air port everyweekend a few years back.

http://www.customtacos.com/gallery2/...m/IMG_2166.JPG

my next car in 01 was a 97 lexus es300, was given to me by my grandfather, i drove it till jan of 08 put 100k miles on hernad a set of is300 rims a set of hid lights off an 99 model. and got between 21 and 33 mpg out of the 3.0l v6, that ran a 10.3 in the 1/8 all stock wit a full tank of gas and would hit 139( factory limit with ease) amnd did it several times, cruise control also worked at 135 :)
http://www.customtacos.com/gallery2/...IMG_0348re.jpg

in jan of 08 i bout my new camry se I4 auto sedan leather jbl trd wheels every option, been getting close to 30 mpg since.( is that my ecco car?)

http://www.customtacos.com/gallery2/.../IMG_26291.JPG

then in sept of this year i bought another car well truck my 09 tacoma 4x4 v6 auto trd sport ex cab, it gets about 20, no ecco driving.

http://www.customtacos.com/gallery2/...m/IMG_2614.JPG

1984 Ford Bronco II
1984 Ford Bronco II

first rig (still have it), and got the best mpg of any rig i've owned. got over 30 mpg stock. well, kinda stock. i ripped out the electronic controls for the carb, and made manual ones. i was always tinkering with it, using scrap metal and other garbage to make my own parts. hey, i was 16. most of my money went to girls, booze, and grass. once i lifted it and added the big mud tires, i stopped keeping track (i was older, with a better job, and gas was still cheap).


fun fact: its rare, but some Bronco II's came with a 4 cyl deisel. made Fourwheeler magazine's "mileage kings" for suv's.

My first car was a 1985 Mazda RX-7 GSL that I picked up from one of my dad's friend's sons on December 6, 2001. It had 48,000 original miles on it. It was silver and beautiful and I wish I still had her *sigh*. Had to sell her a few years back to afford college. She used to get 22 MPG and that was with an automatic trans, and the smaller 12A Rotary in it. Definitely not an economical vehicle, but it turned some heads.
http://www.geocities.com/timessquare/5713/vroom.jpg

I'm on my first eco-car (2002 Corolla S) and my second car overall, and I will never own another automatic (this one's a standard). If I had the chance, I would buy another 85 (stick) and use it for those hot summer days that you don't care about economy and just care about cold A/C :D.

My first car was an eco-car; it was a 2001 Hyundai Elantra. I got it used in 2004 from the Saturn dealership(R.I.P.) that I was working at. Keeping up with traffic gave me a horrible average of 24 mpg. Once I slowed down I brought that average up to about 34 mpg. While working on the brakes I discovered that the previous owner was in an accident that was not reported on the carfax report. Over the few years I had it the electrical system had so many problems it was hard to keep up. I got $500 dolars for it when I traded it in for my Yaris.

1966 typeII VW deluxe 13 window red and white. Got it when I was 13.
I finally got it driveable when I was 16. Best mpg I ever recorded was 15. I didn't care much because the only thing I didn't pay for was fuel. I had tons of stereo gear onboard and I would kill an alternator everytime I used it for more than a few minutes with the engine off even with 2 monster deap cycle batteries.

91celica gts (5sfe) auto wasn't bad pulled in many 35 mpg tanks

Mkiii supras were all over the chart, had a leak once and had a single digit tank. Turbo 5 speed lifetime was around 19 which was much better than any of my muscle car buddies got.

95 accord wagon (free to me)was around 24 mpg

And the golf is in my signature.

Unfortunately I don't have an eco car but my very first car was a 1967 2 door Plymouth Satellite, kinda of a coppery gold color. I loved that car. It had a 318 engine and a torque flight in the floor automatic transmission. Heavy duty shocks leaf springs so she sat up high - we called her the "Amphicar". Her Minnesota license was 2UC 318, which I said meant "2 barrel carbeurator (you see) and a 318 engine" which is why I remember it. She died a slow death in California.
My next car was a 1959 Morris Minor 1000 with a "home-made" sunroof which never went above 45 mph. Then I had a wonderful 43 mpg 1970 Honda 600 sedan. Great on gas mileage, terrible on space! I wish I still had the old 600 - I think she'd make a great eco car!

My first car was a 1977 Olds Cutlass Brougham 4-door 350 (with a blazing ~160 hp).

http://pic16.picturetrail.com/VOL698.../193156707.jpg

Oh yeah. Pillow-top plaid velour seats and a soft top. It was as old as I was, with 70K original miles. Great rolling couch until the transmission quit. The Beretta age began.

Most efficient:
1997 Honda Civic DX Coupe. No A/C or PS, 5-speed, 106 hp 1.6L. The lack of extra options made it a light, fun car with the benefit of about 30-40 mpg. The horsepower wars began and I enlisted (1999 Civic Si Coupe).

-Rick

1951 Plymouth Concord 2 dr. fastback. Flat head 6. Three on the tree, with a 4 sp. mounted backwards behind the three speed for three over direct. Caution: do not place on jack stands and floor it in three/one or the tires will explode.

Bear in mind I live in England...
First car was a 1970 Austin Mini, 850cc petrol. I got about 40mpg (US)

Next car, and the most economical, so my best "eco car" to date was a Peugeot 205 XLD. It had a 1.8 litre diesel (non-turbo). I got 57mpg (US) from that, on freeways. It was one of the first decent small diesel cars.

My aim is to make my current car, with about twice the weight, and a more modern diesel, to match this...

My 1st was an almost-new '64 Morris Minor with the 1100 A engine. Sort of a go-away present from dad. The back seat could be re-arranged to make a decent bed, feet on the trunk floor. I rode a bike for most of my adult life, and thought my >2 litre '81 Celica beater grossly oversized, but I liked the classic hotchkiss drive train, and got it tuned for decent mileage. I find these Metros are still more car than I want, most of the time - I might have to build a cabin scooter.

I bought a new '77 Buick Regal with a 350 2bbl. automatic which was my first car it got about 15 mpg combined city/highway and my first eco car was a '78 MG Midget bought in '81 with a 1.5 liter four speed it got about 25 mpg combined city/highway. The funny thing is my first economy car got about the same mileage as most of the current V8's in the full size cars, Cadillac's, Mercury Grand Marquis, Ford Crown Victoria etc.

My first car was a 1985 Chevy Monte Carlo...beat it up badly in college.

My first eco-car I just purchased...2009 Toyota Prius

first=eco
 

My first was a 1958 Morris Minor 1000. I got her in running condition from a local hot-rodder for $80 US.She got around 30-mpg and would have probably qualified in the 1960s as an eco car.My grandfather was very frugal and that rubbed off on me.My dad was the first hyper-miler I knew.He was drafting semis in the mid-1970s,getting 28mpg out of a small-block Chevy 400.