# Automobile MPG in the past **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 3, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automobile-mpg-in-the-past/555946 "2010-10-03T20:57:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automobile-mpg-in-the-past/555946/41 "2010-10-04T20:58:58Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > So how would a vehicle from the 40s and 50s hold up if it were to crash into a modern car? The car holding up and the driver surviving are two completely (and mostly contrary) goals. Take a look upthread for the Malibu vs Malibu collision test. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automobile-mpg-in-the-past/555946/42 "2010-10-04T20:59:26Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > > [@jz78817](#): > > > > This is also a huge misconception. Cars in the '50s and '60s were hilariously unsafe, especially in crash performance. > > That made me wonder about something. In Back to the Future II, there’s a scene where Marty suggests that the Delorean land atop Biff’s car as a way of crippling it. Doc responds by saying something like “He’s in a '46 Ford, we’re in a Delorean, he’ll crush us like a tin can.” > So how would a vehicle from the 40s and 50s hold up if it were to crash into a modern car? See Post 30. Better yet, click [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPF4fBGNK0U). ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automobile-mpg-in-the-past/555946/43 "2010-10-04T21:32:02Z")
The '59 vs. '09 Chevy crash video is somewhat controversial in that that for a few years in the late 50’s and early 60’s GM used an x-frame design instead of a full H-frame on some of their full-size cars, the '59 Bel Air included. This design was criticized at the time for being too weak, especially in a side-collision. So not that anyone’s going to take a full-frame '59 Ford (for example) over the new Malibu, but a full-frame car might not have crumpled up as dramatically and plus it might have done a lot more damage to the new car. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automobile-mpg-in-the-past/555946/44 "2010-10-04T22:05:50Z")
> [@pyromyte](#): > > > [@Susanann](#): > > > > I LOVED!!! the model T! (model T or model A? I get the letters mixed up, but the one I like is the early one early 1920’s, with the funny shift) > > Anyway, I like the model T mostly because I loved the way it shifted, with the clutch handle on the left to be used in combination with the gas pedal to change gears. The model T is all anyone really needs to drive around town, even to this day, and I am thinking about getting another one just to drive into town or to the neighbors. Driving it seems like a big adult-sized gocart. If I do buy one… I want to get a Model T with electric start and electric lights. > > . > > I think that’s the Model A, per [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_A_%281927%29) the Model A was the first Ford to use the standard set of driver controls.. The Model T didn’t even have a gas pedal, it had a throttle lever on the right of the steering column.. and the driver had to manually control spark advance with a separate lever on the left.[Cool Pic.](http://www.tocmp.com/books/T/Manual/pages/Model%20T%20133_4_jpg.htm) Yeah, that kinda looks like the steering wheel and throtle. The throtle lever gives higher engine speeds. There was also something that looked like a hand brake on the left side of the driver which was used to shift gears also, and is not in your photo. I seem to remember that you have to push in the gas pedal when you stop at a light, and then you ease off the pedal to start getting going, sorta like the opposite of todays cars. I seem to remember that the model T went along at 40+ some miles per hour, more than enough to drive into town and around town even today. It also had high road clearance and it could go down roads or fields that todays cars cannot get thru. Its a nice car to drive. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automobile-mpg-in-the-past/555946/45 "2010-10-04T23:02:50Z")
Here’s the thing, when you ask many dudes about their MPG, they remember selectively. You remember the great run you had on one car, with a light foot on the gas petal and all freeway miles, but forget the city driving that is close to half that. Ancedotal evidence is not worth much. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automobile-mpg-in-the-past/555946/46 "2010-10-04T23:10:10Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Here’s the thing, when you ask many dudes about their MPG, they remember selectively. You remember the great run you had on one car, with a light foot on the gas petal and all freeway miles, but forget the city driving that is close to half that. > > Ancedotal evidence is not worth much. ☹ yeah, my car was rated at 22/30 using the pre-2008 EPA ratings, and I turned a solid 36 on the highway at a steady 75 mph cruise driving to Indy one fall. 'course, my normal driving nets me 26 which is far less impressive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automobile-mpg-in-the-past/555946.md?page=2)