What kind of mileage do you get in your antique car?

[Dave Wells]

With gas prices as high as they are and, no doubt going higher, what's the recent gas mileage you have been getting?

This ad from 1940 touts the Ford V-8 getting 24.92 mpg in the Gilmore-Yosemite Economy run. I'm sure they employed professional drivers, but, nevertheless, the route had to include a lot of hills.

I won't mention what I get from my 455 Buick, but, surprisingly, my '72 F-100, 390 (2-bbl), will average 14 - 15 mph. 

What are you driving and what's your mpg?

 

 

 

 

[alsancle]

My 8 Cylinder Stearns Knight gets somewhere between 6 and 8 miles to the gallon.

[Tom99]

The 10-11 mpg on premium, was one of my reasons for selling my 65 Corvette last week.

My 85 Oldsmobile Calais gets 27 mpg on regular around town.

[TAKerry]

2023-05-01_11-38-42 by Kerry Grubb, on Flickr

12 MPG on a good day. 400 cu in. 3 speed auto transmission. Not great but I dont drive it enough (unfortunately) to worry about it. Seems like every time I take it out first stop is to fill the tank. Its running low when I get home. Next drive- repeat procedure.

[hidden_hunter]

I figure 8-12mpg in the Cadillac 

[Sunchaser]

My truck gets around 11 mpg, small engine, 213 cu.in., single Zenith carb. 

[dship]

I get up to 31 mpg highway in my '91 Reatta coupe.

 

[TAKerry]

2 minutes ago, dship said:

I get up to 31 mpg highway in my '91 Reatta coupe.

 

And the winner is!  Nice car.

[TAKerry]

I think there was a similar thread awhile back regarding MPG. After reading about the economy of the 'classics' I realized that my car does not do too bad. I had always figured a car from the '30s/'40s would do much better mileage wise.

[Matt Harwood]

1935 Lincoln, 7 MPG no matter what.

 

1941 Buick limousine, 13-14 on the highway, 9-10 around town.

 

1956 Chrysler, 15 or so, regardless of speed.

 

1966 Mustang 4-speed, 20-22 on the highway, 16-17 around town.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Strictly seat of the pants but it seems non Classic 4, 6 cylinder prewar cars from say 1930 to 1942 might get as much as double mpg of a big Full Classic.  A smaller V8 Ford, or straight 8 Buick or Packard 120 might do roughly a third better. 

 

Of course big differences in car size, weight and performance.  MPG may have been a bigger concern with the low price 3 than the 3Ps.

 

@TAKerry hopefully you are negativily impacting your mpg with the occasional heavy foot on the accelarator.. 😉👍

[Walt G]

I agree with my friend Matt Harwood - my 1940 Roadmaster Buick with the same engine (320 cu in OHV straight 8 ) gets what he mentioned. My 1930 Packard standard 8 I think is about 12 mpg. The 1931 Franklin 6 cyl. Airman with Derham body I had ( much heavier then even a 4 door sedan) got about 13 mpg at 53 mph up or down long grades along Rt. 17 and then Rt 81 in NY State on the way to and from the Franklin Club annual event when I belonged to that club. BUT when the engine was rebuilt the master of Franklin mechanical things Dutch Kern , played with the timing to make it run better in the 50-55 mph range.  I think he advanced it 2 teeth on the timing chain.

Edited April 12 by Walt G (see edit history)

[Paul Dobbin]

My 1934 Ford V8 gets 15 MPG

My 1935 Buick Series 41 V8 gets 15 MPG

My 1935 Ford V8 Pickup gets 15 MPG

My 1966 VW Bug gets 28 MPG

My 1981 El Camino V8 gets 13 MPG

My 2004 GMC Yukon (5.3 Ltr) gets 17 MPG

My 2006 Saturn Vue (V6 Honda) gets 24 Highway and 17 in town

My 2013 Club Car Carryall uses about 8 gallons a year.

 

[29 Chandler]

1914 Chandler

About 16 mpg as was stated back when the car was new. Even back then this was a big selling point. On today's rubber I can only hope to see 7,000 miles on my tires.

Edited April 12 by 29 Chandler (see edit history)

[West Peterson]

We drove our 16-cylinder Cadillac from Minnesota to New York and back in 1972. It got about 5.5 mpg. We were told that was exceptional, as most didn't even get that much out of them. It was the one and only trip we took in that car. Most our car tours were done in a Packard, usually getting as much as 12 mpg. Nowadays, the cars seem to spend more time traveling in trailers to get to a destination, and the mileage on the truck is usually less than 8 mpg.

[Larry Schramm]

Usually between 11-16 MPG on our 1913 Buick Model 31 depending on temp and terrain.  Hills or no hills.

[Roscoe]

Sam, the '52 Chevy with a 235, four speed and 3.07 gears seems to get 13 to 15 ish. The A, I'm not real sure- it doesn't seem to be real thirsty, but I haven't really checked it. It gets driven randomly, usually on dirt roads, and gets topped off at the local general store pretty much every few days.  My daughter's old double hump headed  350 beast of a C3 Corvette that gives me heartburn every time I crank it is in the 12 to 13 mpg range. I just close my eyes, squeeze the gas pump handle, and focus on the smiles per gallon rather than the miles per gallon.😂

[Ronnie]

Only checked my new-to-me '99 Mustang GT twice since I got it. Driving it easy I got 22 mpg on first tank and 21 mpg on the second. I was expecting more like 15-17 so I was pleasantly surprised.

 

[Laughing Coyote]

My 73 Corvette with a hopped up 454 is around 10 - 11mpg on high octane, unless I mash it then the mpg drops pretty quickly. A lot of horses that need to drink.

Edited April 12 by Laughing Coyote (see edit history)

[Lee H]

All of these numbers are steady highway driving:

Model A: 18-20

’41 Continental: 15-16

’62 Lincoln: 15-16 (this was one of the years with a 2V carb)

 

All these numbers will drop at least 20% with any appreciable city driving thrown in.

 

Haven't really driven the Cougar on a long trip, but my g-grandfather got around 16 all-around driving in it.

 

 

[Paul Dobbin]

Since my cars are not hot rods, I try to drive on the front two barrels of the carburetors.   If I wanted speed, I should have kept my

57 Corvette with as 350 and Muncie 4 speed, my AMX 390 and my 57 Ranchero with a 390.,  when gas was cheaper.   I guess

comfort an economy come with maturity.   Now I drive for pleasure, not to become a old Dale Earnhardt, which never achieved

either.

[oldcarfudd]

1912 Buick Model 35 (entry-level touring car), about 15

1914 Ford Model T touring, 18-20

1907 Cadillac Model K (single-cylinder runabout), 22

1911 Stanley Model 63 (10 horsepower toy tonneau), 9 mpg on kerosene plus a mile and a quarter to a gallon of water

[TTR]

Mileage most of my (vintage) cars have always averaged is a few thousand a year, regardless of type of driving, roads, weather or price of gasoline per gallon, etc., but I’ve also always hoped latter would be much higher than it is or has ever been.

Edited April 12 by TTR (see edit history)

[hidden_hunter]

My modern station wagon gets around 23mpg mixed use and spirited driving it drops to just over 10

[DAVE A]

These 2 average around 43 MPG!! A 50 Crosley Hotshot Super and a 51 Hotshot

[avgwarhawk]

Right now I'm getting zero miles to the gallon. Too busy to get them out on the road. Trying to change that tomorrow.

[John Byrd]

I have only checked the mpg on the Mini two times, once it was 36 mpg, the 2nd time was 39 mpg. The 66 Tiger we used to have got low to mid-20's, so I suppose this current one, a 67 model with the same engine (289 and still using the same carb I had on the 1st one) and rear end (2:88) does too, but I haven't checked it yet. The 259 cubic inch Studebaker we just sold got 16 to 22 with a 600 Holley (jetted properly) and a GM 4 speed automatic overdrive tranny we put in it,  but just to throw a spear at the gas companies, my blue & white 50 cc 2003 scooter gets 115 to 123 mpg and Karen's 50 cc 2005 red & white scooter always gets 125 mpg. !!!!  Since I'm reporting mpg's, the new Maverick also shown gets 24 around town and got 30 going to Hilo and back last weekend. Not vintage or antique, but that sure is good mileage, and it runs great too, lol.

[Dave Wells]

A quick and "unofficial" analysis of the responses so far:

1.  There are more responses listing post war cars than pre-war (28 +2 scooters vs 22 respectively)
2.  Not a lot of responses listing orphans (eleven)
3.  Many reporting members own and drive performance cars (gas guzzlers) as hobby cars
4. There were a number of responses from drivers of 80's and 90's (and later) cars  (maybe because the car's computer displays mpg.)

No earthshaking revelations here, but I think the responses so far are interesting. I would have thought the pre-war responses would have outnumbered the responses of members reporting on later model cars, however I did not ask the HCCA for input.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 13 by Dave Wells (see edit history)

[CChinn]

‘53 Packard Clipper 15 mpg on regular. ‘40 Chevy Special Deluxe 10-15 mpg on regular. ‘87 MB 560 SL 14-18 mpg on premium

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

The 1950 Buick varies from,  from 14-16 local, to as high as 20 hwy.   Gearing makes a large difference.  From Texas to Seattle and return last year,  towing the teardrop ,  about 18.

 

  Ben

 

 UPDATE:

  Just home from a 2100 mile trip, again towing the tear drop.    17.8 mpg.

Edited April 18 by Ben Bruce aka First Born (see edit history)

[R Walling]

 With 5 cars registered, i get about 50 miles per year driving to local events. 😁 Gas mileage varies.

[Dandy Dave]

My 1915 C-36 Buick gets about 14 MPG.

[69merc]

Me filling up with non-ethanol gas on 3/24/24. I had 1/2 of a tank of leaded 110 Octane CAM 2 Sunoco Racing Gas still in the tank from November. (My station doesn't get the CAM 2 until later in the spring.) I got 13.1 mpg on this tank, which for Winter isn't too bad, as I let the car warm up a lot before cruising etc. I average between 12-14 mpg generally. This fill up was $66 @ 4.89/gal. (13.5 gal.) The CAM2 Racing Gas runs around $10/gal. 429 Thunderjet (10.5:1 compression) 2 barrel.  I don't drive the car enough to get too worried about the cost of gas, averaging 2k or less per year. (currently 43k miles on clock) I keep detailed records of every gas purchase.

[yachtflame]

I get about 8 mpg on my ‘30 LaSalle sedan. Had it up to 11 but knowledgeable member here told me I was leaning the engine out too much and was gonna regret it, so I’m back to 8.

[carbking]

1968 Ford F-100 with 390/dual quads/4-speed 21~22 MPG at 70 MPH unloaded divided highway.

 

Same truck pulling 16 foot tandem trailer with 2 John Deere 400 series L & G tractors at 60~65 MPH 16~17 MPG 2-lane highway.

 

1974 Pontiac GTO high performance P350 about 21 MPG cruising, about 17 MPG with spirited driving.

 

Not an antique, but:

 

2021 Ford Escape 4 cylinder turbo 22.3 MPG average since I bought the car. About 26 highway and 13 city. Disappointing. Wish I could put a carburetor on this thing!

 

Jon

[EThomas]

My ‘31 Chrysler CM6 gets about 15 mpg in the flat farmlands of nowhere, next to nothing, east Central Illinois. 

[3macboys]

My bottom line answer is, don't know, don't care - I put so few miles on any one of them I doubt any of them go through $250 in gas in a year.  I take one out, fill it up and if I've driven for about 2 to 3 hrs, stop to stretch and fill the tank again.   I think the more important measurement is smiles per mile which is a minimum of 1 - mine! with unlimited potential from people I pass by.  

 

Don

[Pfeil]

All mileage checks at HWY speeds. What else is there in N. AZ.

1962 Pontiac Catalina. Non op. built for grand touring. Expect 15-18 MPG VP leaded racing fuel 100LL octane.  

1963 Pontiac Catalina 389 12- 18 MPG 10% ethanol 87 Octane.

1964 113 VW Beetle deluxe 1200 40hp, 34 MPG 10% ethanol - 38MPG Ethanol free 87 octane. 

1965 111 VW Beetle 1200"A", 1200 36hp, 38 MPG 10% ethanol - 42MPG Ethanol free 87 octane.

1969 Pontiac LeMans 7.58 L Grand Touring 15-18 MPG VP racing fuel leaded 100LL octane.

1976 Oldsmobile Omega brougham 4.1L, 24-26 MPG 10% ethanol 28-30MPG 87 Ethanol free.

2012 NISSAN Sentra SL, DOHC 2.0 4cyl, CVT, steady state level ground 3,000 elevation 70 MPH= 2100RPM and 42MPG, at 100MPH 37. MPG 10% ethanol 87 octane. 

2019 NISSAN Frontier Crew Cab DOHC 4.1 VQ, 5sp automatic with 4 & 5 gear with lock up converter. 26-28MPG 10% ethanol 87 octane.

 

It seems that all the cars that can run ethanol free fuel get 4mpg more mpg than 10% ethanol fuel. Think about that and the millions of cars in the U.S.A. using 10% ethanol and how much fuel we could save if all fuel were ethanol free. And the powers above us want 15%,

what stupidity.  

Edited April 14 by Pfeil (see edit history)

[69merc]

2 hours ago, Pfeil said:

It seems that all the cars that can run ethanol free fuel get 4mpg more mpg than 10% ethanol fuel.

Non-ethanol gas burns hotter.  Plus it's safer for our old carbureted cars.  Glad you posted!

[Terry Harper]

The 8 ton, 1928 Lombard dump truck can eek out a miserly 0.625 mpg if we don’t get too heavy handed with the throttle. We run non-ethanol.

 

Edited April 13 by Terry Harper (see edit history)