Good morning, Autopians, and happy Monday! I just flew back from Los Angeles, and boy are my arms tired. (Don’t roll your eyes like that; old jokes are the best jokes.) Today, we’re going to look at two different ways of efficient commuting from days gone by, but first, let’s look at the results from Friday’s tow-truck matchup:
Huh, that’s more lopsided than I expected, given how evenly matched the two trucks are in capability and condition. Did the branded title really scare off that many people? That might be worth investigating at some point: how much does a dirty title really matter on a twenty-year-old vehicle?
But today, we have smaller matters to consider, in the form of two different city vehicles. I couldn’t help but notice the price of gasoline in the LA area: still well over six dollars a gallon. This got me thinking about all the times throughout the years that automakers, big and small, introduced the next big thing meant to save drivers on fuel. So we’re going to look at a car from the 1990s that only sips gas, and one designed in the 1970s that doesn’t use any at all.
1993 Geo Metro XFi – $2,000
Engine/drivetrain: 1.0 liter inline 3, 5 speed manual, FWD
Location: Visalia, CA
Odometer reading: 283,000 miles
Runs/drives? Yep
Darling of hypermilers and fuel efficiency enthusiasts, the Geo Metro is the poster car for good gas mileage. That’s especially true of this XFi variant, which used a milder cam and longer gearing among other minor fuel-saving tweaks. These changes improved fuel economy quite a bit, but took some spring out of the Metro’s step, and it didn’t have a whole hell of a lot to begin with.
Still, the Metro is a charming little car, and even fun to drive in that go-kart sort of way. It’s feather-light, completely mechanical, and never lets you forget you’re in a car stripped to its bare essentials in the name of fuel economy, but at least it’s honest about its intentions.
This Metro has what can only be called a shit-ton of miles on it, nearly three hundred thousand. That’s a lot for any engine, but this tiny three-cylinder has been rebuilt and is said to run well and pass a smog test. The seller notes a minor problem with the 5 speed manual transmission, stating that you must come to a stop to shift to second or first gear. This is indicative of worn-out syncrhonizers in the transmission, but you can always double-clutch it. (Apparently the seller doesn’t know how.)
Even with all the miles, this Metro looks pretty good. The seat cover isn’t surprising, because I think the seat fabric was actually tissue paper on these, and it’s probably not in great shape under there. But nothing looks abused or egregiously broken, and the outside looks fine. Except for the color, that is; why are so many economy cars white?
1980 ComutaCar – $1,200
Motor/drivetrain: 6 hp DC motor, direct drive, RWD
Location: Woodland, CA
Odometer reading: 2,400 miles
Runs/drives? Should, with new batteries
When people say “Electric cars have come a long way,” it’s important to realize just how far. Decades before the Nissan Leaf, before Polestars and Plaid Modes, there was Sebring-Vanguard and their tiny wedge called the Citicar. And as quaint and ridiculous as this car may look today, Sebring-Vanguard sold enough of them to become the number-six automaker in the country in 1976, behind the Big Three, AMC, and Checker. Not bad for what basically amounts to an enclosed golf cart with a license plate.
By 1980, when this car rolled silently off the lot, Sebring-Vanguard had been bought out by Commuter Vehicles, Inc., and the car had been renamed the ComutaCar. Gigantic 5 MPH bumpers were added to satisfy DOT requirements, and the batteries (eight 6V lead-acid units, as far as I can tell) were moved from under the seats to a pair of trays at the front and rear.
This ComutaCar covered 2,400 miles early on, and then sat disused. The batteries are, as a result, toast. But they’re all present, so you can get your core charges back when you replace them. The original wheels and tires are long gone, replaced by a set of Harbor Freight trailer wheels and tires. Normally I wouldn’t suggest these as a safe alternative to real automobile road tires, but the ComutaCar has a top speed of under 40 MPH, so they’re probably fine.
From what we can see in the photos, it looks like it’s in decent shape. It’s probably not very useful in its original spec, with an absurdly primitive three-step microswitch-activated speed control, but with new batteries and a modern controller, it would probably run all right. You could up the voltage from 48 to 72 without much trouble (6×12 volts instead of 8×6 volts). And if the motor needs replacing, that’s another opportunity to upgrade.
Everybody wants to save money on gas when the price spikes. The best way is still to just drive less – and drive slower – but if you want to pick a cheap vehicle to help you save at the pump, here are a couple options for you. Which one will it be?
(Image credits – Craigslist sellers)
The ComutaCar. Just because it’s so freaking weird.
Just hope no one experiences the potential acid bath from a collision…..
geo
I have to vote in Metro because it’s a functional car for a reasonable price (I’ve been looking for one for a few years now and nothing close to me is in remotely as good a condition or with as few miles for less than 6K)
I had a 92 just like the one shown but red and the car was an absolute blast to hoon around in no tachometer just a Green arrow telling you when to shift and a red arrow telling you you should have shifted a long time ago. Manual steering rack, mechanical clutch, ECT you could keep the thing going forever with channel locks and a roll of duct tape. Mine had about 350K miles on it when I got it I threw a new rings and bearings in it and sold it after another 200k miles (wish I hadn’t)
That said the commuta car could be a absolute freaking blast. Score a electric forklift from a factory auction with a bad battery for 500ish dollars and suddenly you have a 50 horsepower motor, the controller, hall effect throttle instead of the three speed gas pedal and an onboard charger that could top the forklift up and 20 minutes and will likely turn the $1,000 worth of lipo4 batteries it would take to get reasonable range into a bomb but might just get the charging speed fast enough to actually be practical…. And look at it those harbor freight tires are just begging for freeway speed wheelies.
Fake wood paneling in an electric car. Gotta love them 70s (1980 was basically still the 70s, like 1990 was still the 80s and 2000 was still the 90s)!
I’m sure the Comutacar already has already been sold and has a new owner. Jason we are ALL looking at you.
There is something in me that wants to take the Comutacar and do a gas conversion. I already has Harbor Freight Wheels, why not add a Predator motor? While I like EVs and think they are the future, there is something I think I would like about pissing off the electric Stans even more.
Metro.
I always wanted one.
In addition to not double-clutching, I bet the driver of the Geo was granny-shifting too!
I first toyed with a 97 Geo Metro 3cyl 5spd I found for $300 running.
Only car that turned so sharp the CV axles popped because they were basically sideways.
Gutted the cat, potentiometer on the IAT, wideband o2 with simulated narrowband set to 15.5 stoich (instead of 14.7), and drove it until the front right control arm broke off taking a sweeper from 75S to 696E squealing when going straight.
Sold it for $300 and got a 2000 Insight next since it basically is an Aluminum never-rusting Geo Metro that looks cooler and has 12 valves with Vtec instead of 6 valves without, engine makes 20 more horsepower (69 vs 49) and has more extreme gearing (0.6 overdrive through 3.2 final).
Auto climate control too.
I do want to turbo a metro though, would have been fun with a small 16g turbo and a 4th injector.
The Comutacar, since everybody around here seems to have their own little golf cart or utv to run around the streets on, I figure this would be a cool alternative to what everyone else has.
Oh, memories. My dad had a 2-door Metro 5-speed he bought new in 1992. At the time he was commuting long distance (100 miles a day) and having just moved to West TN, putting long miles on his thirsty/not the most reliable Renault was off the table.
IIRC he got the car super cheap, which, it absolutely was. But it never broke down and he got something ridiculous in terms of gas mileage (maybe 52+ mpg?). I remember helping him replace speakers and headlights on that car (must have been in 2nd grade), and that was the first memory I have of working on a car.
Metro. It looks surprisingly good, I know how to double clutch, and I got married in 1993. Sentimental journey.
I swear, it’s like every electric car designer in the ’70s and ’80s was secretly a double agent for the oil companies, sabotaging things from inside, because it seems like zero effort was put into making any of them appealing
I had a 1986 Chevy Sprint. It had a lot of heart and made great gas mileage. An easy choice for me, I picked the Geo. At least you can drive that around. That Commuta Car could barely do residential streets.
I had a 1988 Sprint. It was amazingly efficient… highway MPG in the 50s, as long as you didn’t try to get too crazy. I remember the radiator was the size of a sheet of paper, and turning on the A/C was the equivalent of punching the engine in the groin.
Metro, those motors were rare, but when this one was rebuilt, was it with the XFi cam and double ring pistons? seems like those rare parts might have necessitated a regular G10 suzuki rebuild kit. The Cummuta car would be my choice if the price were 200 dollars. But I am sure I would lose interest fast and it would sit for another 40 years collecting dust.
Even though it isn’t rational and makes zero sense, I have to go with the Comuta Car.
There is a newer “all-inclusive” development in my town, trying to mimic our historic mainstreet neighborhood, with shops and entertainment, lakes, etc. The goal being that you don’t ever need to leave. People are encouraged to drive electric golf carts around, and many do. For a neighborhood like that, the ComutaCar would be great. For the rest of us, it’s the Metro.
Okay if you want an actual car the Metro, obviously.
But a ComutaCar would make you friends since you’d drive along and people would strike up a conversation, a conversation that would begin with “what the hell is THAT?” Plus if you’ve always wanted to meet Doug DeMuro it has all sorts of quirks and features.
“But a ComutaCar would make you friends since you’d drive along and people would strike up a conversation, a conversation that would begin with “what the hell is THAT?”
But I’ve never particularly wanted to make the acquaintance of a bunch of tow-truck drivers.
Some of them are pretty cool guys.
I usually just make shit up to rationalize my choice, but today I’m sitting next to the geek who used to own the XFi and currently (like what I did there?) has a Citi-Car that he’s borrowing stuff from to get a custom modified American Bantam rolling on electrons. Completely out of character it’s going to have an organ and NOT BE a battery operated cock, but instead be a Bantam of the Opera.
Apparently the Geo is WAY MORE drivable despite being a spitefully cheap shitbox even when new.
While the Comutacar is interesting it’s ultimately pointless and too expensive to bring up to any sort of usable spec. The Geo, even with high mileage, is actually a useful car and even a bit of fun to drive in a slow car fast manner.
Tangential story – my mother-in-law was a professional clown for many years (Ringling Brothers Clown College graduate, member of L.A.’s famed Magic Castle club as a children’s magician). Having her talents in magic, face painting, and balloon sculpting was especially awesome during the years we had young kids and being able to go to the Magic Castle as a guest was quite fun. For a while she drove a Metro with the vanity plate “IBCLOWN” and it was always referred to as the “clown car”, naturally. The downside was that every time we had a large group of people who needed to go somewhere she’d exclaim “I’ll drive! That way we only need one car!” (okay, that last line was always my stupid dad joke about having a professional clown for a mother-in-law, but the rest is true)
What is going on with the windows on that Comutacar? Does half the window just slide back a few inches?
If I can’t comfortably hang my arm out the window while driving that’s an instant no for me. For any car.
The ComutaCar. It’s a more interesting piece of history, and it would be pretty hilarious to take it out on the road in this age of genuinely good EVs.
This is one where we needed a “Neither” option.
This sort of raises the question of “What is Shitbox Showdown”? I mean, there are use cases and there are use cases. Some of the time it’s purely practical: “you gotta get to work on Monday morning and this is all you get: you want the 30-year-old Camry or the 30-year-old Accord?” But the calculus changes a lot when you bring in fanciful elements of whimsy. It can be a grim balancing of practical considerations when we’re faced with those “shit in one hand, puke in the other” choices, and sometimes it’s an arguably fun exercise in seeing who remembers which terminal design flaws belong to which cars, either anecdotally or based on actual data. And there’s always that weird nostalgia thing, like you might actually want to drive the smelly minivan that Great Aunt Mildred used to drive you to Sunday school in.
And so it is with this one. Anyone who’s going Shitbox Purist will imagine that what they’re buying will be their only car, and they’ll need it to get to work every day, and so they’ll pick the Metro. But anyone who, like me, prefers to think “which one would I actually be more tempted to buy TODAY, knowing what I already have in my driveway?” stands a better chance of buying that Logan’s Run-mobile. I am actually pleasantly surprised at that Geo. It’s in really great shape for its age, and it actually does look like it’d be fun to scoot around in, and it certainly has a higher likelihood of getting me to work. But I already own three vehicles (each with maybe half the mileage this Metro has on it) that will get me to work faster, more safely, more reliably, and in more comfort. The Geo would be a fine last-ditch alternative to a bus pass, but the fun would pall pretty soon.
But that Comutacar, while I’d never actually Comut in it, would be the funnest thing ever to toodle around the neighborhood in. I’d find myself a bright primary-color jumpsuit (like those guys wear at Gizmonic Institute) and maybe a shiny mylar sash to wear while I went to Ralphs to buy a pair of cantaloupes, pretending they were primitive versions of those Westworld brain-marbles and my family was waiting for an upgrade.
I could not live with that Comuta car as a commuter. 35 miles each way. At least the Geo is a car. I had a Geo Storm and that thing was pretty alright to get around in.