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Drive it VERY gently it got 8 mpg on the hwy at 60 mph.
Around town 6-7 mpg
There was something (probably several things) wrong with that car, it should do better than that.
My old Impala, 71 model, 400 SB 350 TH, and 2.73 gears, will do 15 MPG all day long.
The early 70's cars, up to 72, can be made to perform well in mileage/power in near stock trim. the 73 and 74 models need serious recalibration. 75 on are better than 73 and 74, but not as good as the early cars.
Most of these cars, nowadays, are more economical (as well as better power) to turn the spark advance up a bit and run premium unleaded.
I would say mine do the same or a little better. My 79 Lincoln can get 16 if you drive 65. My 78 Pinto gets 19 in town (more than CR figure) but only 26 on Hwy at 70. My 76 Maverick gets way better. It will get 21 at 65-70 with the AC on. Of course it's a 250/Auto and they tested a 200/3-speed that got 26.5 at 55. That was on bias ply's. With Radials it would have got about 1 more. My 74 Montego gets about the same (they tested a Torino, same car). My 76 Grand Marquis get 14 on the Hwy but believe it or not, it'll get the same in town. It's because it's a 4-barrel, the other (V8's) are two barrel's. 4- barrel's can get better mileage IF YOU KEEP YOUR FOOT OUT OF IT. I am a low mileage driver, so gas prices are not killing me. I can go 2 entire months on a fill up on my 79 T-Bird which I drive to work every day. My 76 Maverick sits in Grand Prairie for 3 months at a time, so that's how long it can go between fill-ups.
what was the Gear ratio? was it a 2.73? or a 4.11? since that would play a huge difference of fuel economy on the freeway on those cars using the same engine and making the same power.
By about 72 or 73, cars like this pretty much came with a 2.73, it helped them meet the per-mile emission regs. If you wanted a 4.11 you had to put it in yourself. Back in the 60's you could order any gear set that would fit.
MPG aside, I rather miss the cars from the 70's. Plenty of room in them and could still carry half a dozen bodies in the trunk...... (opps, just watching the Godfather lol ). I just located and got back the 73 Luxury LeMans my parents bought new. It is a sister car to this used by Pontiac, in exact color combo. 1973 Pontiac Luxury LeMans 4 door sedan | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Rough but I will try to redo it. I had it for a few years, then got talked into buying an "economy car". That'll never happen again!!! Screw these ugly small cars of today. Their shell is good for building a drag car out of and that's it. (small bodies are quicker since they don't punch as big a hole in the air). Oh, I had a 455 in the 73 Luxury LeMans. I'll just say when I was done the Buick couldn't hold a candle to it and I kept it quiet.
the Luxury Lemans was to the Grand Prix like the Chevelle Laguna was to the Monte Carlo(same dash). Does your 73 Luxury Lemans have a column shift or a floor shift? Could one get a Grand Prix in 73 with a column shift?
i really liked the "Collonnade hardtop" styling. We had a 75 4 door Buick Regal which was the same body but GM did a good job making them look distinctive to their make like a Buick(Century), Pontiac(LeMans), Chev(Chevelle) or Olds(Cutlass)
even the smaller compacts like the Buick Appollo and Olds Omega looked make-distinctive
There was something (probably several things) wrong with that car, it should do better than that.
My old Impala, 71 model, 400 SB 350 TH, and 2.73 gears, will do 15 MPG all day long.
The early 70's cars, up to 72, can be made to perform well in mileage/power in near stock trim. the 73 and 74 models need serious recalibration. 75 on are better than 73 and 74, but not as good as the early cars.
Most of these cars, nowadays, are more economical (as well as better power) to turn the spark advance up a bit and run premium unleaded.
No she's tuned about as good as you can get. Spent the better part of a weekend last summer at my buddies shop with the car on the rollers tuning timing and the car. We had a wide band hooked up and were seeing 14.9 to 15.4 A/F ratios. when cruising. You're not gonna get it any leaner than that under cruise.
Some need to keep in mind that in 1973 gas mileage on vehicles was for most people meaningless... Gas was ~$.50/gal and minimum wage was $1.60.
Oh average new house was .... ~$40,000
The only time you went anywhere any real distance was when you went on vacation and that was planned well in advance.
This 50 RT commute for work was rare.
Not that this has anything to do with the topic but just keeping things in perspective.
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