Well, I just got back from driving my ole '54 to Escalante, UT, and back
(I live in Boulder, CO), and I thought I'd share with you all the economy
of my truck. The total distance I put on the odometer was 1,076 miles,
and all I needed to put in the ole girl was a quart and a half each of oil
and water, and about 74 gallons of gas. My calculator (spreadsheet,
actually) informs me that I had an average of 14.15 miles to the gallon
with my good old straight six 235. Absolutely amazing.
Most of the mileage was put on while traveling I-70 (about 650 miles),
with about 180 miles taken up by the fairly flat and straight Utah SR-24,
with the rest being along the windy and hilly US-6 (in CO) and Utah SR-12.
I figure I averaged around 49 mph over the whole trip.
The only real problems I had were a slightly bent front bumper from
getting towed out of some loose sand near the campsite, and a spiderwebbed
passenger window from one too many slammed doors with the window rolled
down - the door catch came loose, and we were unable to get it back in the
proper position for an easy latch.
All in all, a great trip, and a wonderful testimony to the durability of
the straight six 235 and my truck.
Tim Lloyd, omaha@tmbg.org
"War is an instrument entirely inefficient toward redressing wrong; and
multiplies, instead of indemnifying losses." -Thomas Jefferson
"Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much of life. So aim
above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something." -Thoreau
"...failure to terraform Mars constitutes failure to live up to our human
nature and a betrayal of our responsibility as members of the community of
life itself." -Robert Zubrin
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