In 1977, I graduated high school and like most of my fellow classmates I would be getting my first job or going off to college. However up till this point in time I had been working after school part-time and on the weekends had several lawns in the neighborhood that I maintained allowing for an income that exceeded what my dad was making on a forty hour week.
The time had come for me to purchase my first car and I had come across one of the most efficient cars on the American market, the Datsun (now Nissan) B-210 Honeybee. Datsun had been selling vehicles in the U.S for about two years as Americans were getting tired of the so-called gas hogs they had been driving for decade and were looking for more efficient vehicles as more families began adding second and third vehicles to their automotive stables.
In January of 1978 I had obtained a job in downtown Houston, some 25 miles from my home which wasn’t located near or service by the local bus lines, so I was forced into purchasing my first vehicle. The week prior to my actual start at the job allowed me to search several of the local dealerships for a used car where I found a 1976(1977) model B-210 which was one of the most economical vehicles in Datsun’s American lineup of imports. Most of Detroit’s showcased economy classed vehicles had major issues seeing they had only been designing the smaller full efficient vehicles for a very short time.
The B-210 was claimed to be one of the most fuel efficient vehicles of its time averaging 50m.p.g. highway and around 30 miles in the city. A 5-speed standard transmission came from the factory with an optional 5 speed automatic. What I remember most about this vehicle was its ease of handling for such a small car and the fact that I could fill up the tank and go the entire week without batting an eye. Today if my roommate or even think about filling up we have to take out a pay day loan to cover the rest of the household bills.
We scream of a need for more fuel efficient vehicles, it’s not an overall need of fuel efficiency seeing we have the vehicles. And yes a lot of us wonder why the cars of today aren’t as efficient as they were in the ’70s and early ’80s. The reason is that those fuel efficient vehicles of the past lacked all of the safety features we have today and then we relied more on domestic oil production seeing the 70’s we were amidst the Arab Oil Embargo. Once we realize an average 60 mile per hour speed utilizes a more efficient burn of the fuel the smaller vehicle will only be used as a means of daily commuting for those who work away from home.
