Hell, these got damn near that, and that was over 45 years ago.
Yep, as tested in '62 the Falcon with a 144 six and 3 on the tree got 32.x MPG highway and would probably be considered a mid-sized car by today's standards. The '62 was the same car as the '60... So cars were getting low-mid 30s for MPG in 1960. With 6 cylinder engines, no overdrive, no fuel injection, etc. If you want to confirm the MPG numbers it's in the '62 Falcon sales brochures... I can dig up an image if anyone wants it.
For a while I had a '63 Falcon with a 144 and 3 on the tree. It was a great and simple carb. With a rune-up, some more timing and a quicker curve, and a carb rebuild and tube I was hitting mid 30s for MPG on the highway. My plan was to convert the three speed to a T5 to get an overdrive gear and not have so much gear spread so I wouldn't have to wind it out so much before shifting. Goal was to hit 40+ MPG and I think it would be very reasonable to do so.
Unfortunately some guy turned left in front of me when I was about 20' from him and t-boned him, there was nowhere for me to got. 100% his fault, police report reflected that. It actualyl happened right outside a police station, so a bunch of cops came running out. Instead of worrying out my health or safety, as my face hit the steering wheel and was bleeding down my face and had some teeth knocked out, knees into the metal dash and couldn't move my legs, and sometime when I blacked out I bounced off the roof in the back seat and had blood running down the back of my head from a large gash... The cops immediately were treating me like a criminal, asking if I was wearing a seat belt, why I was not wearing a seat belt, not wearing a seatbelt is illegal, and otherwise being threatening. This has been every experience I've had with the police, they are hunting for ways to keep you down, steal your money, put you in jail, and otherwise harass and intimidate.
Anyhow, I responded by asking him what year my car was. He wouldn't respond. I told him he should know these things since that is critical to the questions he's asking. I said it was a '63 and asked what the significant connection was between a 1963 vehicle and what he was asking. He responded with more intimidation and threats of fines. I explained that as a police officer enforcing a seat belt law he should know what year seat belts became federally mandated, what years all vehicle manufacturers offered them as options, and what years they became standard equipment. For Ford they were optional equipment in '63 and in '65 lap belts became standard equipment as mandated by law and shoulder belts were optional on most vehicles. He quieted down after that. Typical police, ignorant of the law, ignorant of individual liberty, and only concerned with instilling fear in us not in their "above the law" club.
Regardless, the issue with current poor MPG in new vehicles, even econoboxes, is the federal government will not allow these fuel efficient vehicles. The DOT mandates safety standards and forces these on people. This adds significant weight to the vehicle. The EPA mandates emissions equipment and emissions levels. This significantly reduces fuel economy. There is no freedom of choice in the new car market. They're all cookie cutter vehicles which are far more expensive than they need to and and use far more fuel than they need to. For this reason I stick with my old vehicles. They are simple, cheap, and efficient. Unfortunately the terrible "cash for clunkers" program has taken many great older vehicles in fine condition off the market, and inflated the cost of these older, cheap to own and maintain, and fuel efficient vehicles. This has not only limits our freedom of choice but hurts the poor and middle class the most, as these are the people who will buy used vehicles and can not afford to take out huge loans for overpriced new vehicles. Big government wants to force these people into loans they can't afford for vehicles they don't need.
) hydro locked first engine.
43 MPG when not "in it", 30-34 MPG when boosting all over the place.
I would've been tempted to mace her myself.
