RV Fuel Issues & Prices - Post 'Em Here!

LindsayRichards wrote:
We are not talking mopeds. The question was do you know of any American cars in the 600 cc range. Not talking bikes, mopeds, or motorcycles. Talking cars that 4 people can ride in normal traffic as found in the United States. Please name a couple. Wives and children will be in them also.

Hey, if you can move the goalposts so can anyone else!

LindsayRichards wrote:
We are not talking mopeds. The question was do you know of any American cars in the 600 cc range. Not talking bikes, mopeds, or motorcycles. Talking cars that 4 people can ride in normal traffic as found in the United States. Please name a couple. Wives and children will be in them also.

There are none. There would be none in Japan either if it weren't a regulation. The electric iMiEV will blow the doors off the gasoline Japanese version of the car (which as I'm sure you know is physically a bit smaller too, chalk it up to our large American asses I guess...). Zero to 60 in ~9 seconds for the electric USA version, not 'measured by calendar.'

regardless, I just picked the iMiEV out of the air since it's the cheapest and supports quick charging. The Leaf is a valid example also as it also supports the CHAdeMO standard. And of course Tesla is doing their own electric Superhiway thing, but they are in a different league.

In 1959 I bought a new Sprite (950cc, the Morris Minor motor) and added a factory hardtop and a judson supercharger (sliding vane, positive displacement) which I improved considerably with a Harley 1400cc moto carb in place of the Ford potmetal carb, and out-dragged American street muscle cars, like some famous plymouth or Dodge of that era. It was faster than the factory SCCA Sprites, and would reach 100mph pretty easily, but was a little squirrely at speed, since Isoginis never intended it to go that fast. And that was followed by the Morris Minor Mini on the same platform.

The gorgeous Donna Mae mims won several SCCA races in her Pink Sprite.

Ford will soon make a 1000cc ecoboost engine.

We are not talking mopeds. The question was do you know of any American cars in the 600 cc range. Not talking bikes, mopeds, or motorcycles. Talking cars that 4 people can ride in normal traffic as found in the United States. Please name a couple. Wives and children will be in them also.

I forget the displacement (maybe 950cc, maybe 750cc) of the American-made Crosley from the 40s (made in Cincinatti by the Crosley radio company) but they made a lot of them and there were a lot of motors (overhead cams!) so we converted them to power blown MGs, etc., and motos, too (nothing like a 4cyl dohc mounted transversely between your knees!).

In fact, the very first Sebring race was won by a Crosley Hotshot, which was a 2seat sportscar version (my big bro had one).

LindsayRichards wrote:
A 660 cc vehicle (less than half of a motorcycle) is considered a toy car by most of us. My toad (midsize truck has 4,000 cc). If somebody is going to drive something quite a bit smaller than a Smart Car, they are going to have to get used to some ribbing by regular folks. The notion that this type of thing is going to be accepted by the general public is pure folly in my opinion. What is the cost of this 3 phase charger anyway?

I bought a 125cc Honda Scrambler moto in the late 50s that would rev to 14,820 rpm and went like a bat out of hades! After WW2 there were many cars from Europe that had small (typically 600cc) engines. Some were VERY fast, like the Fiat Zagato, a gorgeous 2 seat sportscar with body by Zagato featuring a double-bubble over the seats that would just barely work for a 6'2" driver. Built on the Fiat 600. The smallest I ever drove was a Lloydwagen from Germany that used a glider engine (that's right, a glider engine, which powered a glider to get it aloft, whereupon the power pylon would hinge back to rest on the fuselage). I don't remember the displacement, but with needle bearings in all the right places it revved easily and was a thrill to drive. There were a lot of those glider engines around because Hitler trained his pilots in gliders since the Versailles Treaty forbade regular airplanes in Germany.

The Mazda RX-7 has an 1100cc rotary engine, and the road racing 939 blasted everything off the tracks until it was banned by an American racing rule that required engines to have pistons (boo hiss).

In the modern era, it turns out that in most states a bicycle with an engine under 49cc doesn't require a moto license, so the Italians (of course!) make a Moroni bicycle motor at 49cc that is highly tuned and goes like a streak! If I were 20 years younger I'd have one (and probably kill myself). You can see and hear some fabulous Moroni bikes, built in SoCal, on youtube.

Small engines are a kick. Besides, the girls think they're cute!

Harley's and Gullwings are the most common motorcycles in out area. They are not considered huge. They are about all you see adults riding. Do you know of any American automobiles with an engine in the 600 cc range?

my 'big' motorcycle right now is 650cc. That's the one I do all my long distance touring on. I also have a 225cc, 250cc, and a 500cc (and my daughters' 90cc dirtbike). Years ago I had a 1000cc crotch rocket, that thing had plenty of power for a small car. :B

I regularly get over 75mpg on the 225 (a little Yamaha dualsport bike), btw.

Gullwings are HUGE motorcycles. Harley has made many different sized engines. The median engine size for motorcycles is well under 1300cc...

A 660cc engine driving a generator that produces electricity for the electric motor seems like a viable idea to me.