Hypermilling suggestions are in my old school car's owners manual!

So I was checking out the owners manual for one of my other cars to figure out what it recommends doing for the 25K interval coming up, and lo and behold, hypermilling suggestions! From a 30 year old owners manual!




From owners manual:

Apart from regular maintenance there are a number of areas where deliberate and conscious actions on the part of the owner can achieve quite marked improvements

The following are recommended:

• Accelerate gently through the gears
• Switch off engine if vehicle is expected to be stationary for more than half a minute
• Avoid short stop-start journeys
• Anticipate obstructions, junctions, and sharp bends and adjust speed as necessary
• So not generate unnecessary speed
• Decelerate gently and avoid braking heavy where possible
• Stay in top gear as long as possible at the lowest realistic engine speed, but without labouring the engine
• Ensure tyres are correctly inflated
• Remove ski-rack or any other unnecessary weight or obstructions
• Use air conditioning only when necessary

 

Well I know I am only one of about 8000 who could have possibly read it.

But none of my other vehicles even suggest manual start stop, and here this 1981 says it right there! I would expect this in a VW TDI or something. Something where they want you to eek out the mpg's so you can combat the Prius folk, but it was completely unexpected in a sports car

 

DMC12

 

Well the price is very closely tied to condition. Only 8000 made, ~6000 left.

For one that has been sitting in a barn and the fuel has rotten away all the piping and rats have built nests in them, expect between $6K and $15K. One that is "alright" will be about $20K-$35K. A trailer queen with low miles will be close to $55K. And if you are a true nerd that loves to see collectors wince, then you can buy a Back to the Future conversion car (all the props installed and rear window busted out to make way for it, original interior destroyed and so on) for about $100K.

Mine is not a trailer queen but in decent shape. Only thing wrong is the shifter boot is torn but I have a new one (original new old stock) waiting to be installed, and the driver side front fender is damaged. Someone must have hit it while backing into or out of a parking space, but that was with the previous owner. Interior is immaculate and leather has no cracks or anything. Total of 24.5K miles on it now. The fender I will fix eventually but it doesn't bug me too much. I did just calculate I got 27mpg over my last few weeks of cruising.

 

All panels are stainless steel. High grade, heavy stainless steel. That's why they aren't "repairable", only replaceable.

 

I already did that next week.

 

It is a great car. Of course you have to say it like Doc did, "1 point 21 jigga-watts!" And all the science minded people go "what the heck is a 'jigga' watt?"

To quote Woody or Buzz Lightyear, your phone was "falling with style".