How does 376.59 miles per gallon sound? Many of you may respond Yeah! In your dreams buddy. But not many people know that was the record set in the early 1970s by the winner of the Wood River Competition for the planet's top mileage car, the little Opel T-1 had won. It's been bought by the France family, owners of NASCAR, and gifted to the museum at Talladega raceway. And there it sat, mostly in anonymity, until McMullen, 45, heard about it and made his move. He now owns the car and hopes to sell it, maybe to a technological museum at an auction in September in Indiana. The Opel isn't much on looks, luxury or performance. The team that built it stripped the interior of everything but a seat, chopped the top to lower its wind resistance. They narrowed the rear axle, used super-hard low-friction tires and a chain drive to save weight. To achieve 376.59 miles per gallon, the Opel's interior was stripped of everything but a seat, and the top was chopped to lower its wind resistance. (Photo by Cosmopolitan Motors) The mileage from the mostly stock four-cylinder came from heating and insulating the fuel line. So the gas entered the engine as lean vapor. Then they drove the car on a closed course at a steady 30 mph. So some of that wouldn't work in the street, McMullen concedes. But if the car were made more drivable and lost 200 mpg -- it still would get 176 mpg.

Guinness listed it in its 1975 record book. What we say is if this was the record set by a pre owned car in the 70s couldn't we do any better than that now.

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