Before we start, a bit of history. let’s go back to 1984. Craig Henderson and Bill Green build a super fuel efficient car and they called it Plane. In 1986, they entered the Guinness Book of Records by achieving consumption of 2.27 l/100km crossing the US from the Mexican to the Canadian border.
Unlike other cars of that time, the Avion did not go to a museum, but continued on the road to break its own records. in october 2008Henderson and Green managed to reduce consumption to 2.08 liters per 100 on a 423 km trip along the Pacific Northwest coast.
But the thing did not stop there. In the summer of 2010, on August 29, they left Blaine, a town in Washington State close to the Canadian border, and toured the 2,379km that separated them from the Mexican border. they used 46.97 liters of diesel and set a new record 1.87 liters per 100.
In previous tests on the highway before crossing the US, the reincarnation of the Plane had reached a consumption of 2.94 liters per 100 km at 112.65 km/h average and, on the road, 2.06 liters at 88.51 km/h on average. On this record-breaking trip, the average speed was like the latter, 88.5 km/h. They stopped to sleep at night, but never refueled. Not only that, but when they reached Mexico there was still nothing less than 23.09 liters of fuel in the 70.03 liter tank. If they are careless and with passports in order, they would have reached Acapulco.
And how do they get these scandalous figures? The plane moves with an engine 800 cc and a 67 hp diesel engine. The engine is in a transverse position behind its two seats, on an aluminum chassis. But the stunning efficiency of this car is due above all to its streamlined design, its low rolling resistance tires and a body made entirely of lightweight materials, including carbon fiber, Kevlar and special glass. As a result, only three to six hp are needed to maintain its cruising speed on a highway, although the car can reach up to 161 km/h (Of course, that way I wouldn’t get those consumption figures).
If you are already thinking about buy you one of these cars, which were two decades ahead of their time, in 2010 they worked on it. Although of course, a car built by hand was not going to be too cheap.
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