By Rob Sass\u00a0\/ Originally Published July 11, 2014 \/ Hagerty<\/span><\/p>\n

Classic American cars, while full of style and presence, weren’t known for their ability to stretch miles out of a gallon of fuel. These are five of our favorite exceptions to the rule, all capable of at least 20 mpg:<\/p>\n

$\"1976$
1976 PLymouth ‘Feather’ Duster (photo courtesy of Tony Piff)<\/p><\/div>\n
2.<\/span> \u00a01950 Crosley Hotshot<\/a><\/strong>: The tiny Crosley Hotshot was America\u2019s first post-war sports car. More like an MG Midget than a Corvette, the hotshot had a tiny 44 cubic-inch four-cylinder engine. And while no speed demon, the little roadster was capably of an astonishing 48 mpg.\u00a0Average price for a gallon of gas in 1950<\/strong>: $0.27.<\/p>\n
3.<\/span> \u00a01961 Corvair Monza<\/a><\/strong>: The air-cooled Corvair is best known as the target of Ralph Nader\u2019s scorn over its unique rear suspension design. Lost in that controversy is the fact that Corvairs were damned fun to drive and quite economical.\u00a0Car Life<\/em>\u00a0magazine got 24 mpg out of their four-door automatic test car in April 1961.\u00a0Average price for a gallon of gas in 1961<\/strong>: $0.31.<\/p>\n
$\"1961$
1961 Corvair Monza<\/p><\/div>\n
4.<\/span> \u00a01967 Oldsmobile F-85 Cutlass Cruiser<\/a><\/strong>: It was exceedingly rare for a full-size Oldsmobile to approach 20 mpg, particularly one with a massive 400 cubic inch V-8, but the F-85 Cutlass Cruiser of 1967, with its carefully engineered GM Turbo-Hydramatic transmission and a tall rear axle ratio, was capable of 20 mpg while looking like a proper full-size American classic.\u00a0Average price for a gallon of gas in 1967<\/strong>: $0.32.<\/p>\n
$\"1967$
1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser (photo courtesy of Mecum)<\/p><\/div>\n
5. \u00a01961 International Harvester Scout<\/strong>: Even today, SUVs and fuel economy are a bit of an oxymoron. But the early Scout, one of the pioneering SUVs, was lightweight (just 2,800 pounds) and simple, and powered by a rugged four-cylinder engine. It could get up to 22 mpg.Average price for a gallon of gas in 1961<\/strong>: $0.31.<\/p>\n
$\"1961$
1961 International Harvester Scout<\/p><\/div>\n
This article has been reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder, Hagerty. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Click here for more\u00a0<\/i>classic car stories<\/i><\/a>\u00a0from Hagerty.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":5735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[136],"tags":[1689,1457,1688,379,1680,871,1679,1681,1683,1676,1684,1686,593,885,884,1678,383,800,1685,378,1687,82,1682,355,1677,1478,622,278],"class_list":["post-5732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-automotive-history","tag-car-life","tag-classic-car-insurance","tag-classic-car-mileage","tag-corvair","tag-corvair-monza","tag-crosley","tag-crosley-hotshot","tag-cutlass","tag-cutlass-cruiser","tag-duster","tag-f-85-cutlass","tag-feather-duster","tag-hagerty","tag-hagerty-classic-car-insurance","tag-hagerty-insurance","tag-hotshot","tag-international-harvester","tag-international-harvester-scout","tag-mg-midget","tag-monza","tag-mpg","tag-oldsmobile","tag-oldsmobile-cutlass","tag-plymouth","tag-plymouth-duster","tag-ralph-nader","tag-rob-sass","tag-scout"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t