The closing comments in this months MG Enthusiast make reference to the
demise of Mobil as an independant company and reminices about the Mobil
Economy Run, a regular feature (in the UK at least) where standard cars
were driven in a normal manner on public roads and achieved phenominal
(for the day) mileages. Each had an observer with them to ensure that
certain rules were observed, coasting downhill was NOT permitted.
It was these Runs, and the superior mileage that companies claimed their
products gave, that inspired the famous Morecamb and Wise spoof ad where
Eric Morecamb drove his Mini Traveller about 100,000 miles on a gallon
(UK, of course) of petrol one Sunday afternoon. The closing scene was
the company technician proudly pointing to the mileage achieved, while
Eric was trying to get someone to take notice of the fact that his car
was now knackered.
The MG Enthusiast piece went on to say that Rover engineers regularly
got 35mpg when road testing the RV8, even at 'not sluggish' speeds.
PaulH.
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