Back in the day (1978) I stumbled upon a stone stock 1963 Chevy II that had less than 10,000 miles on it. I asked the guy if he wanted to sell it, and after some huming and hawing he sold it to me for about $1,500. It was in perfect shape and he told me that no one had even sat in the back seat since it was brand new, and it sure showed that way. Everything on the car was original, and he even had the original battery in the back of his shop. All I had to do was to get the shifting lincage fixed.
It had a six cylinder with a three on the tree. I took it one a trip once and got a very respectable 32 mpg with it at about 60 mph on the highway.
Of course, it did not have air bags, crumple zones, shoulder straps, etc, etc. As long as I did not get hit by anything, I was fine. It also did not have Air Conditioning, MP3 player, comfortable seats, etc, etc.
Now I have a 2008 Toyota Tacoma. It has comfortable seats, crumple zones, air conditioning, shoulder belts, MP3 player, four wheel drive, a box in the back I can sleep in, towing capacity of 6,500 lbs AND it gets a very respectable 28 MPG on the highway. Also, I would doubt the Chevy would get what the Tacoma get around town to boot.
They don't make cars like they use to, and thank God for that.
As far as the 100 mpg, i think that it would be much more important to get rid of the Land Yachts that get 10 to 15 mpg and put out more cars that get 40 to 60 mpg. That is a much more realistic goal.
I am not so much amazed at how much people with pay for gas, as I am what people will pay for milk and bread. If someone goes to the store in their $50,000 1 ton 4x4 that gets 12 mpg in the city, that is VERY, VERY expensive milk and bread.
Oh, I don't have the Chevy anymore. When I got my divorce, my X got half the stuff. I just did not know that her lawyer would make sure she got the best half of it.