When gasoline hit the ridiculous price of $1.00/gallon in the late 1970s, car manufacturers were asking themselves the question, “Is there a better way?” One such company was H-M-Vehicles, Inc., whose solution to the problem was the Freeway. It was a 3-wheel, fiberglass-bodied car that carried just one passenger but could get up to 100 mpg. Apparently, the idea didn’t fly with consumers, and only 700 were built before they closed up shop (open 1979 to 1982). This 1981 example has been sitting in a carport for 25 years and hopes to be in service again someday. Located in Clarkrange, Tennessee, this little oddity is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $8,900.
The company’s name stands for High Mileage Vehicles, and the Freeway may be the only thing they ever built out of Burnsville, Minnesota. Four sources of power were developed: a 12 hp gas engine, a 16 hp gas engine, a 4 hp electric motor, and a diesel (which was never put into production). If you could drive at a steady 40 mph with one of these cars, the company swore you could get 100 miles per gallon out of the 12 hp gas engine version with a 3-gallon gas tank (a 10-gallon tank was extra). The freeway is probably the last place I would want to drive one of these, especially on a windy day.
For gasoline models, the engine sat behind the driver and used a CVT belt transmission not unlike that of a snowmobile. The final drive was a chain, and there was no reserve gear. A fiberglass body surrounded the welded tubular frame, and the vehicle only had one headlight, which enabled it to be registered as a motorcycle in some states. Most came finished in red, yellow, or orange, but the seller’s version is a seafoam green.
We’re told this Freeway has seen 10,000 miles of use, so it didn’t begin living in a garage until about 25 years ago. No mention is made if it runs or what it would take to get it going. But the design was simple, so a shade tree mechanic could figure it out, right? But if you need parts, where would you get them? The seller says the little car comes with manuals, so maybe they would help you figure it out. Sell your Tesla and buy this! And thanks for the tip, PRA4SNW.
Nice one, Russ, and great find, PRA4SNW!
$1 a gallon gas in 1979 is $4.55 today, about $0.50 more than where I live, but less than what a lot of folks are paying. Whatever it is, it’s still cheaper than the 16-oz, $7 foamy, sugary “coffee” drinks that a lot of folks buy and then complain how much “coffee” costs these days.
Be glad cars don’t run on coffee..That latte would cost about $25.
Ha!
yep, gas (until recently) simply has stayed roughly the same price for at least the past 45 years.
“Until recently”
Thanks, gummint.
Hey, I remember when (standard intro from an ol’ foof) I had a FIAT 600D which averaged in the low 30s in mixed, everyday driving and I groused when the cost of gas ran over a penny a mile! Then again, a mid-level trimmed Ford, Chevy or Plymouth would then cost about, what, twenty-five hundred?
Three (Bronx) cheers for our representatives CONSTANTLY spending more than income (“gotta get reelected, doncha know”) and printing paper to make up the difference. At least Everyday Joe finally saw past the “wage-price” spiral lie!
You are correct, David. In fact, when adjusted for inflation when fuel is stable it’s about the same as it was before OPEC. The spikes that I and many recall were in ’75, ’78, ’81, ’01, ’11 and the fluctuations of the pandemic when we paid high and then low for fuel when demand was lowest. Right now is comparable to post recession prices.
Don’t forget that before November, 1973, Americans were used to paying around 30 cents a gallon, and this was a trippling of the price, almost overnight.
America had a fleet adapted to those prices with heavy cars and big cast iron V8s with ponderous body on frame designs.
8-10 mpg was not at all uncommon. A friend bought a brand new Pontiac Grand Am in September of that year, and it got 6 mpg. He was not happy
So not only was the price jump larger in absolute terms, the impact was a body blow to the wallet. A Pinto, Vega, or even a Beetle got around 19-22 mpg at the time.
At least today’s fleet, except for the largest trucks, can expect to get around 20-30 mpg, softening the blow to some degree.
This was a neutron bomb to companies making money from 8 liter Cadillacs, GT0s, and Mark IV Lincolns, and coupled with new emissions and safety regulations that hit at the same time, it is amazing any of the Detroit carmakers survived.
I wonder if this would be street legal in some states. It certainly looks pretty dangerous to the operator.
Did Ralph Nader approve of this one?
No, he only owned stock in Ford.
Ralph Nader has publically stated that he never owned stock in Ford or any other publicly traded company, to preserve his objectivity. He was an odd dude (I met him once) but he was pretty consistent, ethically.
Nice find, and write up. Could you imagine getting T-boned by a Dodge Ram… They’d have to pick you up with a spatula…
Hell, you’d come out second place getting t boned by a Smart car. It may be street legal in some jurisdictions, but would you really want to? It could have some use perhaps in gated communities where golf cart type vehicles are allowed. However it has no real useful load. Maybe a couple grand to someone who wants to putter with it.
I am always so interested when people comment about vehicles like this being a “coffin” or “deadly” to drive, yet you never ever hear that when a motorcycle is written up.
I will assume that all of these commenters drive huge SUVs, being so deathly afraid of being behind the wheel.
I also hope that these same people don’t consider any car made before the 90s as “safe”.
A car and a coffin all in one.
Even been in a Datsun B 210?
In 1973, bumper standards were enacted, along with 5mph impact standards. Trucks made up 1.55 of car sales, so they were exempted.
Now, with about half of new vehicle sales being light trucks and SUVs, the dangers to small car drives, pedestrians, and bicyclists are skyrocketing, along with deaths.
Okay, okay, enough of the gloom and doom, that’s MY department, and I see nothing wrong with this, even on a freeway, except of course, the rear wheel running in the grease strip. I read, with the 16hp, this could do 55 mph and that is good enough to keep up with traffic. I don’t think it’s any more dangerous than any other small vehicle, certainly safer than a motorcycle. In fact,,,,I’d love to have it! Yep, I need an alternative mode of transportation, this would be perfect. The price of gas doesn’t affect me as much as the price of diesel fuel. That increase will topple fledgling trucking companies already on the edge, and that increase will wind up at our already over priced food stores. Stay tuned for that.
Anyway, history has a way of repeating itself, and we’ll see all kinds of fuel efficient vehicles come out of the mothballs from the 70s. Anyone remember the “Dale”?
” I read, with the 16hp, this could do 55 mph and that is good enough to keep up with traffic. ” So you’re the guy I get stuck behind on I-94. IIRC there is a microcar museum somewhere in Wisconsin. They might be interested if they don’t have one already. However I still say a couple grand. I wonder if you could make a mini-combine to put on the front, paint it John Deere green and use it to mow the lawn.
Yep, that’s me, could be a Detroit powered Louisville Ford, to be clear, I wouldn’t be seen on a freeway, or any roadway shared with a RAM 2500 in this. The microcar museum, I read, is in Mazomanie, just outside of Madison. I seem to remember a nudist colony near there too,,, :D
A weathered biker will say that a bike can more easily avoid a danger ahead than this ‘car’ or ‘motorcycle’ and at least he/she wears a helmet. Once in Chalkidiki Greece i had a double strike of bad luck. I woke up with a strained left hand and someone broke the passenger side window of my Chevy Matiz (think Korea) supposedly to still the cheap, factory installed radio. It was around 100 km (60miles) to Salonica, the weather was freezing cold and with full heat on i tried to do 40 mph in the motorway to keep warm as cold air was rushing in from the non existand window. After seeing in the mirror a few lorries doing last second manouevers to avoid and overtake me, i decided better freezing cold than mangled under a lorry.
When this was made it was still the Wild West for what could be titled and registered for the road. Usually classified as a motorcycle because of the three wheel configuration. I think NHTSA would stop this at the door today. Nevertheless a fun blast from the past.
There was a yellow one of these at a Ford dealer in Montevideo, Minnesota last summer for half the asking price of this one. Looked pretty rickety at best.
There are lots of three wheeled “motorcycles” down here that are rented to tourists. Some are kind of cool, and all are probably safer than any motorcycle
You’d still have no offers at $8,900 if this thing was in good running order and showroom condition.
Love the Deer whistles on the front 🤣🤣🤣😂
Deer whistles dropped the mileage on this one. And why would a deer wait around for this to catch up with them?
Could be fun? Or a commuter/2nd vehicle in the right situation. I’d drive it- with my eyes closed so I didn’t have to look at the green paint. 😖
The things you see when you can’t find your fly swatter.
As stated above. Great for a gated community. You could use it to run to the store. Oops, no place forvthe groceries! I guess the only place to drive it to would be your HOA meetings. They would probably outlaw this for being “non-conforming”!
Reminds me of the Elio that guy was pushing a few years ago. That didn’t work either.
Paul Elio actually got some of my money. I really wanted it to work out. Now I’ve got my fingers crossed over an Aptera. Sometimes I’m not very practical.
1k from me, too. A very expensive T-shirt!
You own some Dale stock by any chance?
No, just kissed my thou off to Elioland…
Had a couple of these. The concept was good, the execution poor. I legitimately got 80 or more mpg on flat ground which was great, the belts would last about 500 miles which sucked. The comet clutch last about a thousand unless you tried driving up a gravel hill. Then they exploded. I hit a deer it rolled over the top with minimal damage but like any motorcyclist knows, it is not as protected as in a car. This one is terribly overpriced. Fully restored and perfect they sell for $6-7k.
minimal damage to the car or the deer?
minimal damage to the car or the deer? Seriously, I figured running gear would be off the shelf from somewhere or something a good blacksmith could fix or duplicate.
The deer didn’t make it. The car/trike was fine. There was small gouge from a hoof. The fiberglass was actually very thick and there is a steel roof hoop in the fiberglass layers. The engine was either a 12 or 16hp commercial Tecumseh, They were good for a couple thousand hours then cheaply rebuilt. There isn’t much else to it, a comet clutch and jackshaft chain drive. The key to the mpg is the aerodynamics and low rpm engine. On a flat I hit 60 a few times, but I used to tow out the front wheels slightly so it wasn’t twitchy at those speeds.
A modern water cooled around 400cc to 650cc would be a big improvement in this. People drive golf carts around on plenty of city streets (depending on where you live).
Our town allows them. However the vehicle must have headlights, taillights, turn signals, a windshield, and seat belts. Also, they are not allowed on state highways going through town, effectively keeping them off main streets.
Actually no. Your mielage would go from 80+mpg to about 35. The point of the HMV was high mileage vehicle. A 150cc GY6 set up would get you about 60mpg. Butit should last 3k miles before needing a belt.