Our country’s relationship with fuel economy is one of the goofier aspects of our culture. No one likes filling up multiple times per week, but we also stand firm in our resolve that if we want to drive something that requires premium every three days – well, dang it, we will. On the flip side of the coin, there are fans of turbodiesels and biodiesels, and then there’s the hypermiling microcar crowd. Enter the Geo Metro, an utterly disposable vehicle that somehow has a rabid fan base working hard to keep the remaining cars on the road. This 1993 Metro convertible listed here on Facebook Marketplace sports the preferred manual gearbox and an unusually mature color for a Metro.

The seller is asking $7,000, which sort of blew my mind until I realized it’s likely an attempt to eek out $5,000 – and that seems entirely possible. The Geo Metro is a three-cylinder econobox based heavily on the Suzuki Swift. In many ways, it was, and still is, a dangerous car to use if your daily driving involves lots of highway on-ramps. If you’re just puttering into town, it’s totally fine, with the exception of getting run down by a distracted parent in an Expedition, who likely won’t even realize they hit you. At least the funky yellow Metros were easy to see. However, none of these threats are enough to deter the people who think the Metro is a marvel of modern engineering.

The Metro is powered by a 1.0-liter, 3-cylinder engine that generates a roaring 55 horsepower and 58 lb-ft of torque. The engine was known to get nearly 50 miles per gallon without breaking a sweat. On that note, back to our nation’s relationship with fuel economy: would most drivers love to get 50 MPGs? Absolutely. Would they want to do it driving a car that looks like this? Not a chance. And that’s where the whole thing falls apart, because then people go on the defensive about why they drive a large vehicle. It’s all unnecessary. If you want to get ridiculous miles per gallon, you drive something like this (or a Honda Insight – that’s my personal favorite.) Or buy an EV. I will say, the silver paint and white (tan?) top do wonders to make this Metro look a bit more serious.

The seller encourages buyers to come and see the car in person. They note its inspection has expired, so it seems like it perhaps has been sitting for a spell. The reason many of these cars survive despite seeming like they all should have been smashed into metal cubes and turned into filing cabinets by now is because the convertibles were often sunny day cruisers only (this goes back to my theory about the high survivability of otherwise disposable cars when they have a soft top.) It seems like this Metro was kept inside for all but the fairest of weather, and for $5,000, I’ll bet you could take this home and live out your hypermiling fantasies.