Mechanic Claims Car Gets 110 Miles Per Gallon

Mechanic Claims Car Gets 110 Miles Per Gallon

To find the future of the auto industry, Doug Pelmear looked to the past. He says he's perfected an engine developed by his grandfather 60 years ago. An engine that gives his 1987 mustang 110 miles to the gallon.

Doug Pelmear says "my grandfather had the idea back in the 40's that he can make a difference then. There was quite a need at that time also with the war going on and everything, there was quite the need then."

And quite the need now. So, Pelmear, a mechanic in Napoleon, has been tweaking this engine for the past 10 years, squeezing out the maximum amount of power for a minimum amount of gas.

Doug says "this'll bring back the automotive industry when they can sell trucks and suv's and the models that are almost dead at this time."

The designer says, this car is no slacker either. It goes well over 100-miles per hour.

Doug says "it's 400 horse and has 500 foot pounds of torque off the line, zero to 60 in three seconds."

Developer Mark Schnitkey says "even those of us who grew up in the muscle car age, this will pretty much blow your muscle car away."

Pelmear won't show us under the hood. Some of his gizmos are still awaiting patents. But the secret lies in making engines more efficient. And with a little more work, developers believe they'll be getting 500 miles to the gallon and revolutionizing the auto industry.

Mark says "I think it's time. I think it's time that we start telling the world what we're going to pay for a gallon of gas instead of the world telling us what we're going to pay for a gallon of gas."

He entered a contest sponsored by Progressive Automotive X Prize that is looking for a car that gets 100 miles per gallon. The prize is $10,000,000.

His car currently uses a mix of gas and ethanol but Palmear says that he can increase his mileage even more by using just gasoline. The increased mileage comes from several modifications he made to the engine and some special electronics.

Pelmear is optimistic about his priceless discovery. He said that he could have just sold his idea, but then was afraid that it would never see the light of day.