Urba Centurion: Building Your Own 128-MPG 1970s Diesel Sports Car - Green Car Reports
It's the Urba Centurion, a diesel-powered kit car that it's still possible for you to build today. DON'T MISS: Opel P1 376-MPG Record-Holder Still For Sale, At $425,000 (Dec 2013). The car uses a Triumph Spitfire chassis and an 18-horsepower, three-cylinder Kubota diesel engine. It was originally designed to achieve 128 mpg and--thanks to that futuristic styling--had a cameo in the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger film Total Recall. While many companies have marketed kit cars that marry a custom body with an existing chassis, building a Centurion is a little more involved. ALSO SEE: Tiny 40-Year-Old Electric Car Now As Fast As Tesla Roadster. And those plans made it possibly for one dedicated enthusiast to complete a Centurion roughly 30 years after first seeing one. Inspired by the 1982 article in Mechanix Illustrated that originally introduced the car to a wide audience, Jerry Bartlett built a Centurion of his own, a process detailed along with other projects on his Diesel-Bike. The Centurion was originally billed as capable of 128 mpg, but Bartlett has achieved over 200 mpg at the Toyota Green Grand Prix, a fuel-efficiency competition held at the Watkins Glen race track in upstate New York. Source: www.greencarreports.com
