The Obama gas mileage claim sputters

While touring a California electric car plant on Thursday, Mr. Obama proved once again that without his teleprompter (and someone knowledgeable to program the teleprompter) the gaffes are never-ending.

The folks at the electric car plant must have had to muffle their laughter when Obama said:

The 1908 Model T — think about this — the 1908 Model T earned better gas mileage than the typical SUV in 2008.

Think about that: 100 years later, and we're getting worse gas mileage, not better, on SUVs.

Ford's own Web site says the Model T's mileage ranged from 13 to 21 miles per gallon. Some Tin Lizzie enthusiasts who still drive the vehicles report numbers closer to the bottom end of that range.

I owned a 1925 Model T (pictured) when I was in High School. I never did check the mileage because it didn’t have an odometer.

What I can tell you is that comparing a Model T to a present day SUV is like comparing an 1800’s covered wagon train to the Amtrak California Zephyr.

With its 20 horsepower engine, I had a hard time keeping up with traffic while driving my Model T on the streets of Lincoln, Nebraska. It was a novelty but mostly I drove my little green convertible.

A 2008 Ford Explorer has 200 horsepower and is more than twice the weight of my Model T.

And finally: can you imagine what would be left of a Model T after a crash test at 50mph? Even the crash dummy would be unrecognizable!

A Cub Scout knows that comparing vehicles that are that different is misleading at best.

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