The Avion is a prototype

sports car A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as Automobile handling, handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and Auto racing, racing capability. Sports cars originated in ...

that achieves over driving on interstate highways in real world conditions. The Avion is based on the concept that fuel economy is largely determined by minimizing drag, rolling resistance and weight and matching gear ratio to the required horsepower. The Avion uses existing automotive components, an existing high-efficiency automotive diesel engine and marries them to a lightweight aluminum frame and highly

aerodynamic Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of atmosphere of Earth, air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics, and is an ...

composite body. The Avion was an official contender in the

Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize The Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize (PIAXP or AXP) was a set of competitions, programs and events, from the X Prize Foundation, to "inspire a new generation of super-efficient vehicles that help break America's addiction to oil and stem ...

History

The Avion was built by Craig Henderson and Bill Green after they graduated from

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington, United States. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, s ...

in Bellingham, Washington, where they had studied at the Vehicle Research Institute. The prototype was completed in 1984, and entered the Three Flags Econo Rally driving from the Mexican border to the Canadian border and was displayed in the

Expo 86 The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo 86, was a world's fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from May 2 until October 13, 1986. The fair, the theme of which was "Transportation and Communicatio ...

. During the 1986 contest the Avion set a

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

for at 103.7 mpg. In 2010, Henderson drove the Avion from The Canada border to the Mexico Border averaging 119.1 real world miles per gallon of diesel and without refueling, resetting his record from 1986. Henderson later drove the Avion from

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the county seat of Whatcom County, Washington, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It lies south of the Canada–United States border, U.S.–Canada border, between Vancouver, British Columbia, ...

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, achieving 113.1 mpg. As of October 2023, the car is on display at the

San Diego Air & Space Museum The San Diego Air & Space Museum (SDASM) is an aviation and space exploration museum in San Diego, California. It is located in Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park and is housed in the former Ford Building (San Diego), Ford Building, which is li ...

Vehicle

The car was designed to be manufactured in small volume using existing automotive components as a kit car. It features a lightweight composite body of highly aerodynamic design with

butterfly doors Butterfly doors are a type of car door sometimes seen on high-performance cars. They are slightly different from scissor doors. While scissor doors move straight up via hinge points at the bottom of a car's A-pillar, butterfly doors move up and ...

attached to an aluminum frame. The Avion can run on regular diesel or biodiesel.

Notes

External links

''Bellingham Herald'' article

''New York Times'' blog article

Sept. 2010 ''Wired'' Autotopia piece
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avion (Car) Green vehicles