A sign at one of the many gas stations we patronized during our vacation shows the high price of a gallon of gas. At right is another glimpse of the new Cobalt taking a drink at the pump. (Yeah, it has a "spoiler." We wouldn't have custom-ordered that option, but when you're buying on short notice and you must have orange, you're probably going to end up with some options you didn't want and maybe without some you did. I do think the spoiler enhances the look of the car, though, so it's all good.)

The ever-rising price of fuel was only one of the reasons we were reluctant to invest in a new car. For some time we've talked about hoping we could postpone a purchase until there were better alternatives. For example, we really like the idea of the Prius, but it's not made by GM, and we sort of have to/want to buy GM for several reasons, primarily because L's dad worked there and because it's an American make. (Our Cobalt was “assembled” in Lordstown, Ohio; Chevy claims 75% of its parts come from the U.S. or Canada, including both the engine and transmission.)

Unfortunately, according to the government, the Cobalt doesn't do much better on fuel economy than the old Corsica—the Corsica supposedly got a combined MPG of 24, while the Cobalt is rated at 27. (I can't seem to link directly to the comparison, but here's a screenshot.) That's pretty sad considering the Cobalt should have the benefit of 10 years of technological advances, has a much smaller engine (the Corsica had a 3.1L 6-cylinder; the Cobalt has a 2.2L 4-cylinder) and is a smaller car. Maybe the extra 1 cubic foot of luggage volume in the Cobalt makes it guzzle more gas. At least we're doing slightly better, but I hope if we ever buy another car we'll be able to do much much better. For example, both the Cobalt and my my mom's car are considered “subcompacts,” but her car gets 41 mpg, on average. And yeah, ok, it's diesel and there are problems w/particulate in the emissions of diesels, but still...

The bottom line is that whatever we're driving, it seems inevitable that someday we'll all be singing along with the Kinks:

I can score you some coke and some grade one grass But I can't get a gallon of gas I've got some downers some speed all the drugs that you need But I can't get a gallon of gas There's no more left to buy or sell There's no more oil left in the well A gallon of gas can't be purchased anywhere For any amount of cash

I do hope when that day comes we can at least get the grade one grass.