Click the image above to see more photos of Franken-Civic

Car mods and great fuel economy are frequent topics here at Autoblog, but pair the two and sometimes they go together about as well as milk and whiskey. One gentlemen has modded his 1992 Honda Civic to achieve an alleged 85 mpg at 70 mph, but he had to beat the vehicle with a 500-lb ugly stick to get the job done. The would-be engineer used coroplast and aluminum (not papier-mâchié, as it would appear) to add a "front spoiler", underbody cover, wheel covers, and a missile-like "boat tail." We're not sure why the muffler is wearing a codpiece, but this guy seems to know what he's doing, so we'll give him the benefit of the doubt. The end results of the modifications are Prius-destroying fuel economy, very little drag, and zero chance of ever getting a date while driving it.

We do have to give props where props are due, however. If the fuel savings are legit, this rolling tribute to ugly is very impressive. The liftable wheel covers and inverted side mirrors are clever touches, as is the stow-n-flow storage compartment beneath the boat tail floor. In all, it's an interesting science experiment, but this Franken-Civic is more likely to elicit shrieks of horror than looks of awe.

[Source: Ecomodder.com via AutoblogGreen]

Gallery: Franken-Civic

Aerodynamics is not worth this... originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 06 Jan 2008 17:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.