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> Gas mileage is a very marginal improvement in any of the vehicles I'm interested in, on the order of 16 mpg then to maybe 20, now.

this says more about the vehicles you're interested in than the overall trend in vehicle efficiency. I get ~34mpg out of my hot hatch with a heavy right foot.

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Not really. I used to drive an Saab turbo from the 80s that got close to 30mpg. Old civics pushed 40. 34 mpg isn’t really an improvement over that.

sure, but that was probably a much lighter car. I realize I'm moving the goalposts a bit here, but when you consider the improvements in crash safety, engine performance, and efficiency together, cars really are a lot better today than they were 20+ years ago. the one thing that has suffered is the weight and size of the vehicles, but imo it's worth being a lot less likely to die in a car.

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