I think you need to check the price on Aluminum vs. steel

Honda insight MSRP was around $20,000 so I don't see the price of aluminum as a factor, at least one that is significant.

Is the insight being produced today? Does a $20K economy car strike you as affordable? Part of that cost was the hybrid system but another significant cost is the specialized aluminum body manufacturing process. When the insight was introduced economy cars were in the $8-10K range.

BTW aluminum is about $1.25/lb and steel is about $0.25/lb right now.

I'd love to have a car made from all aluminum but I acknowledge that it will come at a significant premium.

It was sold through 2006, also the insight is not an economy car, its direct competitor was the prius which its MSRP was around $22k I believe. Being a two door doesn't make it an economy car just like the prius being a 4 door making it a full size sedan..

The Insight was the new CRX. So take the price of a CRX, add 2 to 3 thousand for the hybrid system, and you get an estimate on the 'aluminum preminum'. Civics start around $15k, which would lead to a fair assumption that an aluminum body for a small, 2-door costs at least as much as a hybrid system. Assuming the rumors that Honda was selling Insights at a loss aren't true.

Besides, if working with aluminum was cheap and easy, Toyota wouldn't have stopped at the hatch and hood on the Prius with it.

I don't think the hatch and hood were made of aluminum for FE reasons. I remember my great aunt's old 1988 Lincoln Town Car had an aluminum hood. I think the reason was so they did not have to have a prop rod, or big, heavy springs like were in my 1980 Pontiac to hold the hood up. All the car needed to raise that huge hood was one pressurized gas strut. My guess is the hood and hatch were aluminum on the Prius so that those doors would be easy to lift. The total weight savings on the total vehicle for those 2 doors being made of aluminum is probably not much, and overall has little effect of FE.

Buick Blachawk would be AWESOME.

Aluminum is more expensive than steel, about 5x.

People don't realize the same people sit on car manufacturing boards as on oil company boards. When gas is $10 a gallon, new cars will be getting about twice the mileage they do today, so that the oil companies make the same (or more) percentage profit. If people started screaming conflict of interest, it would force certain executives to resign from one or the other. Trust me, it would be the car boards, NOT the oil boards.

Ford looked into building the Focus entirely from aluminum and it would cost about $50,000 but would get in excess of 50-60 MPG highway.

If I had a grant from someone I would have a CRX rebuilt entirely from aluminum. Think a 1200 pound vehicle about 10% stronger than the original CRX. If it were the same weight, it would be 30% stronger than the original, even more in some places.

And I mean ENTIRELY from aluminum unless heat or safety prevented it.

And that is at todays AL prices. Imagine the price of Aluminum if everybody started making cars out of it. The price would double overnight.

How would building the Focus from aluminum so dramatically increase its highway mileage?

It wouldn't much...if you drove on a completely flat road. But there aren't many of those. Indiana, which seems essentially flat, in reality still has a slight incline. And my MPG is always better going one way vs. the other.