Running on empty: on the road with Shell Eco-marathon | Martin Love

Could you do 10,000 miles to a gallon? A spoonful of petrol goes a very long way in these fuel-sipping wacky racers

Price: build your own
Top speed: 50mph
Weight: 70kg
Engine: Honda GX160
MPG: 3,000 plus

"I hope you don't suffer from claustrophobia," smiles Fred. He's an engineer working with Shell and is over from France as part of the preparations for its annual fuel eco-marathon. I'm lying two inches off the Tarmac on what looks like a modified surfboard with three spindly wheels. Fred and another mechanic have strapped me on to it and are now lowering the carapace of the car's body over me. Imagine a flimsy plastic coffin with portholes, or maybe a 6ft cigar tube. Once it's bolted into position, Fred grins through the tiny window at me and gives me the thumbs up. I can't move my head, feet, arms or shoulders. All I can do is swivel my eyeballs and hook my index fingers around the fiddly handlebar controls which rest on my chest. Actually, I think I do suffer from claustrophobia"