MEMBERconnection

THESE DAYS YOU can find cars that get 50 miles to a gallon of fuel. Costco member Craig Henderson is working on something twice as fuel efficient—plus it looks cool. Henderson, of Bellingham, Washington, is building a new version of his Avion ( www.100mpgplus.com): a lightweight, aerodynamic and fuel-efficient sports car that he first unveiled in the 1980s. He drove the prototype from Mexico to Canada, get- ting an average of 103.7 miles per gallon of uel. Now, 24 years later, Henderson plans to make the same trip— 1,500 miles—on a single 20-gallon tank of fuel, with some left at the end. In doing so, he hopes to achieve some- thing that he couldn’t before: Make the Avion available to the general public and build a successful business around it. Henderson was a fresh college graduate with a degree in engineering when he and co-designer Bill Green built the first Avion. The goal was to make the car commercially viable, but Henderson says he lacked the xpertise and the money to do so. The Avion went into his garage, where it sat while he became busy with other projects, including running his business, Bullfrog Boats. Going the distance

When stopped, the ‘exit’ button turns green. When driving the ‘exit’ button turns red.

MEDIA BAKERY

Authorized callers, apps and emergency 911 calls are always allowed. Creating a no-cellphone zone

IT BEGAN WITH what Darien, Connecticut, Costco member Darcy Ahl calls an “aha” moment. Her teenage son had recently received his learner’s permit and was out practicing highway driving. Ahl was the supervising adult in the passenger seat.

“Almost immediately his cellphone rang,”
she recalls. “Just as he was struggling to
answer, he was crossing the dotted lines. It
frightened me; I think it frightened him too.”
Ahl, who has a background in product
development, thought, “I must not be alone
in the anxiety as a parent whose child is
learning to drive, … knowing that they can
be distracted at any moment by the use of
the cellphone behind the wheel with poten-
tially deadly consequences.”
Tapping into a stint as an executive
recruiter, she put together a team and devel-
oped iZUP ( www.illumesoftware.com) to
address the problem. The mobile application
is for certain cellphones.

Two-mulepower shopping

Fast-forward to today: Fuel efficiency is on people’s minds, and Henderson is a seasoned business owner. He dusted off the Avion and drove it across Washington state, reaching 113 mpg and reawakening a dream. “This time, I have some extra time and extra money to put into the project,” he says. “I always felt it was a viable idea.”

The current plan is to get to Mexico this fall, stir up some publicity and offer the Avion as a kit car for enthusiasts, for less than $25,000. And maybe, someday, you’ll see it on car lots across America.—Tim Talevich

Costco member Janet Liberatore of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, submitted this photo of a mule-driven wagon ready to haul purchases from Costco back to the neighboring Amish community.

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68 ;e Costco Connection APRIL 2010