More Than Just Pickups Tried Two Gas Tanks (And These Cars Had Far More Fun With It)

Some of the most-traveled vehicles ever to see the roads are pickup trucks, and for good reason. Many folks use them for work, cruising the highways day in and day out, working delivery jobs, and covering thousands of miles in the process. One of the few necessities to slow such folks down are the odd stops for fuel, but the fitment of dual tanks meant the driver could simply switch from one tank to the other, negating the need to stop so frequently. Extra range wasn't the only benefit of dual tanks – they helped with weight distribution, too, and if one fuel pump went down, you could simply swap over to the other tank and keep on motoring.

This feature has pretty much become redundant in modern trucks, thanks mostly to the implementation of far more efficient powertrains, which means one tank can probably get you just as far on a new truck as two would have granted you in an old V8-powered something-or-other.

However, old trucks were not the only vehicles on the road with dual tanks. For similar reasons, some classic cars also feature more than one gas tank — and we're not just talking about a dinky auxiliary tank either. Rather, older cars that were designed for grand touring adventures also benefitted from extended ranges, as did a particular old-school rally car, and a puny little commuter, too.

Starting off with those classic GTs, we find a selection of tasteful European offerings, including the Lamborghini Countach and angular Lamborghini Espada. Like those old-school pickups, these thoroughbreds were designed to motor on for hundreds of miles with ease, and dual tanks allowed them to do this without hindrance. The Espada and Countach both took motivation from naturally aspirated V12 engines, so you can imagine how quickly that gas would disappear on open European highways. 

While not quite so exotic, other sports and luxury cars of the era featured dual tanks, too, such as the Sunbeam Alpine Series III and early iterations of the Jaguar XJ range. Now, not to say that old pickup trucks are a bore to drive, because they certainly have a unique charm of their own, but we'd bet getting behind the wheel of any of these twin-tanked sports, luxury, GT, or supercars would be heaps more fun.

There were other fun cars that boasted dual tanks, although from the other end of the automotive spectrum. Take, for example, the original Mini Cooper S. Not only did dual tanks allow for more long-distance driving without stops, but they also helped the scrappy underdog to achieve rallying success by increasing range and providing better weight distribution.

On the even smaller side of things, the diminutive BMW Isetta was also sold with two tanks – its primary 3-gallon affair and a smaller ¾-gallon reserve tank. When the larger tank is almost depleted, simply switch to the reserve tank, and find yourself a gas station. Sure, no one is long-distance driving in an Isetta, but the extra tank would at least save you from getting stranded on the grocery run.