10.) Volkswagen Golf/Rabbit

9.) Mazda Mazda5

The Mazda5 may seem like an unconventional choice for a live-in automobile, but it offers a lot for a little. Based on the sporty Mazda3 platform, the Mazda5 has the benefits of a small economy car: good mileage, low cost-of-ownership and affordability. It also offers some of the benefits of a minivan: sliding doors, three-row seating, fold-out table, under-floor storage and fold-flat seats. The possibility of getting one with a manual, no longer a possibility with most vans, makes it the perfect choice for a down-on-their-luck dad who still likes to drive but may have to outrun creditors.
Price New: $18,665 (base)
Price Used: $12,500 and up

8.) Ford Econoline

We imagine people have been jamming Econoline as long as people have been living in vans. They're cheap. They're big. They're available in a privacy-enhancing panel version. When Chris Farley's motivation speaker said he was "living in a van down by the river" he was almost certainly talking about a Ford Econoline. The panel version is the cheapest model and, though it lacks carpeting, has ample room for an air mattress or stolen love seat. A top-of-the-line conversion Econoline from the 1980s can be had with a TV/VCR combo, reclining bed, wood inserts and velour drapes. If it's good enough for Mike Watt, it's good enough for us.
Price New: $23,940 (E-150)
Price Used: $3,000 and up

7.) Honda Element

The Honda Element may be one of the most configurable cars available. The SUV with the soul of a Civic, the Element's seats can be stowed, laid-out or removed as necessary. All of the Honda's seats can be folded backwards to create two long, thin beds. This is the ideal living space for a close couple not willing to face the harsh elements outside of an Element. Additionally, the water resistant interior means that you can hose off the interior after it collects the various liquids of life. Those with a little extra dough can get an ECAMPER conversion for a true camper experience.
Price New: $20,990
Price Used: $8,500 and up

6.) Chevy Suburban

There have been a few large SUV models in America's history, but none of them have lived as long as the Suburban, which holds the record for longest continuous nameplate in production. That's good if you're looking for parts for your new home. An increase in gas prices has caused an increase in availability and a decrease in price (the base model came with a 5.7-liter V8). Now that gas prices have dropped along with the economy, it's now even affordable to drive. At over 18-feet long, the Suburban's interior rivals some small studios. The GMT400 models from the 1990s could have come with the 6.5-liter diesel, which is perfect for long nights of idling to keep the heat running. Older models are tough and cheap while newer models get more expensive but offer more in the way of creature comforts.
Price New: $40,820
Price Used: $2,500 and up (GMT400)

5.) Volvo 740 Wagon

A Volvo station wagon is a great choice for a family looking for a safe place to live and the Volvo 740 is perhaps the best balance of value and space. Nearly 16-feet long, the early 1990s models run cheap and aklthough not fast, they're quite roomy. Most importantly, the build quality and reliability of the last model years of the 740 are among the highest of any vehicle Volvo's ever built. When you get kicked out of your gated community you can also use it to sneak back in as a soccer mom and not as someone who uses a soccer ball for a pillow.
Price New: N/A
Price Used: $2,000 and up

4.) Dodge Caravan

What better way to celebrate your new life in a failing economy than buying a car from afailing automaker? Kids love the Caravan because of the cool features, like the fold-out table, DVD player with A/V hookup for the video games, fold-flat seats, tall roofs and many storage spaces. When the kids ask why they spend all the time at the beach and never go home just tell them it's like that vacation you took to Florida.. except it never ends. A small family could do much worse than life in a Caravan or its ritzy Town & Country brother, though we recommend a third generation if you want all of those features.
Price New: $28,500
Price Used: $14,500 and up (third gen), $2,500 and up (second gen)

3.) Ford Flex

The automotive gypsy lifestyle once meant big vans or SUVs but the era of the crossover is here. Balancing van-like space and amenities with car-like handling, the crossover could be the sleeping place of choice for the next Great Depression. The Ford Flex might be the best choice for those who may soon be evicted but are currently of some means. The long, seven-seater Flex offers space, comfort and luxury in a package that looks like a house. Throw in a fridge in the second row console that can fit a six-pack of beer and you've got quite a home.
Price New: $28,295 (base)
Price Used: $25,000 (or even as low as $7,500 off of a repossession. How meta is that anyway?)

2.) Volkswagen Vanagon/EuroVan Westfalia

The Westfalia VWs were designed for living for, though not necessarily for extended periods of time. Offered through VW, the Westfalias were essentially a Volkswagen Vanagon or EuroVan with a camper top that folds out to create a living space. Many also came equipped with small refrigerators, stovetops, sink and other appliances. The Vanagon pictured above was created by this guy to be an all-season living space. They no longer sell the Westy here in the US new, so you'll have to find one on the used market.
Price New: N/A
Price Used: $6,000 and up (Vanagon) $12,000 and up (EuroVan Weekender)

1.) Dodge Sprinter

There's really nothing like a Dodge Sprinter commercial van if you have to live your life on wheels. Daddy Coppola turned one into a portable studio and we'd be proud to live in one. Based on the Mercedes Sprinter van, this is the Mercedes of commercial vans. At nearly 23-feet long, nine-feet tall and six-feet wide the cargo area of a Sprinter is a cave. Throw in a 3.0-liter turbodiesel V6, 12-volt power outlet and a hydraulic jack and you're traveling the US in comfort. For real style you can convert your Sprinter into a Mercedes with a few cheap trim pieces. In extended form there's enough room in the back for a bed, small couch, table and desk. High-mileage, used cargo versions can be found at quite a reasonable price. And, we hear it may actually be bigger than Wert's entire place in Manhattan — and for 1/10th the price new!
Price New: $42,170
Price Used: $14,000

Jalopnik: Where did you get this idea? David Levine: I got the idea for the project from my brother's work and from readings being done in the field. My brother's undergraduate thesis work is in the area of using algae to treat wastewater, and in so doing, make oil. We modified that a bit to the current project.

J: What are the steps needed to produce this biofuel?
D: Step 1: Culture algae in varying media to optimize its growth
Step 2: Design & build photobioreactors (the large tank-like structures that the algae grow in)
Step 3: After sufficient growth, harvest algae
Step 4: Extract algae oil
Step 5: Chemically modify oil into biodiesel (transesterification)

J: How did the students react to the project?
DL: Student reactions were varied, but almost all positive. This was an incredibly authentic learning piece for them that truly affects their day-to-day life. As a result, engagement was high, completion of the project and report was above average, and students continually remarked that what they were learning and doing mattered. Ciera Rice, one of my students, showed up in a green shirt, green pants, green jacket, green hair tie, and green stickers on her cheeks.

J: How big was the grant you got from BP?
DL: The A+ For Energy grant was for $10,000. The grant has covered most major expenses. Incidental costs have been covered by me. There's no doubt, however, that the grant has morphed my classroom. You walk in and the equipment resembles that available in the suburbs.

J: What was your biggest surprise with the project?
I was most surprised by the ease with which the students took to a green mindset. Discussions about a carbon footprint or about reducing one's hours behind the wheel would have been taboo a few months ago. Now they're something about which my students feel empowered and ready to act on... even if they still make fun of me for riding my bike to school.

J: What were the biggest challenges?
DL: Harvesting and extraction. Once perfected for industry, the harvesting process will probably require a continuous flow centrifuge to concentrate the algae. Even the greenest algae you saw in my room is still about 99% water. Concentrating the algae is key to a successful extraction and yield (because water can wreak havoc on the chemical reaction, depending on your extraction method). The extraction procedure in itself still requires fine-tuning for an industrial scale process. This project certainly did not solve those issues, but it did experiment with one wet extraction procedure that has not yet been published.

J: How has this impacted your students?
D: I've touched on the impact a bit already above, but I also think that this project has given them the opportunity to enter in to and engage in the green movement like few other high schoolers do. I firmly believe that the green movement will be successful at attacking eco-equity issues through technological innovation, and my kids now have a leg up in that race. I'm looking forward to seeing them come back from college armed with new ideas and skills that will revitalize our community.

J: You seem tired and friends have told me you've not been getting much sleep...
DL: I sleep about 4 hours every night during the week. So, that's about 4 hours a day of lost sleep, a staggering sleep debt that's probably keeping me from properly expressing myself right now.

(Ed Note: As a matter of full disclosure, my fiancee is in the Teach For America program so I probably have some bias towards it.)

The Idea
David Levine, a second-year teacher placed in Chicago through the Teach For America program, faced a common problem: how to get students to take the same interest in their studies as in Grand Theft Auto IV. His school, the Al Raby School for Community and Environment, serves populations from the predominately African American neighborhoods on Chicago's West Side, a place where the median income is more than 40% lower than the city as a whole. How could he motivate his students to invest their time and interest in the scientific process?

Levine settled on one of the biggest issues facing this generation of students: the impact, both environmental and political, of our dependence on foreign sources of fuel. According to the UN Human Development Reports, the US emits 21% of the world's carbon dioxide despite having only 4.6% of the world's population. We're currently engaged in our second war in the oil-rich Middle East. Using these issues as a starting point, Levine sought a project that would address the problems while at the same time providing an educational and compelling experience for his students. Thus the Algae Biodiesel Van was born.

The goal was to create enough biodiesel from algae, grown and processed in the classroom, to power a vehicle from the school to Chicago's Sears Tower and back, an approximately 20-mile round trip. Because algae sucks carbon out of the atmosphere, it is relatively carbon neutral to produce and, unlike corn or soybeans, isn't a food crop. But how do you turn single-celled plants into viable fuel within the confines of a classroom?

The Process
You can't miss the algae-processing unit that occupies the corner of Levine's science classroom. Giant bags filled with a specific strain of fuel-producing algae are stacked on top of one another, connected by a series of tubes that pump the bright green organic slime around a stack of fluorescent lamps to encourage photosynthesis. This would actually make a great lighting fixture for a trendy LA sushi place.

Students have been working with Levine to cultivate the algae in their classroom and refine it down to fuel. Almost all the work was done on-site, though at one point the solution had to be taken to a centrifuge at the University of Illinois Chicago for final separation, an event which afforded students a chance to see a fully operational lab.

After spending a large portion of their junior year working through the process, the students were able to create what they hoped was enough fuel to power a vehicle the full distance: one gallon. Right before the trip one of the students showed off their beaker of algaediesel, which I can attest smells much better than petrodiesel. Though that's not saying much.

The Van
Working with a small grant from BP America's A+ For Energy program, there wasn't much room in the budget for buying a car specifically for the purposes of the test. Thankfully, the fuel is of such high quality that, when mixed with vegetable oil, it can run on most unmodified diesel engines. Here's where the 1982 Vanagon Diesel Westfalia Camper comes into the picture.

Faded orange with a white camper top, this particular Vanagon was loaned to the class for this experiment by a trusting friend of Levine's family. Still used for camping, the small fridge inside the van features remnants from previous outings, plus a bed, kitchen and radio; it's actually a small home they're running on their fuel, made all the more so due to the absence of seat belts.

The Fantastic Voyage
After draining off the low-sulfur petrodiesel in the tank, a large crowd of students, faculty and media collected around the van to see if it would actually start. There was a sense of hopeful expectation as Levine slowly poured a gallon of his student's labors into the VW. After taping the plastic back over the fuel tank (they had trouble getting the cap back on), Levine lodged himself in the driver's seat, while his fellow science teachers piled in to provide moral support and, should the van break down, actual physical support. Engaging the clutch, a few held their breath has he turned the key. Put, Put, Put, Put, Put. The familiar register of a diesel engine filled the air, overtaken immediately by the applause of students.

Levine drove the van around the block and returned victoriously to this group of excited students suddenly filled with that sense of accomplishment that comes from a job well done. But one more test remained. Had they made enough good fuel to get the van to the Sears Tower and back? In traffic?

The principal decreed that students couldn't ride in the van since it lacked safety belts and, really, anything resembling safety equipment. Besides, limiting weight was a primary concern: The range calculations for a single gallon of fuel were fairly rough. The driving would be handled by James, David's father and a veteran of the One Lap of America (he raced a Porsche 911 RS). Navigation was up to Evan, another science teacher involved in the program. I had the final seat on the back couch where I would serve as the historian and archivist. After a slight top-off with the remaining fuel mixture and a check of the systems (assuring the plastic was completely taped over where the gas cap should go) we set off for the Sears Tower.

Driving into downtown Chicago, especially on a Friday afternoon, requires an ability to improvise. Construction, traffic and frequent fender benders all lead to the sorts of complex traffic patterns that we don't currently have the processing power to comprehend. Thankfully, the Tower is the tallest building in the city and, therefore, was easy to spot out the van's windows.

Given our limited resources, we decided to tack east using a narrow road that runs predominately underneath the elevated train tracks. Though not the most direct route, we hoped to avoid congestion and keep track of our chase car, piloted by students and running on good ol' 89 octane. The first few minutes out everything was going well. There was no foul smell or smoke and the engine was running smooth for a van older than the students who fueled it.

That's when the oil light blinked at us. Could the fuel be interfering with the engine's oil pressure or temperature? Were we just unlucky enough to be having an unrelated problem while winding our way towards the city's most recognizable piece of architecture? James gets on the phone with David and they quickly decide that it's unrelated and not a concern.

Pushing forward, we keep spotting the peaks of the Tower between the other building that ring the outer loop. As we get closer to the city we start getting looks from the commodity traders, receptionists, service employees and others who are hoping to escape the city for the weekend. Even without the knowledge we're running on algae, the van is hard to miss.

The oil light still illuminated, we weave our way past cabs and around buses until we see the sign for the Tower's parking garage. We've made it... halfway at least. Given the beefed up security downtown, I'm hoping we don't get stuck and have to explain why we parked this funny-smelling van right next to the building's foundation.

James parked the van down the street from the amazing structure, thus lowering the risk of clogging traffic any further and providing a better location for photos. After a quick picture with two of the students, we raced back across town to the school. Worried about fuel levels, there wasn't time to dawdle. We cut south before going west, hoping to avoid the worst traffic. Our gambit worked, and we arrived at the school a few minutes earlier than planned. So early, in fact, that there was no one around to celebrate our victory over the forces of fuel consumption. Where the hell were the students?

It turns out they were inside munching on donated snacks and enthusiastically sharing their research and work on environmental projects they designed as part of the "Green Fair" planned around the launch of the Algae Car. Inspired by the fuel project, more students than usual actually completed their assignments. One of the coaches at the school remarked that in high school he just did his assignments to do them, but that Levine's kids "were actually doing the work because they cared and believed in it." Talking with some of the students and teachers, it's clear that this may be the day's biggest victory.

Victory And Hope
It's hard to overestimate either the technical or educational achievement of this project. While this particular journey back-and-forth from the school to downtown isn't going to fundamentally change our nation's energy policy, it did impact the very people who will be involved in finding solutions in the future. The next night I joined a tired but proud Levine for dinner. In addition to the joy he felt from successfully completing the project, he also had great news about his student's educational progress.

The students in his classes dramatically improved their scores on the scientific portion of the ACT compared with the previous year. It isn't easy to quantify the amount that this specific project contributed to the leap in test scores, but it would be hard to deny the impact after seeing his excited students cheer on their project car.

Having driven another special diesel prototype, the Audi R8 V12 TDI LeMans, I can't say that the Vanagon is quite as menacing. And instead of being flanked by black SUVs driven by off-duty cops, we were followed by an old silver Camry driven by a couple of students. But if I had to choose which experience I thought was more important, more impressive and more downright awesome I'd have to go with the Algae Car. With a significantly smaller budget, a group of determined students and their dedicated teachers proved our options for the future are only limited by our own imagination.

The Ursa Minor Vehicles ECAMPER™ is the only Honda Element Camper on the market!

Our conversion adds a pop-top sleeper for two onto any Honda Element® Four Wheel Drive model (2003 through 2008 models with removable skylight). Ready to camp? Simply release the latches, pop it up, and climb up through the former sunroof.

The ECAMPER™ uses the latest in high-performance composites technology to minimize weight and to create a streamlined profile that adds only 5" to the overall height of the vehicle.

Other features include

* Gas spring assisted hinges for quick open and close
* Easy access from inside or outside of vehicle
* Lightweight composite construction
* Low-current interior LED lighting
* Comfortable 2" thick 7' x 4' mattress with washable covers
* Sleek, streamlined profile is quiet
* Tough, breathable, fade and water resistant Sunbrella® fabric
* Panoramic views through zippered screened windows
* Built on Honda reliability & economy

On our afternoon walk to the bodega, we caught sight of a well-maintained '70s-vintage poptop Westfalia Type 2. We've always loved those things; our aunt and uncle had a green one, and if they hadn't gotten rid of it in favor of a '32 Ford sedan with a 302 and a teardrop trailer, we'd say they made a huge mistake. Sadly, since DCX now owns 49% of Westfalia and VW no longer makes a Microbus, we most likely won't see the likes of it again. – Davey G. Johnson

Westfalia [Wikipedia]

Related:
Ridiculously-Extra-Stupid-Fast VW Type 2 [Internal]