Don't be fooled by this vehicle's alien looks; an ordinary 1992 Honda Civic CX is under the shell. Michael Turner renamed his car the "Aerocivic" after radically reshaping it to improve fuel economy.

He is among some 437 members of Ecomodder.com, which launched in December. The site typically sees about 2,700 visitors each day, according to its founders.

Members of the gearhead community share do-it-yourself methods of radically retooling the bodies and components of their cars to squeeze as many miles as possible out of every tank of gasoline.

Turner spent $400 on hardware store materials including aluminum bars and sheeting; polycarbonate, corrugated plastic; screws; and pop rivets. Now he says he gets up to 74 miles per gallon in the summer. A Civic from that era might normally achieve an average of 33 miles per gallon.

Turner was inspired by streamlined German autobahn cars from the 1930s. Frustrated that he couldn't find aerodynamic models currently on the market, he was motivated to make the modifications when gas prices rose after Hurricane Katrina.

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