Look at the math. If your car gets an average 20MPG and you need to do 50 miles x 2 thats 5 gallos at $4 a gallon so $20 is spent getting there and back. It would cost more then $20 to ship a g3 MT, so if you want one cheap going to pick it up is the way to go.

Question is are there any other bits that you will get with those two systems that make the trip even more worth going? Many years ago I drove to cleveland just to get a 950 PS, it was like a 120 mile trip total (granted gas was $2 back then), but I also filled up my car with free Mac goodies I didn't even know were there. Sometimes its just fun to get out of the house and meet people you would never see otherwise.

As far as the sugar cane ethanol, Brazil has nowhere near the amount of fuel needs the US does, and has a big sugarcane crop anyway so they use the leftovers for ethanol. Hemp is great for biofuel, and cheap to make.

European cities tend to be old and laid out so that people do not need to travel as much as US cities that expanded during the time of cheap gas and automobiles. Except for the largest US cities, public transportation sucks since everyone has a car and likes to live out in the burbs.