What is "gas-guzzler"

car with low fuel-efficiency, 1973, American English, from gas (short for gasoline) + guzzler.

n. A motor car that has poor fuel economy.

Gas-guzzler commonly refers to a vehicle that is perceived to consume a lot of fuel.

The term originally came into use in the US when congress established Gas Guzzler Tax provisions in the Energy Tax Act of 1978 to discourage the production and purchase of fuel-inefficient vehicles. The gas guzzler tax had applied only to cars (not trucks) and was collected by the IRS. Other countries have followed suit and introduced their own version of a gas-guzzler tax such as Canada's "green levy".