Two Million Miles in a '66 Volvo P1800

Just had to dig this one out of my files. I've never owned a Volvo but
this is an inspirational story for any old-car afficianadoes.


Two Million Mile Volvo
USA Today 3-22-02

WASHINGTON -- Irv Gordon isn't quite the guy he was back in June 1966
when he bought his red Volvo P1800 for $4,150. His stomach is a bit
closer to the steering wheel these days, and getting in and out of the
sporty little two-door coupe isn't quite as easy. But the Volvo? Never
looked better. Not bad for a car whose odometer is about to roll over
for the 20th time. Translated, that's 2 million miles.

Gordon, at 61, is a retired teacher from East Patchogue, N.Y., an avowed
old car nut, and a man who has never met an open road he didn't want to
drive down.

He admits his wanderlust might have cost him his marriage, but he's
still got his car, and next week in New York, Gordon will drive through
Times Square and into the Guinness World Records. His Volvo will have
the highest certified mileage of any car driven by the original owner in
non-commercial service.

The license plate says it all: MILNMILR. Not that he hasn't been down
this road before.

In October 1987, he celebrated his car's 1-millionth mile by driving a
loop around Tavern on the Green in Central Park. But he's not
delusional. He knows the car is the celebrity, not him.

''I'm no good without the car,'' he confesses. ''I'm just chopped liver.
If I sold this car, I wouldn't get invited anywhere.'' Not that he'd
consider such a thing. When asked how much he'd take for it, his reply
is quick: ''I'll entertain offers of $1 for every mile it's gone.''

After buying two ''lemon'' Chevrolets, he ended up with his Volvo by
chance. ''I'd never even heard of a Volvo,'' he says. ''It could have
been a banana for all I knew.''

But he test-drove the little roadster and was smitten. ''I wouldn't have
brought it back to the dealership, but we were running out of gas. We
were gone three hours.''

Chatting away in the cozy quarters of his car, Gordon is zipping through
Washington on his way home to Long Island, visiting a variety of auto
shows, dealerships and car clubs before his grand entrance Wednesday at
Volvo's 75th anniversary celebration.

Now that he's retired, he goes wherever he wishes.

''What people don't realize is, I didn't say I'll be home when I get 2
million miles.''

When he was still married, his wife would fly and meet him places.

''But if you fly, all you see are the cities, and they're all pretty
much the same. How do you see the world from 35,000 feet? You can't.''

So Gordon remains close to the ground, putting high-octane gasoline into
his little gem, getting 25 to 35 miles a gallon on the open road.

''Just for the hell of it'' he still might drive from Long Island to
Baltimore for the day. On average, he doesn't drive less than 1,000
miles a week.

And ''just for the hell of it'' again, he'll have the car shipped to
Europe to drive it around on vacation. He's been behind the wheel on
trips through Holland, Denmark, Germany and Sweden.

He says he can't even remember how many times he's been across the
country and back, but he does remember certain places he's been.

A couple of radiator hoses have broken over the years, and the generator
died on him three or four times, ''but that's about it.''