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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.'' |
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