Volvo with 2.8 million miles on the odometer......

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Probably not getting the whole story, probably has been in the body shop for new floors, panels and what not.

Notice they didnt say anything about what he did to prevent rust, it isnt like they mention this was his summer car LOL




Originally Posted By: Johnny
It is very doable. What impresses me is the fact he kept a Volvo from rusting out in New England for 44 years.
 
He's been given a couple free cars from Volvo to commemorate certain milestones he's achieved. He sold at least one of them, and I imagine that covered a lot of expenses.

I also imagine the thriftiness and care he takes of his car translates into other aspects of his lifestyle as well, and he likely had a great deal of money saved before he even retired (he strikes me as a saver in reading his bio info and other articles about him).

Being a single man and a retiree, I'm sure he has ample time. And after 44 years of working on this car, its safe to say he's faster and more efficient than a pro mechanic, knowing as he would the car inside out.

I have a great deal of respect for the man and his achievement. He holds a record worth holding in the Guinness book of records that will likely not be topped for a very, very long time - if ever.

That car is his life. He fell in love with it before he'd even driven it off the showroom floor, and when he did, he put 1500 miles on it within the first 48 hours of owning it.

-Spyder
 
Originally Posted By: VNTS
Probably not getting the whole story, probably has been in the body shop for new floors, panels and what not.

Notice they didnt say anything about what he did to prevent rust, it isnt like they mention this was his summer car LOL




Originally Posted By: Johnny
It is very doable. What impresses me is the fact he kept a Volvo from rusting out in New England for 44 years.


He talks about that in the article I linked to. Rust doesn't have to kill a car, no matter how bad the salt in the environment. Its people doing nothing to prevent rust, or failing to address it when it first shows up, that leads to this mentality.

I have seen 7 year old cars severely rusted that likely won't last another two winters. I have also seen 15 year old cars driven all year round with no sign of it.

This is about as bad as gets here for rust issues: ocean climate (salt air) & roads salted heavily from November until April. Yet I still see some old but very well preserved cars on the road in winter. Its hard to deal with and a royal PITA, but its not impossible to keep at bay or at least minimize. Most people just can't be bothered because they buy with no intention of keeping it well before the warranty is even up.

I bought my 10 year old car with the goal of keeping it going another 5 years, year round. I have since decided I will never sell it. I may take it off the road in the winter, but I will keep my Corolla for as long as I can keep it going.

Maybe that's why Irv Gordon is a legend to me, and why I take the wisdom he gives seriously.

-Spyder
 
I see too many holes in the story. He owns quite a number of cars and puts lots of miles on them. For example, he put 480K miles on his free Bertone Coupe before selling.

"In addition to the P1800, I also own the following: a 2002 C70 Volvo, a 1987 740 Turbo Volvo, a 1929 Packard 7 passenger touring car, a 1923 Model T Ford Fordor Sedan and a 1949 Crosley Hot Shot ... the first American Sports car. They are certainly enough to keep me busy when I am home and all is going well."

When is he home? If he is home, his car is not putting any mileage! May be he has perfected the "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" method :-)
 
Maybe. But then sometime what you see is what you get. I have seen enough examples of this (genuine people) to give the guy the benefit of the doubt.

-Spyder
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
I see too many holes in the story. He owns quite a number of cars and puts lots of miles on them. For example, he put 480K miles on his free Bertone Coupe before selling.

"In addition to the P1800, I also own the following: a 2002 C70 Volvo, a 1987 740 Turbo Volvo, a 1929 Packard 7 passenger touring car, a 1923 Model T Ford Fordor Sedan and a 1949 Crosley Hot Shot ... the first American Sports car. They are certainly enough to keep me busy when I am home and all is going well."

When is he home? If he is home, his car is not putting any mileage! May be he has perfected the "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" method :-)



There are loads of holes in this story.
 
Originally Posted By: Virtuoso
I wonder how many moving parts on that car are original?


It's like the carpenter who says: "I've used the same hammer for 40 years, I've replaced the handle twice and the head three times, but by golly it's the same hammer!"
grin2.gif
 
Bad analogy. It may not be entirely factory, but some of it still is. What isn't has held up longer than most cars before it was replaced. He did the one and only rebuild on the engine at just over 600,000 miles. How people do you know that have done that. And that same engine has still been going for the last 2 million miles.

He may have gone through some parts in 2.6 million miles, but let's put that in perspective and consider how many people go through entire cars, and how many cars, over a similar mileage span. A dozen. Two dozen. Whatever's been rebuilt is a whole [censored] of a lot less than those dozens that eventually found their way into a landfill somewhere. And likely on one tenth of the mileage among the best of them.

-Spyder
 
Utter Nonsense. An engine designed in the early 60's going 600,000 miles before it's first rebuild? If you got 100,000 miles out of an engine back then you were doing well. The best oil of the day may have nursed it to 150,000 miles. A modern Honda may go 300,000
with regular maintenance. The more I think about this story the more I conclude that it is one man's exaggerated fantasy.
 
I'm not going to debate it anymore in this thread as I don't have anything more to add that I haven't already said. People are free to make up their own minds and take out of it what they wish to, or dismiss it entirely. My own opinion has already been stated, so I'm not going to flog a dead horse any further.

-Spyder
 
I would say there are many more brands than just Honda that can go 300k with regular maintenance.

90%+ of longevity is driving style..
 
Originally Posted By: Virtuoso
I would say there are many more brands than just Honda that can go 300k with regular maintenance.

90%+ of longevity is driving style..


I agree with that and think Bill_in_Utah is strong evidence to support that. And if you'll pardon the nonsense, I think the other 90% is maintenance.
 
Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
so this guy is driving far away places just to drive to put miles on his car and then to brag about it?

Yep, there were too many questions before: he is a retired teacher now. How about before retirement? also hundreds of miles per day? What is the point of tire pressure measurements at the gas station if you drive hundreds of miles and your tires are hot? That particular model of Volvo was a disaster btw. Still, everything is possible, as Johnny observed. His rustproof New England observation is also thought provoking..
Peter Gilbert who ran his Saab up 1.2 M miles was a traveling insurance salesman, not a teacher. I wonder if the teacher had to skip lessons to make up for the mileage. I make 300 miles per day, but I do this for a living.
 
Sorry Iread the article and he doesnt say anything about what he does to prevent rust. He states it is outside and is driven every day. He says he keeps it clean.

He says he had the rocker panels repalced and the rear wheel arches( interior wheel wells??), sounds like major body work to me. Also any 1966 vintage car outsed would probably need at least 3-4 major repaints in 44 years. Where is he getting all the window flets, gaskets for the doors? I bet the chrome trim and bright work would be shot too.
I have a 89 Shadow and I redid the paint in 2004. The most expensive part was finding the plastic trim and door/window gaskets. Also I rust proof every year and If I didnt it would of been shot long ago. I am at 275K this week :)

SO either the article doesnt get into the details or he is [censored]'ng people as to what he has done.

I do agree that maitenance is the key and 60% is keeping the body from rotting out, the rest is bolting and unbolting worn parts.

Originally Posted By: Spyder7
Originally Posted By: VNTS
Probably not getting the whole story, probably has been in the body shop for new floors, panels and what not.

Notice they didnt say anything about what he did to prevent rust, it isnt like they mention this was his summer car LOL




Originally Posted By: Johnny
It is very doable. What impresses me is the fact he kept a Volvo from rusting out in New England for 44 years.


He talks about that in the article I linked to. Rust doesn't have to kill a car, no matter how bad the salt in the environment. Its people doing nothing to prevent rust, or failing to address it when it first shows up, that leads to this mentality.

I have seen 7 year old cars severely rusted that likely won't last another two winters. I have also seen 15 year old cars driven all year round with no sign of it.

This is about as bad as gets here for rust issues: ocean climate (salt air) & roads salted heavily from November until April. Yet I still see some old but very well preserved cars on the road in winter. Its hard to deal with and a royal PITA, but its not impossible to keep at bay or at least minimize. Most people just can't be bothered because they buy with no intention of keeping it well before the warranty is even up.

I bought my 10 year old car with the goal of keeping it going another 5 years, year round. I have since decided I will never sell it. I may take it off the road in the winter, but I will keep my Corolla for as long as I can keep it going.

Maybe that's why Irv Gordon is a legend to me, and why I take the wisdom he gives seriously.

-Spyder
 
Originally Posted By: VNTS

SO either the article doesnt get into the details or he is [censored]'ng people as to what he has done.



Don't question it, just believe it! Its on the internet; it must be true.
 
I call B.S.
Nobody drives a car an average of 6 hours a day every day since 1966 "just because". This guy had a full time job for around 35 of those of those 44 years as well.

If he made his living as a courier using the Volvo the story would have been more believable, but the guy was a SCHOOL TEACHER.
P1800's were cool cars, but they were an average car for the 1960's when it came to reliability and being rust-prone
 
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Thanks for all the support Sypder. Never mind those who doubt. They don't pay my gasoline and oil bills nor do they help wash, wax and vacuum the car nor do they help look for rust problems before they become a problem. They probably never get on their hands and knees to wash under the car to get the salt off during the winter months..using hot water. They probably use recycled water from the car wash loaded with the salt from the previous cars to wash their cars and wonder why their car is like swiss cheese. It's all a matter of effort and what one is willing to do to keep their prize toy in roadworthy condition. Too bad for them...I am way ahead of the game.
 
Originally Posted By: Spyder7
You can join the mile high club for the cost of an air line ticket. Not much of an achievement or anything to brag about IMHO. Maintaining a car well enough that it accumulates a million miles is an achievement. And its a much smaller club.

-Spyder

I think you'd need two tickets unless of course you're flying SOLO.
blush.gif
Does it count then?
 
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Originally Posted By: rshaw125
100,000 miles a year is almost 300 miles a day, every day. I don't see it. They got too ambitious with the story. If they had said 1.8 million it could be believed.
At an average speed of 50 mph that would be 6 hours of driving every day. [censored].


+1. This guy also has other cars with high miles. Just look at him, he's attention ho. His wife left him. There is a name for such people that will use another person or object or event to attract attention. They ride the coattail as long as they can. I believe this guy adjust his odometer to show high mileage and when we got some attention, kept at it. There is no way someone would put up with driving 300+ miles a day to commute to work. For his area, that kind of driving will bankrupt him financially as well as keep him out of the house all day with the crazy commute. People living that far from work tend to figure out a way to move closer or get into some commuter plans, which exists long before there was ever such a thing called gasoline.
 
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