3.2 Million Mile Volvo Owner Passes Away - Car Still Running
- Thread starter javacontour
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RIP my friend.
I'm surprised that it didn't rust away. He must have been fanatical about keeping it clean.
What a great looking car ! I wonder if the owner will be buried with the car?
Well, they always said you can replace parts for this Competition, including new engines and transmissions. I guess they're going to install a new owner. RIP.
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I wonder who will receive the Volvo?
Patman
Staff member
I have been following his progress ever since he was around the one million mark, and I feel bad because just a couple of days ago on here I called him foolish for having done 3k oil changes all this time. (as I'm sure his engines still would have lasted long even with less frequent changes)
RIP Irv Gordon
RIP Irv Gordon
Think about how much of his life was spent changing oil. If he did 3000 oil changes, that's probably 1500-3000 hours of his life, or 2 to 4 months spent changing oil. He was either doing it, or had to go to the dealer/shop and wait while it was done, etc.
If it's the sort of thing you enjoy, then write it off as a hobby like many here do.
In my mid-50s, I'm probably between 1/2 and 3/4 of a million miles driven for comparison.
I can't imagine how much time was spent driving to get to 1 million miles, let alone 3 million.
Originally Posted by Patman
I have been following his progress ever since he was around the one million mark, and I feel bad because just a couple of days ago on here I called him foolish for having done 3k oil changes all this time. (as I'm sure his engines still would have lasted long even with less frequent changes)
RIP Irv Gordon
If it's the sort of thing you enjoy, then write it off as a hobby like many here do.
In my mid-50s, I'm probably between 1/2 and 3/4 of a million miles driven for comparison.
I can't imagine how much time was spent driving to get to 1 million miles, let alone 3 million.
Originally Posted by Patman
I have been following his progress ever since he was around the one million mark, and I feel bad because just a couple of days ago on here I called him foolish for having done 3k oil changes all this time. (as I'm sure his engines still would have lasted long even with less frequent changes)
RIP Irv Gordon
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If it was on its third engine,wouldn't it technically have the original mileage capped at the very first rebuild,thus making it a 3.2 million mile chassis and not a 3.2 original mile car?
Originally Posted by javacontour
Think about how much of his life was spent changing oil. If he did 3000 oil changes, that's probably 1500-3000 hours of his life, or 2 to 4 months spent changing oil. He was either doing it, or had to go to the dealer/shop and wait while it was done, etc.
In the video, he says he changed the oil every 3,500 miles. If we assume he did this religiously, and (at least on average) stuck to the schedule, then 3.2 million divided by 3500 = 914 changes. Looks like he did at least some himself, if not all, and I think 45 minutes is a fair estimate, at least on average (30 minutes when you're young, an hour when you're old). Based on that, I figure about 685 hours or 28.5 days.
Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
If it was on its third engine,wouldn't it technically have the original mileage capped at the very first rebuild,thus making it a 3.2 million mile chassis and not a 3.2 original mile car?
Technically, it WAS still the same engine, just had two rebuilds. Depends on what your definition is of "same engine" but I would say that it was. Typically, the identifying part of the engine is the block, right?
That said, Irv was certainly a man with a mission, and from what I could see, a very nice man. It seemed he loved driving around in his Volvo, and he did a lot of that, so I'd like to think his life was a fulfilling one to him.
RIP Irv Gordon
Think about how much of his life was spent changing oil. If he did 3000 oil changes, that's probably 1500-3000 hours of his life, or 2 to 4 months spent changing oil. He was either doing it, or had to go to the dealer/shop and wait while it was done, etc.
In the video, he says he changed the oil every 3,500 miles. If we assume he did this religiously, and (at least on average) stuck to the schedule, then 3.2 million divided by 3500 = 914 changes. Looks like he did at least some himself, if not all, and I think 45 minutes is a fair estimate, at least on average (30 minutes when you're young, an hour when you're old). Based on that, I figure about 685 hours or 28.5 days.
Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
If it was on its third engine,wouldn't it technically have the original mileage capped at the very first rebuild,thus making it a 3.2 million mile chassis and not a 3.2 original mile car?
Technically, it WAS still the same engine, just had two rebuilds. Depends on what your definition is of "same engine" but I would say that it was. Typically, the identifying part of the engine is the block, right?
That said, Irv was certainly a man with a mission, and from what I could see, a very nice man. It seemed he loved driving around in his Volvo, and he did a lot of that, so I'd like to think his life was a fulfilling one to him.
RIP Irv Gordon
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Patman
Staff member
I bet his Volvo ends up in some sort of museum, unless he has a family member that wants to continue adding to it's odometer.
Originally Posted by Patman
I bet his Volvo ends up in some sort of museum, unless he has a family member that wants to continue adding to it's odometer.
Most likely Volvo will buy the car from his estate and put it in a museum. Everyone will be happy with that.
I bet his Volvo ends up in some sort of museum, unless he has a family member that wants to continue adding to it's odometer.
Most likely Volvo will buy the car from his estate and put it in a museum. Everyone will be happy with that.
A man with a purpose in life. Good for him! He will be missed
I don't know how I screwed up my math, even using my assumptions, I got the wrong answer, LOL.
Must have been grief over his passing. Yeah, let's go with that.
I was thinking 1000 oil changes, but then wrote it as 3k and then did the math for 1/2 hour to 1 hour elapsed time.
DOH!
Originally Posted by SirTanon
Originally Posted by javacontour
Think about how much of his life was spent changing oil. If he did 3000 oil changes, that's probably 1500-3000 hours of his life, or 2 to 4 months spent changing oil. He was either doing it, or had to go to the dealer/shop and wait while it was done, etc.
In the video, he says he changed the oil every 3,500 miles. If we assume he did this religiously, and (at least on average) stuck to the schedule, then 3.2 million divided by 3500 = 914 changes. Looks like he did at least some himself, if not all, and I think 45 minutes is a fair estimate, at least on average (30 minutes when you're young, an hour when you're old). Based on that, I figure about 685 hours or 28.5 days.
Must have been grief over his passing. Yeah, let's go with that.
I was thinking 1000 oil changes, but then wrote it as 3k and then did the math for 1/2 hour to 1 hour elapsed time.
DOH!
Originally Posted by SirTanon
Originally Posted by javacontour
Think about how much of his life was spent changing oil. If he did 3000 oil changes, that's probably 1500-3000 hours of his life, or 2 to 4 months spent changing oil. He was either doing it, or had to go to the dealer/shop and wait while it was done, etc.
In the video, he says he changed the oil every 3,500 miles. If we assume he did this religiously, and (at least on average) stuck to the schedule, then 3.2 million divided by 3500 = 914 changes. Looks like he did at least some himself, if not all, and I think 45 minutes is a fair estimate, at least on average (30 minutes when you're young, an hour when you're old). Based on that, I figure about 685 hours or 28.5 days.
So, funny story, as P1800 owner I've talked to a couple of the guys who are the center of parts supplying for enthusiasts. Seems to be an accepted fact inside the community that this guy was advancing his own odometer, not actually doing all the driving which he was claiming.
Originally Posted by Artem
RIP indeed. That took some dedication for sure. That Volvo he's been driving is a complete POS. I probably wouldn't last 100k in it before I'd get sick of it and run it off a cliff.
But just like very old VW Beetles still on the road some people enjoy their POS.
RIP indeed. That took some dedication for sure. That Volvo he's been driving is a complete POS. I probably wouldn't last 100k in it before I'd get sick of it and run it off a cliff.
But just like very old VW Beetles still on the road some people enjoy their POS.
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What I'd like to see is the highest mileage car with no engine rebuilds whatsoever. Once an engine needs a rebuild imo it's no longer the original car with the original mileage,after all,the engine is the "heart" of the car. I remember people in the 80s driving pos cars that started knocking way before 100,000 miles. To me,that's when the car is toast and no longer its "original miles".
Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
What I'd like to see is the highest mileage car with no engine rebuilds whatsoever. Once an engine needs a rebuild imo it's no longer the original car with the original mileage,after all,the engine is the "heart" of the car. I remember people in the 80s driving pos cars that started knocking way before 100,000 miles. To me,that's when the car is toast and no longer its "original miles".
In the 80's I remember buying a car that had a replacement engine. It developed a rap and I had the engine replaced. The guy who did it didn't do a good job so I got another engine and had someone else do it. That lasted til the head gasket blew and that was that. A friend took the car and I think he redid the head gasket or replaced the engine. So that makes it about 4-5 engines and under 150k. It was a turbo though so those never had a good history of lasting very long.
What I'd like to see is the highest mileage car with no engine rebuilds whatsoever. Once an engine needs a rebuild imo it's no longer the original car with the original mileage,after all,the engine is the "heart" of the car. I remember people in the 80s driving pos cars that started knocking way before 100,000 miles. To me,that's when the car is toast and no longer its "original miles".
In the 80's I remember buying a car that had a replacement engine. It developed a rap and I had the engine replaced. The guy who did it didn't do a good job so I got another engine and had someone else do it. That lasted til the head gasket blew and that was that. A friend took the car and I think he redid the head gasket or replaced the engine. So that makes it about 4-5 engines and under 150k. It was a turbo though so those never had a good history of lasting very long.
Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
What I'd like to see is the highest mileage car with no engine rebuilds whatsoever. Once an engine needs a rebuild imo it's no longer the original car with the original mileage,after all,the engine is the "heart" of the car. I remember people in the 80s driving pos cars that started knocking way before 100,000 miles. To me,that's when the car is toast and no longer its "original miles".
... so by that logic, if someone gets an artificial heart, or a heart transplant at some point, does that mean that afterwards, they are no longer the same person? What if they had to have some kind of open heart surgery to get a bypass or something similar?
What I'd like to see is the highest mileage car with no engine rebuilds whatsoever. Once an engine needs a rebuild imo it's no longer the original car with the original mileage,after all,the engine is the "heart" of the car. I remember people in the 80s driving pos cars that started knocking way before 100,000 miles. To me,that's when the car is toast and no longer its "original miles".
... so by that logic, if someone gets an artificial heart, or a heart transplant at some point, does that mean that afterwards, they are no longer the same person? What if they had to have some kind of open heart surgery to get a bypass or something similar?
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