Volvo Lasts 2.5 Million Miles
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK 
on 08.28.07
Yesterday we reported that a VW had lasted 562,000 miles. We were impressed at the cars durability, and how small the production footprint of the car was in relation to the number of miles it had driven. We didn't realise though, that half a million miles is nothing for some people. We've since uncovered a Volvo driver who has done five times this much. Irv Gordon's Volvo P1800 has covered a massive 2.45 million miles in the forty years he has owned it. "It was far and away the best $4,150 I've ever spent," said Gordon.
He has driven all over America, Mexico, Holland and Germany, as well as to Sweden to see where his P1800 was built. Although it's not green to make unnecessary car trips, you have to admire that. He claims to be the only person who has ever driven the car too, so all those miles are attributed to him. "If you would have told me 40 years ago I'd still be driving this beautiful car, and that I would have driven these many miles, I would have told you 'good.' For one thing, the car just felt right from the beginning. And, what a beautiful country this is; I'm so glad I've had the time and opportunity to take so much of it in."
If only all cars were made that well - there would be far less recycling issues, less spare parts produced and disposed of, less production energy-use and we would all be driving immaculate and stylish classic cars. ::Auto Channel
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Of course Volvos are notorius for the amount of miles they can pile up. The quality of the Swedish steel made them known as "Real estate on wheels!"
61,250 miles a year?? The guy should get a mailbox attached to that thing, since he seems to live there.
If he averages 40 mph for all uses, that means he's spent over 4 hours a day for 14,610 days inside a car.
Thing is, commercial vehicles (like interstate buses) routinely live longer than this man's car.
Dude, that so rocks!
My1994 Volvo 850 has only 140k...
I guess I can look forward to many more years driving it.
I love that car.
tony
While the embodied carbon has been thoroughly amortised in this car, with this kind of mileage you're looking at nearly 18 tonnes of CO2 a year! (assuming 30mpg US)
It truly is a beautiful car though.
He is very lucky to not have been involved in any fender benders in 40 years.
My beloved 1990 240 was a fantastic car. But a minor collision caused damage beyond the value of the car, totalling it. sigh.
i'm all for quality that lasts longer, but this behaviour is completely unsustainable, full stop ... 18 tonnes of CO2 per year from driving alone?!?!?!
by 2050, with 9billion people on the planet, assuming the need for a 60% global reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (the latest science now say an 80% reduction is needed), each of us will be able to emit just one tonne of CO2 each, per year
get your heads round that treehuggers
That little four banger is probably kind on fuel consumption too, considering its age.
Ugh, nobody, I mean NOBODY should have a need to drive 2.5 million miles during an entire lifetime (except for people who drive for a living, of course). Maybe if he actually tried taking public transportation or biking or walking to his destinations every now and then, he wouldn't be so grossly obese! He is the posterchild and embodiment of everything wrong with gluttonized western living.
I think some of you are looking at it the wrong way. Obviously that is a lot of miles which means a lot of CO2. However, it takes a lot of energy and places strain on our environment to make new cars as well, and he has been using the same car for many years. He is probably going to be driving that many miles regardless of what car he is in, so it is nice to hear he is not buying a new car every 3 years and making it even worse.
I also recall seeing people who try to get so many miles from a car are doing not-so-eco things like changing their oil every 1000 miles or less.
It's not just Volvo, it's a Swedish thing. Saab has a million mile club and they will give a brand new Saab to any Saab owner who can prove he has put 1 million miles on his Saab by the end of this year, but you must be the original owner.
The engine in that 2.5 million mile Volvo was rebuilt several times. The million mile Saab? A few head gaskets over the years, but the bottom end of the engine had never been unbuttoned.
Doing so much driving may not be very green, but bear in mind that there are those who live in rural areas (the local farmers who grow your food) and whose jobs require them to travel by car (salesmen principally, especially those selling to rural residents and farmers). If those people are going to be traveling by car, it is nice to encourage the greener option of maintaining and repairing a car rather than the typical replacement every 5 years. Swedish cars are uniquely well suited to this, though Swedish cars are no longer Swedish and have not been since the early 90s. Volvos are now Fords and Saabs are GMs and they corporate parents have increasing influence over those brands and their engineering. A shame.
I see that "anonymous" a couple of posts up was too much of a coward to use his real name.
Dude, that man's not remotely obese. He looks like he's a tad plump, I'll give you that, but don't over-characterize it please--you only discredit yourself mightily by such nonsense.
Ferretman
Ugh, nobody, I mean NOBODY should have a need to drive 2.5 million miles during an entire lifetime (except for people who drive for a living, of course). Maybe if he actually tried taking public transportation or biking or walking to his destinations every now and then, he wouldn't be so grossly obese! He is the posterchild and embodiment of everything wrong with gluttonized western living.
ED!
Tch Tch a little arogant my friend. Have you never heard the phrase "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness"?
This Global warming science will go the same way as the global cooling science did in the 70s. Mars, Saturn and Jupiter are having the same Temp fluctuations as Earth. Maybe it is the Sun. By the way, No Hummers on the sun.
This Global warming science will go the same way as the global cooling science did in the 70s. Mars, Saturn and Jupiter are having the same Temp fluctuations as Earth. Maybe it is the Sun. By the way, No Hummers on the sun.
Why do we have to keep reading stupid shit like this?
This has been dealt with in another post but the embodied energy of a car is not apportioned solely to the first buyer but to the whole lifetime of the car (around 14 years on average in the UK). There's nothing wrong with purchasing a new car every five years as long as it emits less than your previous car because it will then pass into other people's hands until it dies. That way you're making more efficient cars enter the market place which is better than keeping old inefficient cars running forever and not changing the market at all.
I think people get a bit too hung up on embodied energy. Don't forget the vast majority of emissions of almost any energy using product (power drills excepted) is in its operation, not in its manufacture. Yes it's important that embodied energy is driven down as low as possible but what's much more important is that in-use energy is driven down as far as possible.
Irv, The last time I saw you was in "66 with Marty at Volvoville when you and I brought our 1800;s in for service. I think we were installing the overiders as shown in your photo. By the way,I noticed that the car looks the same and you seem to have had a bit of tire growth in the intervening 40 years. D'ont worry...me to... I just bought a '68 1800 with 151000 miles from the original fanatical owner and am having it completly renewed. Anything to bring back some pretty great memories
Nice to see so many comments regarding my 2.5 million mile Volvo. Some facts are simply conjecture on the part of the writers however. The engine was rebuilt only once at my request...having never heard of an engine that could last more than 680,000 miles in 1978. That was almost 2,000,000 miles ago. Regarding my being obese....perhaps the writer is just a bit jealous of my good living habits. On the other hand, couldn't we all afford to lose a few pounds? LOLOL I am sorry that I do not know the person who met me at Volvoville. However, the over-rider bars were on my car in the showroom and is still the same way as purchased on June 30, 1966. Keep those comments comming. By the way, the car is still on the road every day. I just drove from New York to Palo Alto, California and back within the past 3 weeks.
Nice ride, I have had 2 Volvos my 1987, 740 turbo had 188,000 miles upon trade in. Turbo was starting to leak through and fouling plugs. My present 1998 S70 has 175,000 without a repair. Keep those timing belts maintained! I think I will keep it until the wheels fall off (or mine do whichever comes first!). You are an inspiration.