Has a car ever reached 1000000 miles?
Million-Mile Club: The World’s Longest-Lived Cars
Maybe you let out a cheer when your old car’s odometer creaked past 100,000 miles, 200,000 miles, or some other round-number milestone. For a few drivers, devotion to one vehicle goes much, much further. These are the folks who racked up a million miles—that’s 40 times around the Earth, a distance that at 60 mph would take two years to drive.
1966 Volvo P1800
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Owner: Irv Gordon
Gordon is in a very rare league of traveler, approaching 3 million miles in one car, a two-door Volvo coupe that he purchased new in 1966. When the retired Patchogue, N.Y., science teacher made his first million miles in 1987, Volvo celebrated by giving him a new 780 Bertone Coupe. When he passed 2 million in 2002, the car was featured in a Times Square parade and Volvo gave him a new C70. Yet Gordon continues to drive the small four-cylinder rear-drive two-door because he enjoys the way the car runs, and it was discontinued after the 1973 model year.
To keep the P1800 running well over such great distances, Irv has replaced the brakes at about every 100,000 miles. He never ignored odd noises, smells, or vibrations. He changes the oil every 3000 to 3500 miles, re-bushes the carburetor about every 900,000 miles, and gets about 1 million miles for every mechanical fuel pump. The transmission fluid and the ignition points get replaced every 25,000 miles. He also keeps it clean, diligently washing off winter salt and grime. Irv also doesn’t beat the car, driving the manual-transmission coupe at moderate speeds and anticipating stops and hazards—driving gently allowed the car’s first clutch to last an amazing 450,000 miles. Gordon expects to cross the 3 million mark in July of 2013.
2006 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 HD
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Owner: Hugh Pennington
After Hugh Pennington retired from his job in Michigan as an auto worker, he started a new career delivering camping trailers. As a result, in less than six years Hugh and Tammy Pennington drove their 2006 Silverado more than a million miles. The truck still has its original engine and transmission, though the fuel injectors have been replaced. If you’re going to rack up a million miles, the couple says, go with the optional leather seats.
1990 Honda Accord
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Owner: Joe LoCicero
Honda sponsored a parade in Saco, Maine, last October when Joe LoCicero’s light blue 1990 Honda Accord ticked off a million miles on its odometer. LoCicero bought the car used in 1996 with 74,000 miles on it, and then tracked every fuel stop and oil change, sticking to the factory maintenance schedule. The biggest wear items were the upholstery (LoCicero and his wife Sharon raised two children while they owned the car), the seat belts, and the steering wheel. The original fuel pump lasted 741,000 miles, and LoCicero, a master mechanic and vehicle inspector, rebuilt the engine once.
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1996 Dodge 2500 pickup
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Owner: Dan Edelman
Making deliveries daily at distances of up to 500 miles, Dan Edelman’s Chrysler minivan has more than 600,000 on the odometer. But his favorite ride is a Cummins diesel-powered 1996 Dodge Ram 2500, which passed the million-mile mark in 2010.
Edelman picked the truck because the engine used mechanical injectors and the automatic transmission had a mostly mechanical valve body, which he predicted would be easy to maintain. He’s replaced the transmission a couple of time; the last unit, which he rebuilt himself, has logged more than 600,000 miles. Alternators, starter motors, radiators, and water pumps have also been replaced.
1989 Saab SPG
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Owner: Peter Gilbert
Peter Gilbert donated his 1989 Saab SPG (Special Performance Group) coupe to the Wisconsin Automotive Museum in the small town of Hartford in 2006 after the car racked up a million miles over 17 years. The engine and turbocharger are original, he says, but the Saab has worn out 88 tires, three cylinder head gaskets, and one transmission.
Although the car is mechanically sound, the body has succumbed to many years of rural Wisconsin winter driving on salty roads, which is why he donated it to the museum. Gilbert credits regular maintenance and synthetic oil for the car’s longevity—practices he’ll continue on the Saab he bought to replace his first SPG.
Lincoln Town Car
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Owner: Chet Belisle
Chet Belisle of Topeka, Kansas, got his 1983 Lincoln Town Car through more than 1.3 million miles by buying parts that come with lifetime warranties. When they wear out, he exchanges them for new ones. He’s had the V-8 engine and transmission rebuilt and follows a regular maintenance schedule.
Belisle drives the car cross-country and enjoys being on the road. He reports that the Lincoln has never broken down.
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BMW motorcycle
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Owner: Dave Swisher
Swisher is technically an exception—his million miles didn’t happen on a single vehicle. But the Bowling Green, Va., native was awarded BMW Motorcycle’s High Mileage Award in 2007, and for good reason. Starting with an R75/5, the 82-year-old Swisher has owned 19 BMW motorcycles and by 1991 had accumulated more than 300,000 miles on one bike alone, a K100 RT. In 2009 he had a stroke and a knee replacement, but it didn’t keep him from riding 48,000 miles that year. He has no secrets to his or his bikes’ longevity, other than keeping both maintained. His first million miles took him 26 years, and the next half-million required an additional 15 years, mostly on long rides in North and South America and in Europe.
1990 BMW 325i
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Owner: Mobil Oil
In 1990, the Mobil Oil company bought the six-cylinder model of the 325i as a test car for its synthetic oil, and since then it’s been on the road for about 40,000 miles. However, it has been droning on a treadmill-like dynamometer for the equivalent of a million miles. They weren’t easy miles either—the car was set to run at an equivalent of 85 mph for four years. The engine was stopped for regular maintenance and oil changes according to the BMW schedule, and at the end of the million-mile test, the engine was disassembled and measured for wear. The results were tolerance levels that reportedly were the same as a new engine’s.
Mercedes 240D
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Owner: Paul Harman
An executive with a phone company in Georgia in 1983, Paul Harman bought a used Mercedes 240D with 40,000 miles on it. By 2008, he’d driven it past the million-mile mark. Now it has a badge on the grille from Mercedes acknowledging its distance of travel.
Harman credits 3000-mile oil changes as the longevity secret for the car’s four-cylinder diesel engine, which was overhauled at 376,000 miles. Timing chains have been replaced, as has the transmission. When the car reached 550,000 miles in 1991, Harman had the driver’s seat restored, replaced all of the rubber seals in the body, and repainted the car.
Has a car ever reached 1000000 miles?
One Owner, One Volvo, Three Million Miles — 1966 Volvo P1800 is first non-commercial vehicle to reach milestone
I t is with a heavy heart and deep regret that I must announce the passing of Irv Gordon, Volvo’s «Three Million Mile Man». He was a well-known and respected ambassador of the Volvo community at the corporate, personal, and club levels. I’m certain that many of you have fond memories of Irv’s warm personality, his sense of humor, and the way he opened up to any and all who wanted to interact with him. I offer the entire Volvo Sports America community’s condolences to Irv’s family and friends. May you rest in peace, Irv.
W hen Irv Gordon bought his Volvo P1800 back in 1966, he couldn�t have known how far he would travel, but he did get right to work, putting 1,500 miles on it in the first weekend. Now, 47 years later, Irv and his P1800 have accomplished something no other person and no other vehicle have ever done: on September 17, on Alaska’s Seward Highway, Irv and his P1800 passed the three million mile mark.
«I bought my Volvo P1800 on a Friday [in 1966] and immediately fell in love,» Gordon recalled. «I couldn�t stop driving the car. It was a holiday weekend, and I brought the car back to the dealership the following Monday for its 1,500-mile service.»
According to Gordon, reaching three million miles is an achievement he�s proud of, but his travels have always been about the journey as opposed to the destination.
«It’s not about getting to the three million miles; it’s about the trips that got me to the three million miles,» Gordon said. «I never had a goal to get to one million, to two million. I just enjoyed driving and experiencing life through my Volvo.»
In addition to his travels throughout America over the years, Gordon had a 125-mile round-trip daily commute to his job as a science teacher. In 1987 he celebrated his one-millionth mile by driving a loop around the Tavern on the Green in Central Park. Then, in 1998, he set the Guinness Book of World Records mark for most miles driven by a single owner in a non-commercial vehicle with 1.69 million miles.
As the proud owner of a Volvo, Gordon made his already safe and reliable vehicle even more reliable with a fanatical dedication to maintenance.
«We at Volvo applaud Irv and his Volvo. The spirited red P1800 represents an extraordinary demonstration of reliability, durability, safety and intelligent design that honors all Volvos past and present,» said John Maloney, president and CEO of Volvo Cars of North America. «His P1800 is the living embodiment that Volvos are designed around you.»
To mark Gordon’s achievement, Volvo launched the �3 Million Reasons to Believe� campaign and the website 3MillionReasons.com, where people from around the world have viewed his journey and contributed their own «reasons to believe» in a Volvo.
Reason number 693,687, for example, was submitted by Mario M. of San Francisco, CA, who wrote, «There are few cars I would trust to bring me places. All [are made by] Volvo. I always said� Love, Evolve, Volvo.» Lori O. of Scarborough, ME submitted reason 1,290,325: «My 2004 Volvo XC90 saved my life in a 45 mph head on collision. Now I�m driving a 2011 XC60.»
Gordon, meanwhile, has no plans to stop enjoying his 1966 P1800.
«Everyone asks, what’s next? Well, I�ll keep driving my Volvo P1800 to auto shows and taking trips across the country,» he said. «Not much will change. But whether I drive four million miles is more up to me than it is the car. The car may be able to take it, but I�m not so sure about me.»
This article is presented by Bob Byers Volvo in Seattle, Washington.
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