NY man nears 30 lakh miles in dream car

 It just keeps going, and going, and going. No, it’s not a battery. It’s Irvin Gordon’s 1966 Volvo P1800S.

Gordon’s small, red two-door has well more than 20 lakh miles on the odometer, the equivalent of nearly 1,176 times across the globe.

The retired schoolteacher from Long Island hopes to reach the 30 lakh mile mark by next year. He only has 34,000 miles to go.

The 72-year-old Gordon drives his Volvo everywhere. He has held the Guinness World Records mark for High Mileage Vehicle since 2002 and was the first person to hold that record. “It’s just a car I enjoy driving,” he said.

He bought his beloved car on June 30, 1966, for $4,150 at the age of 25. “It was a whole year’s salary,” he said.

Gordon has been taking road trips since he was a kid and continued through his adult years. He says he would just tell his family to pack their things and hit the road. Gordon’s two daughters went on his road trips until they outgrew the tiny red car. “They just couldn’t fit in the back anymore. That is when I bought the station wagon,” he explained. “Volvo, of course.”

His odometer doesn’t have enough digits to display the actual mileage, but Gordon has tune-up records verifying it.

Now divorced, Gordon takes road trips alone. It took him 21 years to reach 10 lakh miles and 15 more years to reach 20 lakh. Gordon averages 85,000 to 100,000 miles per year. Most of his trips are for auto shows, but he also takes trips across the country just for a good cup of coffee.

“I have had coffee in every state,” Gordon said. “I am my own travel channel.”
The avid driver believes in taking care of his car, and he doesn’t let anyone else drive it.
“That’s why I bought my girls their own cars,” he said.

Jordan Weine, a Volvo expert, says because Gordon takes care of his car, he is able to get high mileage without much change to the car’s original mechanics. The car still has the original engine, though it was rebuilt twice in the car’s lifetime.