PATCHOGUE, N.Y., March 11 (UPI) -- Irv Gordon is a perfectionist. Thirty-six years ago he walked into his local Volvo dealer and drove out with a brand new 1966 P1800.
Gordon likes to drive. He purchased the car on June 30, a Friday, drove it for what he said was "a test" and returned the vehicle the following Monday, for its first 1,500-mile checkup.
When they met, Gordon and his girlfriend (now his ex-wife) drove the car for three days to Canada for coffee and a romantic weekend.
Today, he still owns the cherry-red car, for which he paid $4,150, and later this month on March 27 Gordon and his P1800 will drive into the history books as the odometer turns its two millionth mile -- all driven on the same engine.
For the occasion, he plans to cruise up to 44th Street in Times Square, where he will be the honored guest at Volvo Cars of North America's 75th anniversary party at the Times Square Studios of ABC-TV's Good Morning America.
The odometer currently reads 99,950 miles, a very respectable number but one that barely hints at the kind of journeys Gordon has undertaken.
In his travels, the old fashioned five-digit odometer has reset itself to zero no fewer than 19 times.
"If it had the space for the sixth and seventh digits, it would read 1,999,950 miles, and that is according to service records kept at Volvoville USA, the dealership in Massapequa, Long Island, where I purchased the car back in 1966 and where it has been regularly serviced since," the retired middle school science teacher said.
"It is really hard to comprehend I've driven two million miles," Gordon said, outside his Patchogue, Long Island, home.
Gordon said driving 2 million miles is no cruise around the neighborhood. In fact, 2 million miles is the equivalent to four round-trips to the moon, something not even Neil Armstrong can claim.
Two million miles is also the equivalent to 80 laps around the Earth's equator, 668 trips from New York to San Francisco, 29.3 million trips around Shea Stadium¹s base paths, 133,333 hours of driving in a 15 mph school zone, 960 million Volvo P1800s laid end-to-end or 50.6 billion Momma Gunborg Johansson's Swedish meatballs placed end-to-end, Gordon joked.
"This car has never failed me. It has started in the heat, cold and rain, and we are talking about 20 degrees below to 120 degrees above in the shade," he said.
"The car never gave me any problems -- didn't overheat, never failed to start. At about half a million miles, the car was driving better than ever, and that's when I was sure this is an extraordinary car," Gordon said.
"The odometer cable has broken several times and over the years I have driven several thousand miles for which I received no credit," Gordon said.
But now, he said, he keeps a spare odometer cable in his trunk, "because I am not going to lose any more miles."
He has also had the odometer serviced, which he said "is part of the maintenance, because mileage is important to me."
"This is the secret to the car's longevity -- routine maintenance," he said.
Gordon, who takes meticulous care of his auto, changes the oil in his car every 3,000 to 3,500 miles.
He said he has changed his oil 667 times because "it is the best insurance policy for your car."
The four-cylinder car has had its spark plugs replaced every 20,000 miles, for a total of 400 spark plugs.
The carburetors have been rebuilt every 900,000 miles. The fuel pump was replaced at 1.6 million miles.
He inspects the brakes and the transmission himself, and regularly inspects all the hoses, belts and fluid levels.
"I look for tiny little bubbles in hoses and anything else that is showing any signs of deterioration. The inspection only takes a few minutes and it is easy," Gordon said.
The 1.8 liter, dual-carbureted engine has been rebuilt twice, but at mileages that most other motors never see. It had one valve job at 225,000 miles and a major rebuild at 675,000 miles.
"All the replacement parts are genuine Volvo parts from my local dealer -- they seem to last a lot longer than aftermarket parts," Gordon said.
Some work has also been done on the car's body. It was repainted in 1980, and most of its chrome has been replated. The body is original except for the grille frame, left front chrome spear, left rear quarter panel, rear panel and the front quarter panels.
The 61-year-old Gordon said the front seats were replaced in 1984 with original leather from the Volvo factory in Sweden.
And, although he had never replaced the transmission, Gordon has replaced more than 80 tires on the P1800.
Gordon explained he had the scare of his life while he was on Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania, when a tractor-trailer accidentally latched onto the front bumper of his parked auto, inadvertently towing it several miles with him inside until the truck went over a bump and the Volvo was dislodged.
Gordon's long-time friend Jimmy Thacher is a witness to the longevity of Gordon's Volvo.
"Everything works in the car, including Irv, a master of the wheel, a perfectionist," Thacher said.
"Look around the neighborhood," Thacher said, "There must be 20 Volvos, all models, in a community of only 200. They see his car on the driveway, day after day, and how he has kept it up. The neighbors go out and buy one."
Back in 1961, at the car's debut at the Brussels Auto Show, the company's chief engineer predicted the car would be known as one where "the driver will tire long before the engine does."
"Of the 260 million vehicles on the road in the United States, only a handful have accumulated one million miles, and until now, none have made it to two million," said Dan Werbin, president and chief executive officer for Volvo Cars of North America.
"We like to say that there are cars, and then there are Volvos, but there is more involved here than the wisdom of our engineers in developing a car that could last so long and travel so far. Irv's meticulous care of his Volvo over the years has played a significant role.
"Irv's dedication to his P1800 reflects the loyalty Volvo owners have to their cars, and the longevity of his P1800 represents the reliability of the entire Volvo brand," Werbin said.
Road and Track Magazine once described the P1800 as "a very civilized touring car for people who want to travel rapidly in style, a gran turismo of the type, but at a price that many people who can not afford a Ferrari will be able to pay."
Gordon and his P1800 have been a true tribute to this over the years.
He has driven to Mexico and Canada and has placed his car on a boat for excursions overseas. He has driven in Holland, Denmark, Germany as well as Australia.
While in Sweden, he drove to Volvo's global headquarters to see where his P1800 was born.
In 1998, The Guinness Book of World Records honored Gordon's Volvo P1800 as the vehicle with "the highest certified mileage driven by the original owner in non-commercial service."
In October 1987, Gordon celebrated his 1-millionth mile by driving a loop around the Tavern on the Green in New York's Central Park.
Volvo Cars of North America presented Gordon with a $36,000 red 780 coupe for becoming the first owner of a 1-million mile Volvo.
But over the past 15 years, he has only driven the coupe about 250,000 miles while running up another 1 million miles on the P1800.
Gordon also owns a 1929 Packard and a 1949 Crosley Hot Shot.
The Crosley, with its 85-inch wheel base, was America's first attempt at a sports car, and was sold by the R.H. Macy & Co. for about $1 a pound in weight. The average Crosley had a 151-pound engine installed and, selling like hamburger went for about $1,000.
Gordon paid $10 for his in 1973 at a Macy's warehouse sale. Today his British racing green Crosley, with 12,000 miles on it, is valued at around $20,000 completely restored.
Following his retirement a few years ago, Gordon made driving his pastime, going to Cincinnati for coffee or to Denver for lunch.
"I'd ask a woman out for a lunch date. When she agreed, I'd say, 'Fine, I'll pick you up at nine o'clock.' When she asked, 'Why so early?' I'd reply, 'Because we're having lunch in Montreal.'"
The Long Island native joked, "Two million miles is a lot of tanks of gas. In fact it's 6,400 tanks of gas, according to my estimates."
Over the past 26 years, Gordon said, he has never made an illegal u-turn in the car. "Zero! In this car, are you kidding?"
Gordon said he has received two parking tickets. "I got one in New York City. I parked my car on the delivery zone of an apartment building while I was dropping off a package to my girlfriend. The doorman told me he'd watch the car for me. I came back five minutes later. The doorman was gone, and a ticket was on my window. The other ticket was in the Village of Patchogue for an expired parking nickel meter. It happens."
He has never spilled coffee in the car. "None! There is no drinking or eating or smoking in my car. That's the rule. I'll chew gum or have a Lifesaver, but that's about it."
Looking ahead, Gordon said he is looking forward to reaching 3-million miles before he becomes eligible for collecting Social Security.
"But whether I drive three million miles is more up to me than it is the car. The car's parts may be able to take it, but I'm not so sure about me," he added.
