Sad News: 3 Million Mile Volvo P1800 Owner Irv Gordon Has Died

Irv Gordon did what every car lover does with their beloved machine – he drove it. A lot.

If you’re an intrepid Volvo fan, like our man Mike Curtis, then you’ll no doubt have heard of this 3 million-mile Volvo P1800S. Irv Gordon, a retired science teacher from Patchogue, New York, sadly, passed away at the age of 77, as reported by Autoblog and posts from his Facebook fan page.

As of May 7, 2018, the Facebook page posted he had driven 3,250,257 miles in his Volvo P1800 since he bought it brand new in June 1966. That’s the equivalent of driving around the earth 130 – and a half – times. He had been keen on endlessly driving it from the start. “I bought by Volvo P1800 on Friday, and immediately fell in love,” he said. “It was a long holiday weekend (after he first bought the car), and I brought the car back to the dealership the following Monday for its 1,500-mile service.”

Naturally, Gordon and his Volvo saw several landmarks, and surely meet tons of interesting people, along the journey. From milestone drives down Times Square to scenic trips to Alaska’s Prince William Sound, they’ve seen it all. He made the Guinness Book of World Records for most miles driven by a single owner in a non-commercial vehicle in 1998, with 1.69 million miles on the clock.

Now, the car did get a replacement engine in 2009. That came after the original was losing compression. Remarkably, however, it was still running at that point.

As he passed the three-million-mile mark, Gordon has this to say about his ongoing journey:

“Everyone asks, what’s next? Well, I’ll keep driving my Volvo P1800 to auto shows and taking trips across the country. Not much will change. But whether I drive four million miles is more to me than it is the car. The car may be able to take it, but I’m not so sure about me.”