Imagine driving the same car for 44 years, covering more than 4 million kilometres and counting

A 1966 Volvo P1800 is one of the stars of this wonderful world of cars, for one simple reason. This Volvo holds the Guinness record for the greatest distance driven in a single vehicle by the same owner. To date, the car has covered 4,480,000 kilometres.

It is quite evident that the Volvo has undergone various repairs so that it would keep running exactly as it did on the first day in 1966. The engine has had two major overhauls: one at 1,100,000 km and the most recent at 3,250,000 km. It is said that all of this has been achieved with the same axle and the same transmission as 44 years ago, something I would like to verify.

The maintenance this car requires (and that of any others wishing to follow its example) is extremely thorough. Its owner changes the oil and filter every 5,000 or 6,000 km, the spark plugs are replaced every 30,000 km, the carburettors every 1,500,000 km, and each fuel pump lasts 1,600,000 kilometres.

While the car is still holding up remarkably well, its owner, an American named Irv Gordon, has already turned 70. He has driven it through the United States, Mexico, Canada and many countries in Europe, in all kinds of conditions and climates. He has even made it as far as Sweden, to the heart of Volvo.

For his 73rd birthday, this gentleman plans to add another 4,800,000 kilometres to the car, and has no intention of replacing it with any other. And a story like this one (this is true passion for cars) deserves to be told.

Via | Terra Autos