Irv Gordon’s Volvo P1800 closing in on 3 million miles

Filed under: Classics, Etc., Volvo, Celebrities

Irv Gordon and his Volvo P1800 – Click above for high-res image gallery

While Irv Gordon is already retired, he’s taken to accruing miles on his already impressively well-traveled Volvo 1800 like it’s his job. It took a while to rack up the first million miles, but the second million came more quickly, rolling the odometer over in Times Square back in 2002. Now Gordon is headed for 3 million a mere eight years later. Only big rigs put on a million miles more quickly, and even that might be debatable.

“Who would have thought such a decision, to buy a Volvo, would have created so many opportunities?” Gordon tells Autoblog. Some of his favorite miles out of the 2.8 million currently showing on the odometer (he was at 2.6 million the last time we checked) were his first trip across the United States and a trip to Europe where the 1800 and its intrepid driver drove from the United Kingdom into Sweden to see the car’s original birthplace before rolling on to other continental hamlets and accruing 5,000 miles in a month.

Irv’s 70 years old now, and he wouldn’t mind selling his beloved red Volvo coupe. Asking price? “A dollar per mile,” says Gordon. Despite what Irv calls “some very interesting offers,” nobody has offered him his asking price. That’s okay with Gordon, who acknowledges that his Volvo is the star. “Once I sell the car, no one will invite me anywhere any longer,” he quips.

Should the right buyer for the trusty red 1800 come along, Gordon knows what he’ll do. “It’d be nice to have a car with all the new creature comforts to travel in, and who knows, should I live another 10-15 years, I could put a million miles on my next vehicle and start the cycle all over again.”

While unlikely, putting three million dollars in his bank account would make those long treks more comfortable, affording fine hotels and gourmet dining versus at times sleeping in the 1800 to save some bucks. Gordon’s not complaining, “I have indeed been a very fortunate fellow,” he says. You have to respect his commitment to the little Volvo coupe that was originally purchased as a refuge from a pair of demonically unreliable Chevrolets, too. A retirement lifestyle that would allow one to travel in style and worry less about finances is a nearly universal goal, too. Gordon’s got a leg up on all of us, having put in the seat time to earn a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records and turn a stolid, stylish Swede into a wheeled pension plan.

Gallery: Irv Gordon and his 2.8 million mile Volvo