Tråd: Den Mand, For Hvem De Tre Millioner Mile Badge

De fleste ægteskaber vare ikke næsten så længe Irven Gordons Volvo P1800 har varet. Og de fleste par sandsynligvis bruger ikke så meget tid sammen som Irv har tilbragt i hans elskede bil.
Irv siger han ikke havde hørt om Volvo'er indtil et par dage før han købte bilen, på 30. juni 1966. Dengang var han fodret op med sin Turboladet 1963 Corvair Spyder, som han siger, var tiden gør ham sent for sin mellemskole videnskab undervisning job ved at bryde undervejs. Mens bladre gennem en Bil og Chauffør med en bil kyndige ven faldt han over en annonce til den lokale Volvo forhandler, med et foto af en P1800. Disse er store biler, fortalte ven ham. Så ned han gik til Volvoville i Huntington, NY, og tog en P1800 konvertible for en spin. Han kørte i tre timer, og så købte de meget billigere coupe, for $4,150, eller $30.000 i nuværende dollars, omkring sin derefter årsløn.
Den første weekend, rullet Irv 1.500 miles, vender tilbage til forhandler på mandag for hans biler første helbredsundersøgelse. Han havde ikke planlagt at køre igennem i weekenden, men han siger, han havde for meget sjov at stoppe — op til Boston, ned til Philly, og over det hele i mellem før han vendte tilbage til sit hjem på Long Island. Hes været drivende P1800 entusiastisk lige siden. På 24 September sidste år ramte han 3 millioner miles.


Irv har i gennemsnit 63.000 miles om året — 172/dag-selvom dette nummer har varierede fra 50k i sin undervisning år nord for 100k bogføre hans 1996 pensionering. Antager en gennemsnitlig hastighed på 45 miles i timen over år, er der næsten 4 timer om dagen. (Irv spottede ved tanken om at gøre sådan en skøn fraværende poster af hastigheder rejste over tid [Se omhyggelige, nedenfor]. Men for en person, der har logget 3 millioner overvejende rekreative miles, ofte crisscrossing i landet, men der brugt 30 år pendling 125 miles om dagen sklerotisk motorvejen, Long Island — i alt af omkring 675.000 miles — 45 mph forekommer rimeligt for mig. )
Det tager en usædvanligt godt bygget bil at nå frem til 3 millioner miles. Da han åbnede op Irvs motor for sin anden genopbygge, siger det var i meget god form, Duane Matejka, R Sport Engineering i Pipersville, Pennsylvania. Ventilerne viste nogle slid og ventilsæderne —, der forventes. Matejka vidundere, at ventilen fjedre ikke havde brudt efter en milliard (1.000.000.000) komprimering cykler. På lejer, havde det yderste lag af bly slidt ned, afslører den underliggende kobber. Indtil bly blev en officiel hazmat, siger de bedste lejer indeholdt et ydre lag af denne bløde metal, som kan absorbere eventuelle partikler fra olie, forhindre dem fra at score de bærende overflader, Matejka.
Faktisk var motorer stort problem 2 millioner miles efter sin første genopbygge (som hans forhandleren havde tænkt unødvendige, men at Irv havde insisteret på, fordi han ikke kunne forestille sig en motor, ikke at behøve en genopbygning på 687K), et par af busted stempelringe. Matejka siger dem sandsynligvis var ansvarlig for P1800s glansløse opstigningen af Sierras, det symptom, der motiverede den anden genopbygge.

Bilen er stærkt over designet, siger Matejka, der har en mekanisk ingeniøruddannelse, og der kørte en P1800 i mange år. De fire cylinder har mere forsynet området end en Chevy V8. Matejka siger de fleste biler kræver eftermarkedet plejlstænger race, men hans P1800s stock stænger gjorde jobbet. Disse og krumtapakslen er smedet, hvilket gør dem stærkere end de mere sædvanlige støbning. Matejka bemærker også, at svenskerne er anal om deres metallurgi.
Resten af bilen er så godt bygget som motoren. Bortset fra den første genopbygge havde P1800 kun vedligeholdelsesmæssig reparationer indtil efter det havde nået 750 k, når transmission udviklet en olielækage, siger Irv. (Vic Dres, skonnert, ca, rapporterer, at hans million mile, 88 Volvo 740 GLE havde ingen problemer med ikke-vedligeholdelse indtil overførslen gik kaput efter hed logget halvdelen en million miles og Selden Cooper siger hans million mile, 87 240 sedan er stadig meget pålidelige. Hverken motoren er blevet genopbygget. )
Ikke desto mindre, theres mere til at nå tre millioner miles end kvalitet. Motoren, Matejka siger, var meget ren, fordi [Gordon] er så omhyggelige, tillægsord, andre har anvendt til Irvs vedligeholdelse vaner. (I virkeligheden, en tidligere elev af Helmuth, Richard Brunswick, MD, som jeg mødte på Arlington Masss Barismo coffeehouse efter han overhørte mig tale om Irvs Volvo, roste hans undervisning på lignende betingelser.)

For eksempel, youd tror en 66 Volvo sans garage på Long Island, en halv blok fra Atlanterhavet, ville have rustne ud allerede. Min ven, Pattys 1968 145, oprindeligt et California bil, som hendes forældre havde købt nyt da hun var 10, havde skudt spirende rot ved den tid hun og hendes mand doneret bil til NPR omkring 2008, efter 18 år i sne bælte. Da jeg havde undret mig, hvorfor Irvs var stadig uberørte, sagde han, han hosed undervognen i løbet af vinteren. Jeg forsøger at få alle sprækkerne, hvor salt og sand vil bygge op, siger han. Du nødt bare til at komme ned på dine hænder og knæ.
Endelig går Irv let på bilen. Tidligt deltog han i vej stævner, men efter et stykke tid, sagde jeg, hvorfor jeg dræbe min bil? Irv siger han accelererer forsigtigt, og at hans øverste hastighed er 60-65 mph. Jeg kan godt lide at se hvor længe jeg kan gøre ting sidst, siger han.
Irvs elsker for vej-ture sandsynligvis stammer fra sommer af 47, da han var 8, og min familie har købt en ny Buick og tilbragte hele sommeren rejser rundt omkring i USA. Senere, når hans hårdtarbejdende far havde en weekend dag ud, tilbragte vi hele dagen i bilen går et eller andet sted. Irv voks veltalende om glæden ved at besøge nye steder på vej ture.
Men Irv har kørt sig selv ind i en ubehagelig paradoks. Miles har forvandlet P1800 fra en fungibel vare til et stykke historie-indskrevet i Guinness Book of World Records. Det historiske status gør P1800 et aktiv for Volvo, og for Irv, så godt. Da den første million-milepæl, Irv har gjort annoncer og arrangementer for Volvo, en avocation, som han elsker, men som han sværger han får kun udgifter (sand, siger Jessica Snell af PR-firma, Haberman, sidst faldt til Volvo). Ikke desto mindre, i løbet af de år, Volvo har givet Irv to nye Volvo ' er-en i begyndelsen af hver million kilometer-med en tredje på vej.

Volvos følelse af merværdi var indlysende fra forsendelse af Irv og P1800 til Alaska for de 3 milliontedel mile, snarere end at tillade begivenhed finder sted i mere jordnære omegn. Fragt bil var nødvendigt, fordi på tidspunktet Volvo besluttede at skyde begivenheden i Alaska, havde jeg kun 200 miles at gå at nå op på 3 millioner, Irv forklarer.
Denne værdi er begyndt at veje. Odds for en biler bliver sammentalt — en skæbne texaner Norbert Lissys P1800 lidt omkring 700.000 miles — anledning med eksponering. I alle hans kørsel, siger Irv han har aldrig forårsaget en styrtet, men at metal har været bøjet måske 11 gange. Et år siden, blev Irv ledet for Baltimore på et relativt tomt I-95, siger han, når en fyr i pickup truck løb ind i min bil da jeg lavede 65. Og jeg var på vej til at film skyde for Google! Nogensinde siden så Im få at være paranoid.
Og så, i dag, hans anden Volvo — 2002 C70, som han modtog for 2 millioner milepæl – er at få mere brug. Im så forsigtige, som jeg kan være om hvor og Hvornår I [drevet P1800], siger Irv. Spurgte hvis hed nogensinde sælge P1800, siger han, jeg bare fik inviteret til Bruxelles auto show. Når jeg slippe af med den bil, ingen vil kalde længere.

Most marriages dont last nearly as long as Irven Gordons Volvo P1800 has lasted. And most couples probably dont spend as much time together as Irv has spent in his beloved car.
Irv says he hadnt even heard of Volvos until a few days before he bought the car, on June 30, 1966. At the time, he was fed up with his turbocharged 1963 Corvair Spyder, which he says was constantly making him late for his middle school science teaching job by breaking down en route. While thumbing through a Car and Driver with a car savvy friend, he stumbled upon an ad for the local Volvo dealership, with a photo of a P1800. These are great cars, the friend told him. So down he went to Volvoville in Huntington, NY, and took a P1800 convertible for a spin. He drove for three hours, and then bought the much less expensive coupe, for $4,150, or $30,000 in current dollars, approximately his then annual salary.
That first weekend, Irv rolled 1,500 miles, returning to the dealership on Monday for his cars first checkup. He hadnt planned to drive through the weekend, but he says he was having too much fun to stop—up to Boston, down to Philly, and all over in between before returning to his home on Long Island. Hes been driving the P1800 enthusiastically ever since. On September 24th of last year, he hit 3 million miles.


Irv has averaged 63,000 miles annually—172/day—although that number has ranged from 50k during his teaching years to north of 100k post his 1996 retirement. Assuming an average speed of 45 miles an hour over the years, thats nearly 4 hours a day. (Irv scoffed at the notion of making such an estimate absent records of speeds traveled over time [see meticulous, below]. But for someone who has logged 3 million predominantly recreational miles, frequently crisscrossing the country, but who spent 30 years commuting 125 miles a day on the sclerotic Long Island Expressway—for a total of around 675,000 miles—45 mph seems reasonable to me. )
It takes an exceptionally well-built car to reach 3 million miles. When he opened up Irvs engine for its second rebuild, It was in very good shape, says Duane Matejka, of R Sport Engineering in Pipersville, Pennsylvania. The valves showed some wear, and the valve seats—thats expected. Matejka marvels that the valve springs hadnt broken after a billion (1,000,000,000) compression cycles. On the bearings, the outer layer of lead had worn down, revealing the underlying copper. Until lead became an official hazmat, the best bearings contained an outer layer of this soft metal, which could absorb any particulates from the oil, preventing them from scoring the bearing surfaces, says Matejka.
In fact, the engines major problem 2 million miles after its first rebuild (which his dealer had thought unnecessary, but that Irv had insisted upon because he couldnt imagine an engine not needing a rebuild at 687K), was a couple of busted piston rings. Matejka says those probably were responsible for the P1800s lackluster ascent of the Sierras, the symptom that motivated the second rebuild.

The car is greatly over-designed, says Matejka, who has a mechanical engineering degree, and who raced a P1800 for many years. The four cylinder has more bearing area than a Chevy V8. Matejka says most cars require aftermarket connecting rods to race, but his P1800s stock rods did the job. These and the crankshaft are forged, which makes them stronger than the more usual casting. Matejka also notes that the Swedes are anal about their metallurgy.
The rest of the car is as well-built as the engine. Aside from the first rebuild, the P1800 had only maintenance-related repairs until after it had reached 750k, when the transmission developed an oil leak, says Irv. (Vic Dres, of Goleta, CA, reports that his million mile, 88 Volvo 740 GLE had no non-maintenance problems until the transmission went kaput after hed logged half a million miles, and Selden Cooper says his million mile, 87 240 sedan is still very reliable. Neither engine has been rebuilt. )
Nonetheless, theres more to reaching three million miles than quality. The engine, Matejka says, was very clean, because [Gordon] is so meticulous, an adjective others have applied to Irvs maintenance habits. (In fact, a former student of Gordons, Richard Brunswick, MD, who I met at Arlington Masss Barismo coffeehouse after he overheard me talking about Irvs Volvo, praised his teaching in similar terms. )

For example, youd think a 66 Volvo, sans garage on Long Island, half a block from the Atlantic, would have rusted out already. My friend, Pattys 1968 145, originally a California car, which her parents had bought new when she was 10, had sprouted nascent rot by the time she and her husband donated the car to NPR around 2008, after 18 years in the snow belt. When I had wondered why Irvs was still pristine, he said he hosed the undercarriage during the winter. I try to get all the crevices, where the salt and sand will build up, he says. You just have to get down on your hands and knees.
Finally, Irv goes easy on the car. Early on, he took part in road rallies, but after a while, I said, why am I killing my car? Irv says he accelerates gently, and that his top speed is 60-65 mph. I like to see how long I can make things last, he says.
Irvs love for road trips probably dates from the summer of 47, when he was 8, and my family bought a new Buick and spent the entire summer traveling around the US. Subsequently, whenever his hard-working father had a weekend day off, we spent the entire day in the car going somewhere. Irv waxes eloquent about the joy of visiting new places on road trips.
But Irv has driven himself into an uncomfortable paradox. The miles have transformed the P1800 from a fungible commodity into a piece of history—enshrined in the Guinness Book of World Records. That historical status makes the P1800 an asset for Volvo, and for Irv, as well. Since the first million milestone, Irv has been doing ads and events for Volvo, an avocation which he loves, but one for which he swears he receives only expenses (true, says Jessica Snell of the PR firm, Haberman, lately contracted to Volvo). Nonetheless, over the years, Volvo has given Irv two new Volvos—one at the turn of each million miles—with a third on the way.

Volvos sense of value added was obvious from the shipping of Irv and the P1800 to Alaska for the 3 millionth mile, rather than allowing the event to take place in more mundane environs. Shipping the car was necessary, because by the time Volvo decided to shoot the event in Alaska, I only had 200 miles to go to reach 3 million, Irv explains.
All that value has begun to weigh. The odds of a cars being totaled—a fate Texan Norbert Lissys P1800 suffered around 700,000 miles—rise with exposure. In all his driving, Irv says he has never caused a crash, but that the metal has been bent maybe 11 times. A year ago, Irv was headed for Baltimore on a relatively empty I-95, he says, when a guy in pickup truck ran into my car when I was doing 65. And I was on my way to do film shoot for Google! Ever since then Im getting to be paranoid.
And so, nowadays, his other Volvo — the 2002 C70 that he received for the 2 million milestone — is getting more use. Im as careful as I can be about where and when I [drive the P1800], says Irv. Asked if hed ever sell the P1800, he says, I just got invited to go to the Brussels auto show. Once I get rid of the car nobody is going to call anymore.