Many sports cars are known for their beauty. Many are known for their engines, their brands, and their value. Many are even known for how few miles they have on them – but few are known for how many.
This Volvo P1800 is in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the highest-mileage non-commercial, privately-owned vehicle on the planet because of the 3.25 million miles it has amassed since leaving the factory. Although it has had two engine rebuilds and two paint jobs, the engine is original and the car soldiers on.
Owned by Irv Gordon, who passed away in 2018, the car’s legacy is carried on by Gordon’s friend and mechanic, Nino Gambino who met him in 1979. The two met through the car because Gambino wanted to take a look at it and he’s been working on it ever since.
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Gambino says that Gordon loved driving the car because he found it comfortable and it was a way to see the country and get out of his own space. Nowadays, though, Gambino loves driving the car because every time he’s in it, his pal Irv is there next to him. Even to host Magnus Walker, Irv Gordon’s shadow looms large over the car.
“I’m all about cars with stories,” he explains. “It’s really [more than] the sum of the parts that make this car special. Not just the motor and body, it’s the experience that Irv and Nino had, the friendship, the bond between them.”
Even though Volvo owns the car now, it’s still being driven having miles put on it to make sure that its legacy continues on.
“Now this car, it isn’t the next big thing,” says Walker. “It’s beyond that. It’s a milestone car.”