3-million-mile Volvo P1800s driver Irv Gordon passes away at 77

Irv Gordon, the man behind the three-million-mile Volvo, has died. According to a post on his Facebook fan page, Gordon passed away yesterday.

Gordon’s car of choice was a 1966 Volvo P1800s. He acquired it brand new for the 125-mile daily commute to his job as a school teacher in New York, meaning it began racking up big miles quickly. Through dutiful care—Gordon was a big believer in scheduled maintenance—he proceeded to drive that P1800s over 3.2 million miles. The last update to the Facebook page came on May 7: “3,250,257 and counting.” That almost doubles the Guinness world record he set when he hit 1.69 million miles.

What will happen to Gordon’s now-infamous Volvo is unclear. Volvo corporate has been involved with the red coupe in the past, but following a transport mishap while on its way to the SEMA show in Las Vegas, Gordon was wary of letting the car out of his hands, according to Autoblog. That accident cemented one of Gordons long held beliefs—that he is the only one allowed to drive his car. Through the years Gordon was featured by multiple media outlets and partnered with Castrol oil.

All of us at Hagerty send our best wishes to Gordon’s family. He embraced the love of driving and appreciation for vintage cars in a way that the rest of us can aspire to.