The distance that Irv Gordon has driven in his 47-year-old Volvo is something to contemplate. The other day he cracked 3 million miles, which is a tad short of five million kilometres. That’s the equivalent of driving to Sydney and back 2731 times. Or driving to the moon and back six times.
Maybe the most impressive way of judging such a vast distance is this: it takes a beam of light 16 seconds to travel the same distance.
I first wrote about Gordon in 2006 when he cracked 4 million kilometres. A quick recap. He bought the Volvo new in 1966 when he was 26 and had a round-trip commute of 200 kilometres a day. But Gordon’s been known to drive 1100 kilometres for a cup of coffee. And now at 74, the retired science teacher has got his name in the Guinness Book of World Records. Again.
Gordon is fastidious about his Volvo. He walks around it every morning much as a pilot walks around a plane. He checks the battery and tyres. If he hears a strange noise, it goes straight to the mechanics. Most Volvo drivers aren’t this finicky but you do see a lot of old Volvos on the roads and I reckon I know why.
Quite apart from their appeal to people who are, shall we say, less demanding of performance, Volvo has had an idea operating since 1945 that makes it a bit easier for owners to hang on rather than trade: remanufactured parts.
If your water pump dies you have the guy put in a new one, but at Volvo you can get a rebuilt one. It’s covered by a two-year warranty. The only difference is you don’t get your old water pump back – it’s sent to a factory to be rebuilt for another Volvo. The cost savings are between 25 and 60 per cent.
Volvo started the idea after the Second World War because of shortages; it continues it for environmental reasons. A remanufactured part saves as much as 80 per cent on raw materials and energy consumption against making a new part.
Remanufactured parts account for about 15 per cent of the company’s parts business.
I guess other car brands haven’t taken up the idea because spare parts are a lucrative business, but you really have to wonder if they’re missing out on something major.
Quite apart from people noticing that there are so many old Volvos still out there every day, there’s Gordon and his 3-million-mile P1800.
reasdown@theweeklyreview.com.au
