Irv Gordon is definitely in a class by himself. But, I was wondering how many miles "normal" people have on their P1800s. I have just over 91,000. It's a 1971 1800E. As you can see from the photo, it has been "well pampered" but I don't have Volvo calling me yet :-)
Also, do you think the value of the P1800 will go up with all of Irv's publicity? I would think so, but my car is definitely NOT for sale.

Heather

Mine has 'only' 118,000 miles, but it is accumulating very few more as the new apple of my eye is now my '63 PV544.

Mine is also a '71 E in yellow/black, and I bought it in 1987 from an ad in Hemmings and flew from St. Louis MO to Norwalk, CT to buy it. It was in great shape when I bought it, a real garage queen with only 77,000 miles. The A/C worked great, the OD worked great, it ran like a top. The only thing that turned up on the drive back to St. Louis were some sticky rear calipers (which the previous owners very graciously refunded out of the sale price).

Unfortunately, my bad luck with 1800's continued. My previous one, a dark green/tan '72 E - somewhere between 200 and 300 thousand miles and still in great shape, had been totalled by a driver running a stop sign at full speed and hitting the right front tire. It was bent into a U shape and spun around about 4 times. But I was unhurt. Dazed and dizzy, but unscathed. After I had driven the new one only for about a year and a half someone ran into the rear of it while I was sitting at a stop light. Really bent the trunk section in and bent the frame over the rear axle. The insurance company totalled the car and gave me $5,500 (my purchase price) and I bought the car back from them for $900. I had the frame straightened and new sheet metal put in on the back, but the body shop didn't do a great job (the 1800 body is very hard to work on) and I wasn't very happy with the results. Its just a little off.

I was in college, and this was my only car. So I drove it even in the winter when they salt the roads in the midwest. I always washed it as carefully as possible, but after 4 or 5 years rust popped out simutaneously in several spots - most notably the sills, front fenders, and various sections of the subframe. I checked on the cost to have it repaired (yikes!) and in the light of the imperfect rear end on the car I shouldn't throw good money after bad. At this point buying a nice one would be cheaper than fixing this one.

So I keep it in driving condition (licensed, insured) but I don't drive it much. Its mostly waiting to become an organ donor for an interesting old Volvo, like a 122 coupe or a 445 wagon.

Heather,

You have a real sweet looking little ride there. My 1966 P1800 was purchased just over a year ago with 98,000 miles on it, but it is now at 126,000. This is my second volvo from the sixties, and if the rust had not got into my 1964 122s it would have continued well past the 380,000 mark. In fact the engine and transmission are in storage for when the one in the P1800 needs a break.

The secret with these cars... as the other folks have said, is regular maintenance. These cars don't even get broke in well until they have 100,000 miles on them.

Enjoy your P1800.

Oliver

Heather:

You have an absolutely beautiful car.

I have been exchanging emails with Irv and the bottom line seems to be that perfect maintenance is the key. I suppose that his attitude is that there is nothing special one should do but strictly follow the manufacturer's maintenance schedule and get anything that goes wrong repaired immediately with original parts.

My personal experience is that Volvos with problems are really Volvos with delayed maintenance. At some point though, there can be so much delayed maintenance that it is no longer economically viable to get the car back in shape and that is usually when Volvos end up in a junkyard.

In other words, with proper maintenance, your P 1800 will outlive you.

Best of luck!

Rob

Rob,
You are right about the maintanence. Luckily my father had the oil changed every 3 months or 2,000 miles, which ever came first. He was particular about the maintanence because of his appreciation for classic cars. I have upheld that line of thinking and hopefully it will pay off. I have a brake caliper on order as I type!

I'm impressed that you have been emailing Irv. You can tell him that he's my hero! I am in school working toward a degree in Education (he was a teacher) and I have driven cross country 4 times, just not in my P1800. He seems like a terrific guy and I hope to meet him at a show one day so we can compare cars! I just read that he'll be in Miami this weekend. I wonder if he'll be at Carlisle in May. Do you know if he will?

Have a great day!
Heather

Heather:

Irv tells me that he changes his oil every 7500 miles, which obviously is well before 3 months at the rate he drives...

I have no idea whether he will be at Carlisle in May, but I'm sure you will run into him sooner or later, at which point he is likely to tell you something like "that the car is doing all the work."

All the best,

Rob

bought my ES eight years ago with 52k now it has about 62k.

Heather,

That is an absolutely AWESOME 1800E!! 91,000 miles--it's just a babe! Tell me though, is it (she? he?) original, or has it been restored? Also, is it green or black (old monitor, old eyes, and glare from the sun).

I've yet to be forunate enough to own one of these beauties, but I saw an 1800ES at an auto show not long ago that had 312,000 on it-about average mileage for a '72.

Bob,
This car was my Grandmother's. She bought it new (I have the bill of sale and all maintanence records). When she passed away in '87 my parents got it and my Dad drove it (mostly to school since he's a teacher and the commute was minimal). In '99 my Dad had knee surgery and couldn't drive it anymore..sorry Dad, but that's when he offered it to me. Luckily my 5 brothers and sisters didn't want it. Nor had they been bugging my Dad for years to get it.
Anyway, while my Dad had it, he had it repainted the original color. The place that painted it did a terrific job. He also had the additional side mirror put on. Other than that, the car is original.

I absolutely LOVE this car. I have an '89 Saab that I drive on rainy or snow days! You should definitely get one if you can. There is a very nice one on eBay right now - it's out in Calistoga, CA.

http://cgi.aol.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1818844269&r=0&t=0

Heather

Heather;

Compliments from me on your car also...the fact that it's been in your family the whole time just makes for a nice long history you should write!

I bought my '66, 1800 in 1978...rescued it from being towed away to the crusher might be a better way to describe it...the guages had been smashed (probably weren't working anyway), so an accurate mileage starting from when I got the car is not known (I estimate 100k miles...that's always safe!), but being solid, I cleaned it up, resurrected it, and now I'm putting more pleasurable miles on it! Read the interesting story of how I got the car in: http://www.intelab.com/swem/small%20world.htm

Cheers

PS My dad just got his (he calls them) "main bearings" replaced too...now we call him bionic grandpa!