Irv Gordon's 1800S Hits 3M!

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http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2013 ... /#comments
Be sure to read the comments!

I always loved those cars - came close to buying one in CA in '85 - but my heart stayed with my T4WD.
Tom M.

[Petros]

I have owned one, not a bad car but I never saw it as anything special. it was based on the 122S sedan chassis with a few minor tweaks to the engine (cam shaft and fuel ratio) and the slick body design.

I notice the ads on the right side of the page: one P1800 is advertised for $34,000! I bought mine for $900 in about 1980 (it was a 1965 very similar to the one in the article). I also notice someone is asdvertising a 122s wagon for almost $12,000. I had a friend with one just like it, no way he would beleive it would sell for that. the most I ever saw one sell for was about $3000. most were selling for about $1200-1500 for clean good ones, and fixers could be bought for $100. I wonder if you can still get parts!

[Jarf]

Would love to know what kind of service and parts money it took to get to the 3mill mark!

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Boy, I'd be sorely tempted on that '73 1800ES "wagon" in that sidebar. Maybe if the Lotto ticket comes in tonight - not much of a road trip, though - STL to CHI.
I've been to that seller's local location several times, just looking at all of the eye candy - mostly 'Murrican stuff, though. It's a consignment place and just across the Mississippi from STL. Hmmm...
Mentioning the 122S wagon - I owned a new '64 122S 2-door and loved it (it even had shoulder belts in the front!). I was actually looking for a clean one on eBay when I ran across my Goldie.
That 122S was truly one of the best cars I ever owned.

[Petros]

That 122S was truly one of the best cars I ever owned.

I have a soft spot for them too, it was not my first car, but it was the first one I really liked and did extensive mods to it, and a major rebuild of the engine, suspension and made the body perfect. It was also a great car. I drove it since I was 16 and through most of collage. A drunk driver smashed it to bits (bent the sub frame) while it was parked out side our house late one saturday night. I bought another one that looked decent that had no engine and swaped in my good engine, tires and most of the drive train, but it never felt the same, it was all full of odd noises and raddled and it never felt like "mine". I sold it and bought a datsun 510 and never owned another volvo since (over 30 years). I saw a 122S at picknpull last summer, it was the same year and color as mine was, brought back old memories, but looking it over inside and out reminded me how primitive a car it was, very basic, almost no electronics, etc.

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The only mod I ever did to mine was to install the then-hot thing to do, which was Koni adjustable shocks all around (never told my then-wife how much they cost!). While the OE shocks were not worn and worked quite well, the Konis really transformed the car.
And that B18B engine was just bulletproof!
I had some more plans for that car, but - when Morris Minors were brought back into the USA in '67, I sold the Volvo and rekindled my Minor affliction - which lasted another 16 years.
Tom M.

[danzo]

So this means my '91 740 wagon has at least 2,768,000 miles left in it? Awesome.

[Petros]

I read a more extensive article on this car some years ago when it reached 2 million miles, he had the engine rebuilt at about 300-400k intervals, and the trans at about twice that. Still not bad, but it has not been axactly "trouble free", it needed heavy maintenance. I supposed you can keep any car running indefinitly if you keep replacing parts as they wear out. for most people there comes a point where the maintance costs too high and troublesome and they replace the car.

Not sure when that point will come on my Tercel, but most things are easy to repair and far less costly than replacing it. If I had to pay someone else to do the repairs, I would have likely replaced it well over 100k miles ago.

[Jooseppi Luna]

If I remember correctly, he had engine rebuilt first at 600k even though the dealer said that it was totally unnecessary, and then went over 1,000,000 before the next rebuild... but I may be wrong. Whatever it was, I don't have the impression that he was rebuilding every 300k-400k.

[keith]

He and his mechanic appeared with Tom and Ray (CarTalk, NPR) on a Nova special where he did say that the engine had been rebuilt once at somewhere between 6-700,000 miles. He gave the specific miles but I don't remember them. It had gone over 2M+ at that time and that was the only rebuild. I believe he also said that either he or his mechanic said the car had an oil change every 3k miles and anything found that was suspect was repaired or replaced at that time.

He was on the Today Show in 2002 when he passed the 2M mark. To have reached 3M now, he would have to average 350 miles a day for 5 days a week, every week of the year with Christmas day off. With a schedule like that, getting the maintenance done must be a tight fit. His mechanics must be open on Saturdays.