Man nears 3 millionth mile in beloved '66 Volvo

[A Turtle Named Mack]

It just keeps going, and going, and going. No, it's not a battery. It's Irvin Gordon's 1966 Volvo P1800S. Gordon's small, red two-door has well more than 2 million miles on the odometer, the equivalent of nearly 1,176 times across the globe. The retired schoolteacher from Long Island hopes to reach the 3 million mile mark by next year. He only has 34,000 miles to go.

http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world...3-1474827.html

[WildaBeast]

The story said Mr. Gordon's Volvo still has its original engine, but whenever I hear about an old car with astronomically high mileage I always wonder how many parts have been replaced, and how many parts can you replace and still legitimately claim it's the same car.

[snopes]

Originally Posted by WildaBeast

I always wonder how many parts can you replace and still legitimately claim it's the same car.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus

[Mad Jay]

Originally Posted by WildaBeast

The story said Mr. Gordon's Volvo still has its original engine, but whenever I hear about an old car with astronomically high mileage I always wonder how many parts have been replaced, and how many parts can you replace and still legitimately claim it's the same car.

Hopefully I won;t get too metaphysical. This is why Buddhism considers the world to be an illusion created by the way our mind works. What we call a "car" does not really exist. We have merely chosen to lump arbitrary parts together and call it a "car".

Mad "There is no spoon" Jay

[RichardM]

Originally Posted by WildaBeast

The story said Mr. Gordon's Volvo still has its original engine, but whenever I hear about an old car with astronomically high mileage I always wonder how many parts have been replaced, and how many parts can you replace and still legitimately claim it's the same car.

As a general rule, most states, for registration purposes, consider the basic chassis to be "the car." Engine, fenders, doors, transmission, etc. are parts of the car but not the "car." In this case, at the very least it is the same body and the same engine block. From other things I have read about this car, almost all of it is the same as when it left Gothenberg Sweden.

[E. Q. Taft]

Douglas Adams once wrote about visiting an ancient Japanese temple, and being told that it had been rebuilt after burning down twice in the past century.

"So it's not the original building?" he asked.

"But of course it is," the guide replied, surprised.

"But it's burned down twice?"

"Many times."

"But it was rebuilt?"

"Of course. It's an important and historic building."

"With completely different materials?"

"Certainly."

"Then how can it be the same building?"

"It is always the same building."

He had to admit it was a perfectly rational viewpoint, even though it was almost completely opposite to the usual Wetern view. To be obsessed with the physical components is to fail to see the living building itself.

It could be much the same way with cars.

[A Turtle Named Mack]

Kind of like a forest or a river - the trees might all have been replaced, and the water is ever only passing through, but they are still that forest and that river.

[Sue Bee]

The cells of a living being are replaced many times over during a lifetime...

Just thinking outloud.

[Mad Jay]

Or a hurricane. A hurricane constantly changes air molecules. It might even disappear and appear back

[Nick Theodorakis]

I seem to remember some conroversy over the "originalness" of the museum ship USS Constellation (the 19th century wooden ship, not the aircraft carrier), which is on display in Baltimore.

Nick

[Beachlife!]

Originally Posted by Mad Jay

Hopefully I won;t get too metaphysical. This is why Buddhism considers the world to be an illusion created by the way our mind works. What we call a "car" does not really exist. We have merely chosen to lump arbitrary parts together and call it a "car".

Mad "There is no spoon" Jay

Originally Posted by Sue Bee

The cells of a living being are replaced many times over during a lifetime...

Just thinking outloud.

This is why the whole concept of 'self' is a construct of the ego. Everything that makes up what I call me is constantly changing such that the begining and ending of this sentence were not created by the same self.

[WildaBeast]

Originally Posted by RichardM

From other things I have read about this car, almost all of it is the same as when it left Gothenberg Sweden.

Yeah, I wasn't really questioning the "originalness" of this particular car (and same engine and body is "original enough" for me), more just old, high mileage cars in general. Like the hypothetical guy who brags about having over 500,000 miles on his '67 Nova, except it's on its third engine and second transmission.