Car going strong at 558,000 miles

[snopes]

A 90-year-old Florida woman said the Mercury Comet Caliente she purchased in 1964 is still going strong 558,000 miles later.

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2009/06/...7041246307403/

[BoKu]

"I'll tell you something: This little Chariot has never lied to me, never cheated on me, and I can always depend on it," Veitch said.

Good thing cars aren't allowed on the Appalachian Trail...

[WildaBeast]

Impressive, but it still doesn't beat Irv Gordon's Volvo.

I wonder how many parts have been replaced over the life of both of these cars.

[Floater]

Originally Posted by WildaBeast

Impressive, but it still doesn't beat Irv Gordon's Volvo.

I was once told a story about someone he wanted one of these. The problem was that Volvo stopped making them some time in the sixties and those that were still around were not for sale. However, there were still spare parts to buy so he was able to have a new car assembled (and he could afford it).

[snopes]

Originally Posted by WildaBeast

I wonder how many parts have been replaced over the life of both of these cars.

It's like the guy who had an axe originally owned by Abraham Lincoln: "I've only replaced the head three times and the handle twice."

[NotYouMe]

I'm not quite clear on why this is newsworthy. My current '67 Volvo 122S has around 646,000 on the original engine and my first one had about 550,000...

Of course, the reason that I don't have it anymore is because it (quite literally) blew up while I was on the freeway & sent a good sized fireball several feet in the air. I'm also not the original owner for either car, as they've both got almost twenty years on me, though the previous owners kept pretty meticulous records...

[Roadsterboy]

Originally Posted by snopes

It's like the guy who had an axe originally owned by Abraham Lincoln: "I've only replaced the head three times and the handle twice."

Depends. Replacement of consumables-brakes, belts and hoses, filters, etc.-doesn't usually harm the originality of a car, value wise, especially if the car has a continuous history of regular use. You start running into problems when you get into whole engines, drivelines, and chassis/bodywork. I've seen and read about valuable classic cars that were "rebuilt" using one major component that was stamped with the chassis number, and all reproduction parts for the rest. In that instance I would totally agree with the axe statement.

It's actually a real thorny issue in the old car world.

-RB

[Jay Tea]

Memories of cab 804?

[snopes]

Originally Posted by Roadsterboy

Depends. Replacement of consumables-brakes, belts and hoses, filters, etc.-doesn't usually harm the originality of a car, value wise, especially if the car has a continuous history of regular use. You start running into problems when you get into whole engines, drivelines, and chassis/bodywork.

But the point remains that once you start replacing parts on a car, it's no longer an "original" car (regardless of how collectors may value it), even if the replacement parts come from another vehicle of the same make and model year. It's the difference between "This is a hat actually worn by Abraham Lincoln" and "This is a hat just like the one Lincoln wore, made from scraps of his other clothing."

[Jay Tea]

20 years a street sweeper, and still got the original brush. Just 14 new handles and 12 new heads

[Mateus]

It's weird, but every time I see the title of this thread in the "New Posts", I keep thinking that the mileage has gone up.

[kanazawa]

[quote=Roadsterboy; I've seen and read about valuable classic cars that were "rebuilt" using one major component that was stamped with the chassis number, and all reproduction parts for the rest.
[/QUOTE]

It's like that old joke about the rare Ferrari GTO--out of the 36 originally built, only 42 are known to survive today...