We often rejoice when our cars hit a high-mileage milestone in our cars. We celebrate this achievement of undiluted “top-down” motoring by assigning badges and revel in the bragging rights acquired. It is no doubt a cause for celebration and motivates us and others to keep their cars longer and drive them more. I came across a high-mileage car recently that I least expected would last such a long time.
It was on a day that I woke up pretty excited. I took a personal day off and went out to buy a new laptop. Little did I know, my new toy would have been 2nd on the list of things to peak my curiosity. I can usually tell what something is from pretty far away. Counting spokes on the rims of vehicles became a hobby of mine from before I even had my license. I came across a classic car at a stop light. It was right beside a previous generation Nissan Altima.
I made a snarky comment to my passenger about how everything looks so soft and puffy now. Even the car I was driving was somewhat bloated-looking. Why can’t cars have the chiseled/slim look of older cars? My passenger commented on how the classic car was for sale because he saw a paper in the window. I couldn’t identify this machine so I was determined to catch up. We made it next to the car and I still couldn’t figure out what it was. The sticker in the window was not a For Sale sign. It happened to be a personal rolling record.
The sticker said, “562,000 miles, original owner, original engine block.” This was an elderly woman who was entirely enthusiastic about her journey in this car. I got home and I still couldn’t shake how cool that was. I Googled 562k and ended up finding her story. It turns out that she is somewhat of a celebrity. You will find her on ABC, CNN, etc. This 92 year old has been driving this same Mercury Comet Caliente for 46 years. She has received three free sets of shocks, eight mufflers, and 18 free batteries with the warranties she bought. She also says there is no way to hold the car back to just 55 mph. Her top speed is 120 mph and she held it for a mile. This great-great grandmother has definitely buried the needle. As random as this was, I’m glad to have shared the road her. Her Mercury has outlasted her three marriages, her retired mechanic, and the Mercury brand itself. This is proof that you can really keep anything on the road with steady maintenance and a little TLC as she said. According to Fox news, she packs a .38-caliber handgun in case anyone tries to take her chariot for a ride without her. “Somebody’s going to go down with me if I get in that situation,” Veitch said. “I’m not going down alone.”
I’ve met a couple folks over the years that leave no doubt in my mind that the S2000 will be their lifetime car. I tip my hat to them and wish them good luck. Last time I checked we already have a few S2000’s that have passed the 200k mark. This great-great grandmother looks to be the benchmark.
- Onehots2k
Images courtesy of Onehots2k
NOTE: S2KI welcomes the opinions of its members on the S2000 and on all topics related to the S. Should you feel the creative urge to pen a few words then by all means do so and PM Energetic, Aashish2, Onehots2k OR GavinSSAP1 OR send us links to what you would like us to write about and we will feature you (or your community) on the S2KI Home Page.
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on Feb 23rd, 2011 at 10:03 pm
Great write up, awesome seeing the passion of owners & their cars. 562,xxx, same owner, same motor.. that is amazing!
on Feb 23rd, 2011 at 11:37 pm
Awesomeness!
on Feb 24th, 2011 at 12:14 am
I think I saw this on Ripley’s a while back…I was amazed how much this lady loved her car…i have half that on my dd and im already bitching
on Feb 24th, 2011 at 12:51 am
I want to be the next benchmark!
on Feb 24th, 2011 at 5:10 am
Great story on an awesome feat and dedicated person!
I don’t know if it’s because I’ve owned Hondas since ’91, but every time I saw her name, I read it as VTEC…
on Feb 24th, 2011 at 2:23 pm
haha i saw her on the news last year! awesome you met her in person. she always got lifetime warranties on everything and she never took no for an answer.
on Feb 24th, 2011 at 4:17 pm
500k here i come!
on Feb 24th, 2011 at 7:28 pm
Anyone here know who’s got the most miles on their S2000 so far?
on Feb 24th, 2011 at 11:53 pm
my nlaw has a 91 hatch civic and it went over 500k miles. It breaks down once in a while. I’m not sure if its a original motor, d16y7 thats all i remember from looking at the engine code.
on Feb 25th, 2011 at 9:52 am
I have some service work done at a local Honda Specialist (Triangle Motors.) They sell used Honda and Acura vehicles and mainly service the same makes. They have polaroids of people with their vehicles at the 100k, 200k, 300k, 400k and 500K mile milestones. There was only one car at the 500K mark. I was there a few months ago and the same car, an 89 Honda Accord has just reached 600K. Original engine and tansmission (its a manual.) Amazing! The owner has given her old tag to the shop to display. It reads, “500K.” She’s traded it for a “600K” tag.
on Mar 5th, 2011 at 6:50 am
There is guy in NJ with a Volvo P1800 that has 3 million on the original engine. I remember reading an article in 1987 when he reached the 1 million miles milestone. I saw the car about 6 months ago, it still looks great. Check the following link and enjoy: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2010/08/record-setting-volvo-driver-closing-in-on-3-million-miles/1