Although the world’s two most famous Volvos date from 1966 and 1980 respectively, they had never appeared together until 2011, when they were on display at the Canadian Volvo Club’s annual meet in Ilderton, Ont. The 1980 held the Guinness Book of Records’s around-the-world driving record for many years, and the 1966 is the Guinness Book’s highest authenticated mileage car in the world.
The around-the-world venture began when two young Maritime friends, Garry Sowerby and Ken Langley, decided to add some excitement to their lives. Garry was a Moncton, N.B. native and physics graduate from Nova Scotia’s St. Francis Xavier University. He joined the Department of National Defence as a pilot and vehicle evaluator, obtained his engineering credentials and reached the rank of captain. He was ready for a change.
Langley, a son of Sydney, N.S. and law graduate from Halifax’s Dalhousie University, had worked at a variety of jobs but wasn’t quite ready to attack the tedious task of articling. Like Garry, he wanted some adventure before settling.
So Sowerby and Langley formulated the idea of tackling the 1976, 102-day around-the-world driving record held by American race driver Johnnie Parsons in a Pontiac. With a businesslike approach, they organized Odyssey World Challenge 77 Inc. and moved to Toronto seeking sponsorship.
Survival included driving cabs or whatever they could find. It finally paid off with sponsors that included Volvo Canada, Canadian Tire Corp., Toronto Sun, UPI, the Canadian Government, Shell Canada and Champion. The venture cost in the order of $300,000.
The car, courtesy of Volvo, was a 1980 Volvo 245 DL station wagon that Sowerby and Langley, like expectant parents, ushered off Volvo’s Halifax assembly on May 7, 1980. It was christened Red Cloud.
With Langley navigating and Sowerby driving, their heavily laden Volvo began its journey at Toronto’s CN Tower at 2:20 p.m. on Sept. 6, 1980. Their first stop was Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., then west across Canada to Vancouver and down to Los Angeles. After an airlift to Sydney, Australia, they installed a sturdy “roo bar” to ward off aggressive kangaroos.
Then it was across Australia to Perth and by air to India, where, Garry says, “cars drove on the left side of the road and trucks drove in the middle — I was on the horn all the time.”
Next came Pakistan, an airlift to Athens, a drive through Europe and up to Scandinavia beyond the Arctic Circle. There was, of course, a stop at Volvo world headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden, where they were feted as heroes.
After visiting Guinness Book of Records offices in London, their final airlift was to Austin, Texas, then an easy trip through America to a reception as conquering heroes in Halifax, and back to Toronto.
They arrived at the CN Tower on Nov. 19, 1980, having circumnavigated the earth and covered 42,781 km, more than the length of the equator. They visited 23 countries in 74 days, one hour and 11 minutes, clipping 28 days off the old mark.
The other famous Volvo is owned by Irv Gordon of Long Island, New York. In 1966, Gordon was a young science teacher needing reliable and economical transportation for his long commute. A friend introduced him to Volvo and in June 1966, Irv bought a new Volvo 1800 coupe for $4,150 from his local Long Island dealer.
Irv’s commute and a love of driving soon had him rolling up miles. By October 1987, the first million arrived, celebrated with a party at Tavern on the Green in Central Park, New York. Now growing keener, Irv reached two million in 2002, and just kept driving. In September 2013, Irv passed three million miles (4.83 million km).
Irv drives the Volvo at 97 to 105 km/h and overdrive keeps the revs down. The engine was overhauled at 680,000 and 2.7 million miles (1.1 million and 4.54 million km — Gordon keeps impeccable records) and it runs fine. The car has suffered three minor accidents, all when parked, and none Gordon’s fault. It is still going strong and it will be a long time, if ever, before his record is broken, especially as Gordon is a moving target.
After their around-the-world record, Ken Langley finished articling and is a lawyer with the Nova Scotia government.
Garry Sowerby loved the freedom so much he became an adventurer, breaking several more records and planning adventure junkets for others. He lives in Nova Scotia and still owns Red Cloud.
Irv Gordon retired from teaching and lives in East Patchogue, New York. At least, you’ll find him there when he is not off somewhere rolling along in his beloved 1966 Volvo, which has now covered three million and fifty thousand miles.