As a traveling salesman, Peter Gilbert has put a few miles on his car — 1,001,385 miles, to be precise.
It took the Glendale man 17 years to cross the million-mile mark with his 1989 Saab 900 SPG. He recently donated the durable vehicle to the Wisconsin Automotive Museum after Saab verified the mileage.
The transmission was rebuilt at 200,000 miles and the hood and a few other parts replaced after eight deer collisions, but otherwise it has original equipment.
But Wisconsin’s harsh winters took a toll on the car. Its sporty exterior still looks good, but road salt has rusted its frame. Gilbert realized it might no longer be safe if he hit another deer or had a serious accident.
“There was no point in driving the car any longer,” he said. “Even though it might have gone another million miles.”
He had it detailed and parked it at the Hartford museum, which houses a number of rare vehicles.
Nice to see he still has as much confidence in the same brand — after all those years. He just bought another SAAB.
Isn’t SAAB a GM product now?
Dvorak, we don’t want to hear your Saab stories.
#2. This is Eideard’s post. And Dvorak’s stories are about Volvo’s. But close enough, they’re both sweedish cars.
I have owned 3 Saab cars and all of them ran great. However yes they are part of GM. I have a friend that would often ask me how my Chevy was doing…
DEER MURDERER!
Its due to the oil he used that it lasted so long. Just a guess, but I bet he used Amsoil synthetic oil in it.,
Deer are a menace and more of them need to be killed. I call them white tail rats.
7 – People like you are a menace and more of them need to be killed. I call them ornery old losers who need to fall into a large hole.
Many people would have gone through 3 cars in this interval. Considering the sell prices and financing he saved a bundle.
I live in Canada and hunt deer (archery only ). Where I live there is one of the largest deer populations (and deer accidents!) in all of Southern Ontario. The deer population is very large and in the winter there is barely enough food to support them all. Hunting offers a way to keep a safe/healthy number of deer around while reducing accidents. As a matter of fact, I wish my father and I had got more tags this year (we only got 1 out of a possible 6 -excluding controlled hunts) because on the way home from hunting one morning we came across an injured deer on the side of the road. It had been hit by a truck and its back was broken so its legs were paralyzed. We took it out of its misery and dispatched it swiftly. Needless to say, we have a freezer full of venison.
Well that’s my truck-deer-me related post. 🙂
There are two types of people, those who look at a deer, see Bambi and think about those large liquid eyes, and those who see a stew pot and think about herbs and spices. You all know who you are. ..
BTW — GM only bought SAAB in 2000. And a lot of what is now sold as SAAB in the U.S. is rebranded Subarus. Chevy? Hah!
I even like deer liver and onions.
The only Saabaru is the 9-2x, the rest are based on GM platforms.
Isn’t the highest mileage car in the world a Volvo?
Yes deer ar a menace on the roads and yes deer hunting is a neccesary evil to keep the population in check.
But….. that doesn’t change the fact that most deer hunters are a bunch of creepy, drunken, all year-camo wearing, hillbilly thrill killers.
And that misinformation does not change then fact that many people believe the stereotype set by Walt Disney. Just like not all people with beards are Santa Claus, not every hunter is a “creepy, drunken, all year-camo wearing, hillbilly thrill killer” and in Canada at least you can only wear camo during archery season or if you only hunt from a tree stand. I would prefer if hunting was not referred as a “necessary evil to keep the population in check” and rather called sustainable population management. Do i need to point out who exactly killed off all the deer’s predators? Definitely not hunters. And why were all the predators killed off? We plopped our cities in their domain then killed ’em because they were a threat.
thats some good mileage!
Figures the car wasn’t built in the US…..or it wouldn have died a horrible death after 2 years.
#11….I’m so confused….because I’m BOTH types.
It was many years ago, but the last time I saw Bambi, she was swinging her butt around a pole on stage. I can relate to the pot, but not with the spice. Oh ya, with rolling papers too.
Around these parts, hitting a deer is almost a requirement for citizenship. The body shops love the spring when the deer flee the biting bugs and fall when they are rutting. And not everyone around here is a creepy, drunken, all year-camo wearing, hillbilly thrill killer. Just those from the next county.
Wow, my car has like 980 thousand miles lol.