So you think your Old Betsy has a lot of miles on it, do you? Maybe you like to brag to your friends that, thanks to regular oil changes and a lot of tlc, SHE's got over 100,000 miles on her and still going strong.
Well, Randal K. Aagaard hates to rain on your parade, but the Salt lake auto restorer owns a 1957 Mercedes-Ben
180D ( D for diesel) sedan that has clocked nearly 1.2 million miles (1,198,000 to be precise) that have been authenticated by Mercedes-Benz of North America and landed the car in the Guinness Book of World Records.Aagaard, owner of Aagaard Foreign Motorcars, 945 South 300 West, is apparently the sixth or seventh owner of the car. It came to him through the auspices of Mark S. Glade, a Utahns who bought it this Mongh from a man in when it had 800,000 miles on it.
The original owner (name unknown) was said to be a real estate appraiser whoe territory covered seven western states. He piled up those first 620,000 miles noted in 1964 in ony seven years, then sold the care some 100,000 miles later.
When O'Reilly bought it for $600 in 1968, it had 814,000 miles on it, a new engine shortblock having been installed at about 750,000 miles. He dubbed it the "Li'l Green Hornet."
At the time, O'Reilly, a government employee in the Tacoma area, was commuting 575 miles round-trip per week to his home in Eugene, Ore. He said at the time he was getting between 37 and 41 mpg. He also drove the car twice across the country.
The 1990 Guiness Book of Records lists the Mercedes under the heading "Most Durable Car" and authenticates its mileage at 1,184,880 miles as of August , 1978, when "The Great Diesel Search" was held O'Reilly won a new (in 1978) Mercedes-Benz 300SD Turbodiesel for his trouble and a badge (still in place) was affixed to the grill of the car.
Guinness goes on to say that the car's "subsequent fate is unknown."
But Glade says he knows its fate. O'Reilly, having won the new Mercedes, eventually sold the 180 D to Dan Steward of Shelton, Wash., who kept it until this month when he sold it to Glade.
Glade serves as an auto judge at the annual Concourse D'Elegance at the University of Utah and keeps an eye out for old, restorable cars. He owns a restored 1956 180D, but it has considerable fewer miles than the '57.
"I was interested in buying it (the '57) for myself," said Glade "but he (Aagaard) made me an offer I couldn't refuse."
Glae put the car on a transport, brought it to Salt Lake City and turned it over to Aagaard, who will now have to decide whether to keep and restore it himself or whether to sell it to that interested party in San Diego.
How much it it worth? Glade would say this much: "If the car wasn't a Guiness car it would be worth about $1,000 in parts, but because it's a Guinness car it would be worth about $1,000 in parts, but because it's a Guinness car ... someone might pay 10 times that."
In other words, he thinks it's worth about $10,000.