Canadian taxi driver drove 1.6m miles in a Plymouth Fury

This Canadian taxi driver racked up 1.6 million miles in a Plymouth Fury before things took a turn for the worse.

It took Joseph Vaillancourt 35 years to reach this astonishing milestone, picking up four engine rebuilds and a second gas motor along the way.

Joseph, nicknamed ‘Joe the Taxi’, kept his car on the road for decades before it was ultimately wiped out.

Unfortunately, by the time the car was put out of commission just 164 miles short of the world record.

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The Plymouth Fury that nearly broke a world record

Vaillancourt’s car earned him about $1 million in fares between 1964 and 1999.

His mileage still holds up to this day as the forth-highest achieved by a car.

Irv Gordon came in first place with his Volvo P1800S, with Greek taxi driver Gregorios Sachindis coming in second.

Conversely, this great condition 1977 Corvette has surprisingly low mileage.

So what happened to Vaillancourt’s Plymouth Fury?

Unlike its owner, it didn’t get much of a graceful retirement – it was hit by a truck.

Yikes.

But anyhow, how much driving does it take to get up to 1.6 million miles?

It’s the equivalent of 200 miles a day, which might not sound like much compared to some of the other hard hitters.

But when you factor in all the stop-and-starting that he’s done, it’s evident he’s put in a hard graft over the years.

Doing the numbers on this high miler

To break down the numbers puts 1.6 million miles into perspective.

That’s the equivalent of 800,000 passengers, 1,820 oil changes, 420 spark plug charges, and 12 million car washes, according to topspeed.

So, what happened to the car after it was ‘taken off the road’, so to speak?

It was taken up as a project by comedian and actor Michel Barrette, who has been appearing in Canadian movies since the 1980s.

He restored the exterior and displayed it at  Pohénégamook’s Musée du Domaine (Museum of Territory), where he is the honorary president.

The museum would close in 2017 before being sold in 2021.

It’s currently set to be repurposed.