Kentucky is home to the highest mileage sports car in the world, it's traveled the equivalent of 31 times around Earth
- The C5 Corvette boasts 777,338 miles on its odometer
- It was donated to the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky, US
- The reliable LS1 V8 engine had no major issues during its 18 years on the road
Published on Jul 18, 2024 at 12:12 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Aug 02, 2024 at 6:27 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
Looking for a reliable ride? Head to Kentucky in the United States where a C5 Corvette – the sports car with the highest mileage in the world – resides.
The C5 Corvette has 777,338 miles (1,251,004km) on its odometer.
To celebrate its reliability, it was donated to the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in 2017.
READ MORE! The world’s highest-mileage cars have gone even further than you could have ever imagined
The C5 Corvette
The base model, fifth-generation 2000 C5 Corvette has a 5.7-liter LS1 V8 engine beneath its hood.
The all-aluminum design packed 345hp, with a six-speed manual transmission.
250,000 were built from 1997 to 2004.
Its success was due, in part to its. stiffer and lighter design with improved weight distribution compared to its predecessors.
Unbelievably the owner of the sports car, Mark Blackwell, said it had no major issues over the 18 years it was driven.
He bought the C5 Corvette new in 1999, referring to it as his ‘mobile office’ when he handed the keys to the National Corvette Museum in 2017.
This could, in part, be put down to its simple design and performance, which also make it a classic collectible.
It was used by Blackwell to commute from his Jacksonville, Florida, home to his office in Georgia daily on the highway – that’s about 100 miles.
He covered 43,000 miles a year from 2000 until the end of 2017.
And with its eye-catching red finish – it still appears to be in great shape with no obvious modifications bar having its head gaskets replaced.
However, notably, its engine management light is now illuminated on the dash.
According to RepairPal. the most common issues associated with the sports car from 1999 are the EML (engine management light) coming on due to a faulty or worn gas cap, and a failure of the fuel level sensor.
A fault specific to the anti-theft system that throws up messages relating to the steering column lock was also reported.
Other cars with impressive mileage
Currently, Irving Gordon holds the Guinness World Record for the highest mileage on a personal car.
His 1966 Volvo 1800S had over 3,000,000 miles on its odometer when it took the record.
According to his estimations, Gordon drove over 100,000 miles per year, visiting many car shows.
He also took great care of the car, changing the oil every 3,000 – 3,500 miles and the transmission fluid every 25,000 miles.
When Gordon died in 2018, the car had done more than 3,200,000 miles.
Gregorios Sachinidis comes in at number two with over 2,850,000 miles on his 1976 Mercedes-Benz 240D.
However, this is a bit of a cheat as Sachinidis used the car as a taxi driver and for personal use.
When he hit the milestone in 2004, Mercedes-Benz awarded him a brand new C-Class.
In exchange, he had to give away his prized Mercedes-Benz 240D, which now resides in Mercedes-Benz’s personal museum as one of the highest mileage cars in the brand’s history.
They don’t make cars like these anymore, since even a Tesla with the world’s highest mileage needed significant repairs.
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All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
