Man who drives a humble diesel wagon that's at 1.3M miles and counting shares how it's managed incredible feat
Published on Feb 24, 2026 at 5:48 AM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Feb 23, 2026 at 7:50 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Emma Matthews
This guy has been driving the same ancient diesel wagon – an old Rover Montego – for 1.3 million miles, and it still runs like clockwork.
It comes down to a couple of different factors, including sheer luck and religious maintenance.
But there are also a couple of things the owner wanted to point out.
Including something people have been complaining about for years.
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This is why this ancient diesel wagon is still working after all these years – and miles
Johnny, the guy behind the Resto Revival YouTube channel, told the story of a Rover Montego – a long-forgotten wagon from the UK – that’s still running despite having a lot of miles on the clock.
The car has driven 1.3 million miles so far, basically without ever skipping a beat.
Apart from luck, which always plays a part, the car’s incredible mileage is attributed, in Johnny’s opinion, to consistent and thorough maintenance by all its owners.
The interesting element of the conversation here is that Johnny believes that older cars aren’t necessarily more reliable than modern ones, but they last longer because they often have components that are easy to replace and repair.
By contrast, modern cars often come with parts that are interconnected with other components.
Imagine a light bulb breaks, and you have to replace the whole house.
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He may have a point
Broadly speaking, Johnny may have a point, and many people have been complaining about this for years.
Old cars were made of individual components that were not particularly reliable per se, but they were easy to fix, or easy to get hold of if they couldn’t be fixed.
Carburetor on the fritz? You just got a new one.
Modern cars have complicated fuel injection systems, and if one thing goes wrong, then the whole thing needs replacing.
This, ironically, brings us to the reason why EVs are, contrary to what people think, perfectly capable of longevity.
They’ve got fewer components that wear out, which means that, assuming the battery pack and motors are in good shape, you can run one for millions of miles.
After beginning his automotive writing career at DriveTribe, Alessandro has been with Supercar Blondie since the launch of the website in 2022. In fact, he penned the very first article published on supercarblondie.com. He’s covered subjects from cars to aircraft, watches, and luxury yachts - and even crypto. He can largely be found heading up the site’s new-supercar and SBX coverage and being the first to bring our readers the news that they’re hungry for.
