‘Long live the king’: The 1973 Volvo 144 that’s one in a million, still going strong

Victorian Hunter Gill believes his 1973 Volvo 144DL is one in a million – with fewer than one of these classic models left in Australia per million people.

Like its owner – Gill remains a competitive track athlete on the Bendigo circuit – it’s still running pretty well.

Gill bought the yellow small bumper model “run in” in 1983, and has driven the 144 almost daily ever since. Hence keeping it on the original plate, LNM 100, rather than club plates. “It’s still on full rego,” says Gill. “I drive it all the time.”

The car now has 478,860 miles on the clock, but the speedo was disconnected for 14 months in the 1980s while he worked as a real estate agent, building rental business, Bendigo Property Management, from the ground up. Gill calculates the true mileage to be 489,860 miles, or 788,353 kilometres.

Gill sold the business when he retired from paid work seven years ago, and the 144’s original engine has likewise “retired gracefully to the shed”, with a replacement “rebuilt by a Boeing engineer now doing the heavy work”.

Beyond that, Gill says the car has never been restored, “just maintained in good working order”. He says the “only little cheat” is having an electronic ignition installed so it starts first time, summer or winter. And in winter, he says the Swedish heater comes in handy. “It’s capable of creating a 40°C heat-wave!”

Summer is a different story – there was no air con option in 1973. “Fortunately, I have a choice of cars.”

The interior is “quite neat, lovely and very comfortable, while regular polishing outside keeps it shining”. He’s only had to repair the odd patch of rust and touch up the paint.

But given the car is now 53 years old, access to parts is increasingly tricky. Gill says the Volvo Club of Victoria, and particularly club president, Heino Nowatzky, “have been vital to its survival”.

“People have always cared when I needed help to keep it rolling along. It has not been a money thing to them.”

Ultimately cool

Meanwhile, the car’s status has come full circle: It began as a prestige car, but for a time became less prestigious as the years went by.

“People couldn’t understand why I drove such an old car. I did because it was comfortable, reliable and fun to drive around town … Don’t laugh, it was fast off the lights!” says Gill.

“But I went through that period without a question.

“Then it entered a new phase where people started to make compliments about it … Today, I catch people taking photos of it when parked. The social wheel has turned a long way since I bought it as well well-maintained second hand car.”

In truth, he could have driven a newer model – in the decades that followed, Mrs Gill bought a Volvo 244, then a Volvo 740 followed by a Volvo 850.

“She has had a few of them, but I just took a love to this car.”

Will he ever sell it?

“No. Unless I get to the age where I am unable to drive, selling it is not option,” says Gill.

“Long live the king!”