Record-setting Volvo travels around the world in 24 hours...without leaving Toronto
TORONTO, ON(November 18, 2010) - In 1980, Garry Sowerby and Ken Langley drove around the globe and straight into the Guinness Book of World Records. Returning to the CN Tower amid great fanfare and jubilation in their Volvo 245DL, they had circumnavigated the globe in a record-breaking 74 days, one hour and 11 minutes - shattering the previous record of 102 days.
After being displayed in a number of museum exhibits and displays, the Volvo wagon sat for years as Sowerby contemplated what to do with this beloved piece of history. "I hadn't started it in over five years, so when this idea to celebrate the 30th anniversary came up, I was afraid that the car wouldn't be up to the task." Much to Sowerby's surprise and excitement, the Volvo known as ‘Red Cloud' fired right up on the first try. "Through extreme weather conditions across horrible roads, this car still purrs like new even though it has over 460,000 kilometres on the original engine."
In order to commemorate the 30th anniversary of their 43,030 kilometre journey, Langley and Sowerby will once again depart from the base of the CN Tower in Toronto but this time they won't be leaving the GTA. Visiting 21 locations that represent the countries visited on their original expedition throughout the city over the next 24 hours, they will return to the CN Tower on Friday November 19th at 2:11pm - exactly 30 years to the minute after their winning the Guinness World Record.
"Ken and I have wanted to do something like this for years," Said Sowerby, before adding, "Toronto is truly a world class city that is rich with multiculturalism, so we are looking forward to experiencing another worldly adventure in the exact car we used to break the world record all those years ago."
The duo will be met by friends, family and media across from the CN Tower at the Steam Whistle Brewery as they celebrate the anniversary of this momentous journey. The all-new 2011 Volvo S60 will also be on hand so members of the media can experience the latest generation of Volvo. For information on this event, please contact Dustin A. Woods from Marshall Fenn Communications at dustinw@marshall-fenn.com or 905-510-4496.
-30-
Volvo Cars of Canada Corp. is part of the Volvo Car Corporation of Göteborg, Sweden. The company provides marketing, sales, parts, service, technology and training support to the 41 Volvo automobile retailers across the country. The company's product range includes the stylish and sporty C30, the elegant C70 hardtop convertible, the S40 sedan, the S80 flagship sedan and the versatile V50 wagon. For customers looking for a Volvo vehicle with all-road capability, the company offers the versatile XC70 and XC90. Volvo Canada is also expanding its line-up with the introduction of the new XC60, a crossover with the award-winning City Safety system as standard equipment as well as the new-for-2011 S60 sport sedan with optional Pedestrian detection with Full Auto Brake.
