A Look at pennzoil Presents: High Mileage Heroes—Cogratulations to CarDogThreePedals and CozTOs!
Before we announce the winners of July’s High Mileage Heroes giveaway, we need to mention another cool giveaway that everybody should take advantage of; our partners at Pennzoil are currently offering a rebate good for up to 6 quarts of Pennzoil motor oil! That’s a free oil change for most vehicles out there, and one heck of a generous offer. Now, on with the show…
Even before the dust had settled, the 49-years-owned, first model year Bronco with somewhere north of 400k miles had broken away from the pack, and it retained a healthy lead until the finish line. That truck was won by @CozTOs, and our favorite comment came from @CarDogThreePedals, who captured so eloquently what inspired us to put this old rig on the list in the first place.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.
The following applies to all of these vehicles here, but the latter applies to the Bronco and its owner of 49-years the best. The stories and pictures from the wife are what made this an easy decision for me. What repairs or upgrades did he not do himself? Sounds like he did everything. This Bronco was every bit as much about the destination as it was about genuine pride in ownership.
Now, putting aside pony cars, muscle cars or sports cars, the number of regular production, mass produced domestic vehicles from the ‘60s that you could put over 400K-miles on and then have go for $50K nowadays has to be a very short list. What a roller coaster depreciation/appreciation curve.
I just know that Alan, who could fix anything, was smiling down upon his Bronco when it was listed.
And another thing, all of these miles were done in a famously spartan vehicle without air conditioning.
I’m not just voting for the Bronco, I’m voting for Alan, his wife and their story.”
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves—and we didn’t try, so congratulations to us for showing some restraint, and congratulations to CarDogThreePedals and the buyer CozTOs, who we hope is bopping around in this Bronco without a hardtop right now. We’ll be getting in touch with you shortly about your new 1/18 scale BaT Ford Roadster Hot Rod!
Big thanks are also due to Pennzoil for sponsoring this series, and the BaT community for participating in some lively and entertaining discussion. Long may we drive, indeed! Don’t forget to cash in your rebate good for up to 6 quarts of any Pennzoil motor oil this summer.
ORIGINAL POST:
What fun is a car if it’s not driven? That’s always been our philosophy, and our friends at Pennzoil share this outlook. To help members of the BaT community get their cars on the road where they belong, they’re offering a rebate good for up to 6 quarts of any Pennzoil motor oil to all members of this site (seriously, get your free summer oil change!). In support of their “long may we drive” mantra, we’re highlighting some of the many steadfast vehicles on this site that have rewarded their owners with decades of regular use and enjoyment. This is our salute to those High Mileage Heroes.
We’re sticking with the contest we rolled out last time, and asking you to tell us which of these cars most resonates with you, and why. Both the winning bidder of that automobile and author of our favorite comment will be awarded a 1/18 scale BaT Ford Roadster Hot Rod! We’ll count comments submitted until next Wednesday, July 22. Last month we were inspired to award three winners, commenter @TheRealGuitardave, buyer@Basil017, and the 200k-mile Viper’s original owner and seller, @Viper1952.
Here are July’s High Mileage Heroes! Be sure to pick your favorite by commenting below.
Single-Family-Owned 1988 Honda CRX Si 5-Speed
It’s news to nobody that Hondas—particularly 1980s and ’90s Hondas—can easily go 300k miles, and the CRX can make every one of those miles fun. The “Bsting” here travelled 291k miles with the seller’s son-in-law, and as a thank you for its many years of service, it got an upgraded DOHC ZC four to take it over the 300k line. Southern California is to cars what the island of Sardinia is to humans, by which we mean that the favorable climate has kept it remarkably well-preserved. @Zmeister picked it up in the fall of 2025, and we’d love to know how many miles are on the clock today.
European buyers got a very different E24 635CSi than we did in the US, with a higher-compression M30B34, close-ratio dogleg 5-speed, reduced emissions equipment, slim bumpers, and a cool front fascia. The 329k miles currently shown are on a replacement odometer, so the actual total might be even higher. Back in the ’80s, German specialists often demonstrated open disdain for their clientele, but if you could get in good with your local tech, your car could run forever. That appears to be the case here. It did receive some major attention in the last 10 years (nearly everything becomes a wear item at some point) and got performance shocks, exhaust, and other goodies, but that’s a win for the buyer @e9er, whose username tells us he might know a thing or two about these cars already.
1986 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16 5-Speed
Mercedes from the “bank vault” era are known for their longevity. Heck, the company even made grille badges for owners to tout their mileage as a sort of status symbol. But the hot rod 190E 2.3-16 was made for short sprints, not the marathon, with a high-strung Cosworth-built motor, close-ratio five-speed, and sport suspension. No matter—this one has accumulated enough travel to circumnavigate the globe a dozen times. Sure, it’s sun-baked, but that kind of wear isn’t even skin-deep. We have it on good authority that the buyer @Escondidoron has already taken this car on some adventures—you’ll be able to read about those soon.
49-Years-Owned 1967 Ford Bronco 289
This Peacock Blue Bronco Sport outlived its owner of 49 years, though he managed to put over 400k miles on it during his tenure. Once again, we have the desert climate to thank for the condition of the body, as this truck lived in Carson City, Nevada, for most of its life. Mechanically, this is a relatively simple vehicle, and it was well cared-for by its long-time owner, who performed a repaint in the 1980s, and swapped in a roller-cam 5.0 sourced from a F0x body Mustang. The owner’s family was rewarded for his efforts with a solid final result, and we’d love to know how the buyer, @CozTOs, has been doing with it since.
Be sure to vote for your favorite! We’ll be awarding a BaT Roadster model to the author of our favorite comment as well as the buyer of the vehicle that receives the most votes.
