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EL PASO, TEXAS – At first glance, it’s an unassuming silver 2002 Chevy Camaro. But get behind the wheel, turn on the ignition, and the odometer will illuminate “600,083.”
There’s no extra “0” in the total. It’s not distance in kilometers. It’s 600 thousand miles, as in enough miles to travel around the Earth’s equator 24 times.
Chances are, if you get a chance to read the odometer on El Pasoan Barry Burkley’s beloved Camaro, it will have quite a few more miles on it. After all, he averages more than 165 miles a day.
The mileage-verified odometer on Burkley's Camaro
Perhaps even more incredible to this phenomenal mileage is that Burkley’s Camaro still has the original engine and transmission. Neither have ever been replaced or rebuilt.
Burkley, a retired machine specialist, purchased his Camaro in 2002. He hit the big number on September 26 at the Texas-New Mexico state line while driving with his wife to Las Cruces.
Burkley does most of his Camaro’s maintenance himself, excepting electrical work, which is done at Rudolph Chevrolet. “They do the job, and do it well,” he said in a recent visit to the dealership. Burkley also purchases parts at Rudolph Chevrolet.
Burkley attributes the Camaro’s mileage to a few key factors. “I don’t worry about being the first one across the intersection…I’ll catch up to you at the next light anyway,” he says. That’s a change from his youthful days of stock car racing in the 1950s when he earned the nickname “Left Turn” — a tribute to the constant left turns race car drivers face on the track. Another factor he attributes to the car’s mileage is the culmination of all his Camaro’s parts being made and assembled to perfection.
While Burkley can’t promise that every Camaro — or any car for that matter — will reach more than half a million miles, he says that the main thing people can do to prolong their vehicle’s life is regular maintenance, including oil changes and brake pads at the manufacturer’s specified intervals. Additionally, he recommends not driving aggressively. By not racing his Camaro, he’s averaged 85,000 miles on every set of tires, and is now on his seventh complete set.
“I want to show people that American-built cars can be as good as any other cars in the world if you take care of it,” Burkley said.
Burkley’s not ready to retire his Camaro from the streets of El Paso just yet. “I haven’t thought about (purchasing) another car. I don’t know if I’ll ever need another car,” he says with a chuckle.