The taxi-“dog” of the Thessaloniki driver that “swallowed” 4.6 million kilometers

When the Grigoris Sachinides he decided to invest professionally in a Mercedes brand car, as he himself was a taxi driver, he obviously had demands from his purchase, but he probably didn’t imagine what would follow either.

And what followed for the next 23 years of professional travel was 4.6 million kilometers (4,600,000 kilometers to put it in writing and to… solidify it)! A distance that practically means 6 times “go – come” from the Earth to the Moonsince our planet and its satellite are separated by… only 384,400 kilometers, which Sahinidis and his tool apparently had for… breakfast!

It all started when Grigoris Sachinidis wanted to buy a car to work as a taxi in Thessaloniki and turned to his brother who at that time lived in Germany. A country completely identified with the automotive industry, where Mercedes occupies a prominent position.

Thus, paying the amount of 6,000 marks he made one his own Mercedes W115, or 240 D, as its trade name iss. Possibly the 220,000 kilometers who already had the used car on the counter (built in 1976) after only 5 years of release they troubled him somewhat, but life itself proved that it was probably the best expenditure and the most correct investment of money that he had ever made…

Anyway, o brother he was working for him in those years on behalf of this particular company, so he also played his part by putting his hand in the fire as an expert on the condition of the model.

For the next 23 years driver and car became one. Countless races followed, not only on the streets of the co-capital, but also throughout Greece. In addition, this “dog” of the asphalt did not even “chew” the times (and there were quite a few, it’s true) that it had to cross the border in order to transport its passengers to neighboring countries, such as Turkey, Bulgaria and Serbia.

The services required were countless of course, as meticulous maintenance was essential over the years. In fact, Grigoris Sahinidis made sure to have it at his disposal three different motors so that it can change them, which during almost 2.5 decades of operation, required 11 times.

When the Greek taxi driver finally decided in 2003 to change cars (which, however, was not of the same brand!), he wanted to thank the Mercedes people in his own way through a letter at the headquarters in Germany, where he expressed his gratitude and admiration for the legendary 240 D, which in the meantime had filled the Greek roads and not only in the 80s and 90s and became synonymous with the motoring industry.

This particular letter was brought to his attention Juergen Hubbertwho at that time was a member of the management association and significant strain of the industry. And after sending to Greece and Thessaloniki a group of experts who certified the improbable achievement, he submitted to Sachinides a proposal that he could not refuse.

She asked him to transfer the car to the Mercedes museum in Germanywith Sahinidis being awarded at a separate event but also receiving a brand new C200 CDI!

However, for the sake of history alone and without the slightest desire to diminish the achievement of the Greek taxi driver and the German car, the absolute record of more kilometers does not belong to this particular duo.

At the top of the relevant list proudly stands an American teacher named Irv Gordon who bought one Volvo P1800 S in the distant 1966 and until 2018 when he passed away, he covered behind his wheel 5,230,368 kmi.e. 6.8 times distance to go to the Moon and go around our planet!