Ivan Hirst: Last News

VW Beetle, which he bought on 27 November 1973, from Broad Street Motors, Banbury. The car’s colour was sea-blue and its body was, at least to a non-clerical eye, Rubenesque, with the wheels covered by elegant arches and the roof sweeping down to the back bumper in a single graceful curve. Beneath that curve was a 1300cc engine, housed at the back, as was the custom within Beetles, rather than the front. The seats had fabric covers resembling knitwear. I don’t know exactly what he paid for it, but it must have been something like £2,000, the average cost of a Beetle at the time and the equivalent, in today’s money, of about £25,000.The Beetle’s origins were ignominious.

VW Beetle, which he bought on 27 November 1973, from Broad Street Motors, Banbury. The car’s colour was sea-blue and its body was, at least to a non-clerical eye, Rubenesque, with the wheels covered by elegant arches and the roof sweeping down to the back bumper in a single graceful curve. Beneath that curve was a 1300cc engine, housed at the back, as was the custom within Beetles, rather than the front. The seats had fabric covers resembling knitwear. I don’t know exactly what he paid for it, but it must have been something like £2,000, the average cost of a Beetle at the time and the equivalent, in today’s money, of about £25,000.The Beetle’s origins were ignominious.