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Ten Things You Never
Knew About Jasper:


(and never thought to ask)
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Volkswagen, Volkswagen, Volkswagen.

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1987, and a hideously youthful Fforde demonstrates the bizarre dichotomy of a fine eye in automobiles, and appalling dress sense.


I've been driving Volkswagens far longer than anything else. I started off with a 1960 saloon - 226 DPX - which was stripped down and resurrected into a Beach Buggy. Over the years I have owned two split-screen campers and seven beetles, two of which are pictured above. The one on the left was my 1956 sedan 550 APC, and the other is my 1959 model YOT 32, which I used the chassis to rebuild the Porsche 356 replica I still own, and is now painted as Thursday's car. I even flew behind a Volkswagen engine when I owned a Taylor monoplane. The otherwise stock engine was modified for aviation use by putting a propellor hub where the pulley was and then replacing the flywheel with a large cog that drove two ex-tractor magnetos by way of a duplex chain. It ran pretty well, but proved to be a bugger to start.

Even now, I own a VW caravelle and Mari has a Polo. My current transport is a Smart. Not VW, but German and with a rear engine, so partly there.

Most meritous feat in a Volkswagen: Driving a beetle without a clutch across London and then all the way to Wales.
 
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