Thanks to the archives on the Isle of Wight the original registrations still exist for the VDL range – with confirmation that Downing and Donovan registered the car on 8th December 1960. Now a (Mr?) Green from Ventnor, Isle of Wight is added to the mystery.

Vehicle registration 1960

The cars first owner was Richard Stimson, from Freshwater who acquired the car from cAugust 1961 – we assumed direct from Ryde Garage (Downing and Donovan) after it had served a year at the garage – with the newer 1200’s on display and the 948 cars discontinued.

Who was this Green from Ventnor? Frustratingly a common name – and also one that can pick up ‘Village Green’ or ‘Bowling Green’ on any Ventnor searches. Could Mr (We assume) Green have worked at Downing and Donovan and commuted to work every day? Another clue is the service schedules seemed to be on Sundays during this period in the spring of 1961 – surely a garage ‘day off’?