 In later life, he became somewhat more reticent about his involvement, often saying that it was only by chance that he had been involved and that if he had not done it someone else would have.Being a keen amateur photographer, his home was littered with images taken in the early days at Volkswagen, including one really early picture of a prototype coupe which was very similar to the Volkswagen Type 14A Hebmüller Cabriolet cars of the early 1950s.Hirst once showed a friend a scale model of a Volkswagen Beetle that Volkswagen had presented to him.