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"That's why we decided to make a replica. Because it's a good way to enjoy the revolutionary concept of this light and fast car without risking an original", said Jorge Vázquez, who normally drives his own JVA 550 Spyder at the Latin American amateur sport races, where this car is homologated.
The JVA has fiber glass body and is a perfect replica of the car that Moss raced in Buenos Aires, with the rear tunnel behind the driver's neck. Like the original 550, the JVA has a VW based engine, but not exactly the Beetle's one: it's a VW Golf’s in-line 4 2.0-liters 100 bhp with carburetor.
Upon request, JVA can give you a little more power. These days, they are working on a "special version for a special costumer" with 180 bhp. Though, the normal JVA 550 Spyder is good enough: it's a rude-old-fashioned sport car, with a tinny cockpit, a ridiculous trunk and no roof, soft top or any kind of weather protection, but scary efficient in a fast ride, jumping from bend to bend, with the engine screaming in the ears of the driver and accelerating as if the gravity laws were abolished.
It's not a car for everyone. It's a racecar for the road, noisy, uncomfortable and a restless hair shaker. A crazy tribute to one of the history's most charismatic cars, made in Argentina.
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FACTS
· JVA 550 Spyder
· Porsche replica
· 2-seater roadster
· Mid-engine, rear-wheel drive
· 2.0-litre 4-cyl. inline
· Output: from 100 bhp at 5000 rpm
· 720 kilos
· 0-100 km/h: 7,5 sec.
· Top speed: 190 km/h
· Made in Buenos Aires, Argentina
· Price: U$ 12.500 (in Argentina)
· For sale at the US market from 2003
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