WARNING.— The person in whose name this vehicle is displayed may or may not be the current owner of the vehicle. Readers are warned, therefore, that this entry is not proof of ownership.
Details
- Registration Mark
- 04 L 3259
- (a) Type:
- Type 1
- (b) Year:
- 2004
- (c) Colour:
- Tornado Red
- (d) Paint code:
- LY3D
- (e) Engine CCs:
- 1600
History
- (a) Country of origin:
- Ireland
- (b) County first reg'd:
- Limerick
- (c) Current or last known location:
- Laois
Model information
Mexican Beetle
Info
What’s this? A 2004 car on Beetle.ie? I don’t believe it!!
This car is one of the veeeery last aircooled Beetles to be registered in Ireland as a new car, joining the ranks of tens of thousands of Irish-registered aircooled VWs from down through the years. It’s a 2003 model, from the last year of production, coming off the line in Puebla, Mexico shortly before Beetle production finally ended, forever.
This car, along with three others were imported into Limerick in 2004, I think the guy who imported them took it as a personal challenge to see if he could! The aircooled Beetle was long-since abandoned by VW Ireland as a saleable model, being succeeded by the New Beetle in 2000. There was no way he could have bought one from an Irish dealership so he set his mind towards sourcing his own from Mexico. It sold to a man in Dun Laoghaire who, after very little use, sold it on to his friend who actually never used it! He emigrated shortly after taking ownership so 04 L 3259 sat out behind the family homestead for well over a decade until it came up for sale recently (May 2025). As a result of this lack of use, the Beetle has only 3k kms on the clock!!!
It’s now under my (Trevor) ownership and the plan is to tidy it up a little and do the mildest and gentlest of restorations to bring this very late model back to as-new condition. 
Additional Photos
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