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
- 7775 IF
- (a) Type:
- Type 1
- (b) Year:
- 1975
- (c) Colour:
- Sunset Gold
- (d) Paint code:
- BMW paint code
- (e) Engine CCs:
- 1200
History
- (a) Country of origin:
- Ireland
- (b) County first reg'd:
- Cork
- (c) Current or last known location:
- Cork
Model information
1300 Beetle Deluxe
Info
Thanks to Roger O’Sullivan (Lissarda Vintage Scene on Facebook) for submitting this Beetle to the Beetle.ie Census. Roger has also submitted quite a large number of vintage VWs to the Beetle.ie Census so you will see his name pop up a lot as they are uploaded.
We have done some research here at Beetle.ie and this is what we have found:
Assembled in Dublin in January 1975, this once Senegal Red (L31A) 1300 Twin Port Beetle Deluxe was sold from O’Brien’s of Tallow in February 1975. Its first owner was in Cork so it was given the IF registration. At some point 7775 IF made its way to Dublin, was hand painted silver and then fell into disrepair. By 1989 it had landed in a secondhand car dealership in Artane and was offered for sale but there was a problem. It wasn’t running and there were little to no floors left in the Beetle. Emilio’s Beetles inquired about this 1300 Beetle but the astronomical price saw Emilio walk away, only to be followed by the dealer who, having realised he hadn’t a chance of selling a car in that condition, that couldn’t even be driven home, offered the forlorn looking Beetle to Emilio for £100. Thankfully, Emilio’s Beetles was not too far away in North Dublin so it was a short journey for this poor old Beetle.
About a year later, in late 1990 the restoration began and 7775 IF was stripped right back to see where they could start from. You could say the Beetle received pretty much everything from the Volkswagen parts catalogue including new quarter panels, front and rear as well as new floors, new heater channels, aprons and so on. It might be easier to say what it didn’t receive! A fresh coat of BMW Sunset Gold paint finished off the restoration and this Beetle was ready to hit the road once more. This was now 1992 and no sooner was the restoration finished when 7775 IF found a new home.
It was sold to a gentleman by the name of Kevin who traded in his Beetle, a Beetle that once belonged to RTE’s Marty Whelan, for 7775 IF. Kevin’s old Beetle was then restored and sold onto another new owner.
In 2008 after 16 years of 7775 IF being Kevin’s daily driver, his Beetle needed some work to bring it back up to scratch as you would expect so rather than wait for his own to be restored, as he needed a daily driver to get around, he traded his Beetle in with Emilio’s Beetles for a freshly restored Beetle. Fast forward to 2020 and Kevin is now 92 years young, still owns the Beetle that he bought in 2008 and more importantly, he still drives it every day!
So back to the Beetle in question. In 2008 Emilio was approached by a gentleman from Cork who was looking for a Beetle. He looked around at a selection of Beetles ‘on the lot’ at Emilio’s Beetles that were all waiting their turn on the restoration table and our man from the ‘real capital’ chose 7775 IF. Having a Cork registration more than likely swung the deal in favour of this Beetle above any others. Either way, this Beetle was heading to Cork once the restoration was completed, ironically, back home to where it was first registered in 1975.
The restoration was completed in 2009 and 7775 IF was back in Cork once more and as Roger noted, he spotted the Beetle and its very happy owner at many shows. There was nearly always another man with him and both men seemed to be blissfully happy watching the world go by from inside of the restored Beetle.
Sadly the owner passed away around 2012 we believe and 7775 IF was then sold by the man’s children to another new owner but this is where the trail goes cold. Maybe you knew the Beetle when Roger would see it at shows or perhaps you can add to the story of this Beetle. If so, please get in touch via cathal@beetle.ie
As we mentioned above, Roger knew this Beetle from seeing it at many shows and it was a regular on his facebook page, Lissarda Vintage Scene. We’ll leave the last word to Roger: “These two Gents travelled to all the local Cork vintage shows either side of 2010 and enjoyed reading the papers, listening to the radio and watching life go by from the comfort of their Beetle. I was saddened to see the Beetle changed ownership in 2014 but hopefully someone is loving it as much as the last owner did.”
Additional Photos
