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
- JIC 793
- (a) Type:
- Type 1
- (b) Year:
- 1975
- (c) Colour:
- Miami Blue
- (d) Paint code:
- L51C
- (e) Engine CCs:
- 1200
History
- (a) Country of origin:
- Ireland
- (b) County first reg'd:
- Carlow
- (c) Current or last known location:
- Kerry
Model information
1200 Beetle
Info
Now and again, someone sends in a recent pic that jogs a distant memory and it leaves you thinking on it for a while before the penny drops. Seán McAdam posted this recent photo of the trike bearing the reg JIC 793 and I just KNEW that I’d seen it before somewhere. Well… not in person but I went digging. After a bit of searching, lo and behold: my hunch was right! It turns out Eric Russell had sent in photos of a blue Beetle he’d spotted on his travels around the country a while back. A blue Beetle with the reg JIC 793!
Eric spotted this downtrodden looking but more importantly, serviceable Beetle parked at the sea-side by its owners. It was obviously carrying them on a nice day out by the sea. The little bit of rust here and there doesn’t really matter if you’re getting out and enjoying your car. The main thing is, the owners were getting some use out of their beloved 1975 Beetle.
Fast forward to more recent times, Seán’s pic tells a different story and we’ll have to guess at what happened in the interim. JIC 793 is now transformed into a custom VW-based trike. The body of the Beetle was removed and the chassis customised so only the rear section including engine and gearbox were used and grafted onto the custom front frame to result in a trike, giving the best of both VW and motorcycle worlds. By the looks of Seán’s photo, JIC793 was being used in a pre-Christmas drive, covered in tinsel and Santas!
JIC is (was?) a late ’75 1200 Beetle, first registered in Carlow. It was delivered to Sheehy’s on 29-9-75 and the original colour was Miami Blue.
Beetle photos thanks to Eric Russell
Trike photo thanks to Seán McAdam
Additional Photos
