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
- NI 7319
- (a) Type:
- Type 1
- (b) Year:
- 1953
- (c) Colour:
- unknown
- (d) Paint code:
- unknown
- (e) Engine CCs:
- 1131cc
History
- (a) Country of origin:
- Ireland
- (b) County first reg'd:
- Wicklow
- (c) Current or last known location:
- unknown
Model information
Oval Window Beetle Deluxe
Info
Sent in recently by a long-term fan, this quaint old picture from Tinahely in Co. Wicklow shows what has to have been one of the very earliest “new” Oval-window Beetles in Ireland. The Wicklow reg dates from July 1953, a month or so after the first Irish-assembled Ovals hit the roads – thanks to Kieran Moynihan for the information. Much appreciated.
The car in the photo has bumper over-riders which would indicate it is a Deluxe model.
The Dublin factory always lagged behind the model changes as they happened in Germany due to the time involved in packing the “new” CKD kits, shipping them by sea to Dublin port, transferring them to the Naas road factory and finally those parts making it onto the production line and out the door as a finished Beetle. In this case, the time lag worked out to be around three months, the history books give the 10th of March, 1953 as the changeover date from split to oval rear windows in Wolfsburg. We understand the lag varied over the years from as little as a few weeks to many months, as in this case. There was no hard and fast rule about how long the lag was. In typical Irish fashion, “we’ll get there when we get there!”
Additional Photos
Sorry, no more photos yet. If you have some, please submit them