History of the Irish Auto Industry

If I said to you “name some car manufacturing countries”. The usual suspects would come to mind  Japan,Korea,Germany,France etc. I imagine that Ireland would not be considered in that list, yet three cars were produced on these shores. The shamrock Car, famous Delorean DMC-12 and TMC Costing.

The Shamrock Car was Irelands first attempt at a production car. In the mid 1950′s American businessman William K Curtis set up the company Shamrock Motors Ltd. The plan was to build a two door four seater convertible to be exported and sold in the US.

The body was made from fiberglass with the engine , gearbox and underpinnings taken from the Austin-55. It came with a soft top and there would an option to have a fiberglass hard top. The engine was a 1500cc unit which produced around 53bhp mated to a manual 4-speed gearbox. Production began in 1959 in Castleblayney Co Monaghan, the original site was in Tralee Co Kerry but was moved to Monaghan shortly before production started. The production figures per annum were estimated at up to 10,000 units but only 8 units were ever completed, 7 soft tops and 1 hard top. Money troubles ment a short lived venture and production only lasted 6 months before the factory closed. There are said to be 4 examples of the Shamrock Car still in existance, 3 in ireland and 1 in the United States.

John Delorean created The “Delorean Motor Company” in 1975, He had already achieved legendary status in the U.S for helping create the Pontiac GTO in the mid 1960s. A decade later when asked what would be in his dream car he replied it should be  “fun to drive, safe to operate, and long-lasting.” And of course it should have super-cool gullwing doors. And what could be longer-lasting that unpainted stainless steel for the body”

The car was designed by Ital Design and lotus’s Colin Chapman provided the frame and suspension. With the engine from Renault the first prototype arrived in 1976. After recieving financing from the British Government In October 1978, construction of the 6-building, 660,000 square foot (61,000 m²) manufacturing plant began in Northern Ireland and was completed in 16 months by Farrans McLaughlin & Harvey. Officially known as DMCL (DeLorean Motor Cars, Ltd.), the facility was located in Dunmurry, a suburb of Lisburn. The first car rolled of the production line in January 21st 1981.

Production was plagued with several problems which resulted in several parts being redesigned, also quality was a big issue manly as the workforce were not from a car manufacturing background. The original price of the Dmc-12 was $25,000, which at the time was very expensive for a car that could barey reach 130mph and 0-60mph in 10.5 seconds.

The DMC-12 production lasted just over one year and in that time 8,500 units were made. In February 1982 the recievers were appointed and production halted in October of that year. Finance problems and lack of sales put an end to John Delorean’s dream and Irelands car manufactoring history. The Delorean DMC-12 still survives as a cult classic thanks to its appearance in the Back to the Future Trilogy  and many change hands for nearly double the original price.

The TMC Costin was an Irish-made rival to Lotus Seven-inspired cars like Caterham and Westfield. This lightweight sports car was built by Thompson Motor Company in Wexford, and just 39 cars were put together between 1983-1987. In 1987 TMC went bankrupt and the chassis rights were sold to American Daniel Panoz, founder of Panoz Auto Development. The Panoz Roadster is still in production and based on the Costin.

There are many countries that have assembly plants for the worlds top car companies.The UK alone has 10 different plants, Nissan, Ford, GM, BMW, Peugeot/Citroen, VW, MG Rover, Honda, Toyota and Lotus. Ireland has an abundance of engineering and manufacturing talent and Prime locations near key ports and most importantly, the number of people available to work in Ireland at the moment.

An opportunity for Ireland to have a car assembly plant could arise in the not too distant future. Now that China is a free trade area they have dozens of home grown car companies begging to be sold around the world. Ireland could be a key location for distribution to the rest of Europe. If Ireland were sucessful in securing a large car asembly plant it could restart the failing manufacturing industry and in time could have a stablising effect on the economy.

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