Shamrock (car)

Last updated

A Shamrock car Shamrock front left.jpg
A Shamrock car

The Shamrock was a car produced in Ireland for a brief period during the late 1950s.

The business was established by American businessmen James F. Conway and William K Curtis in Castleblaney, Co. Monaghan. The aim was to produce a large luxury car model for export to the US market. Alvin 'Spike' Rhino, a Canadian ex 500-cc Formula 3 racer, designed the Shamrock. [1]

Shortly after production began, however, design flaws became apparent. Although the car was big and heavy, it used a relatively small Austin A55 1.5 litre engine, which limited performance. The A55 also provided the transmission and suspension. Another problem was that the rear wheels were shrouded by body panels and a rear wheel could not be removed (for puncture repair for example) without dropping its axle. The car used fibreglass body panels and was styled as a four seat, two door coupé with removable hardtop. The wheelbase was 98 inches (2487 mm). All cars were painted white, although one in the USA has been repainted candy green.

Production of up to 10,000 cars a year was discussed but as few as ten complete cars were produced during the six months before production ceased. After the factory closed, the unused parts were dumped into the local lake, Lough Muckno [ citation needed ].

The car is now very rare, and only nine are believed to still exist: five in Ireland—one each in Killarney, Castleblayney, and Wexford, two in Drogheda, and one in Carlow—and four in the USA, one in Seattle, one in Virginia and two in California.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porsche 914</span> Mid-engine sports car (1969–1976)

The Porsche 914 or VW-Porsche 914 is a mid-engined sports car designed, manufactured and marketed collaboratively by Volkswagen and Porsche from 1969 until 1976. It was only available as a targa-topped two-seat roadster powered by either a flat-4 or flat-six engine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volkswagen Beetle</span> Car model from 1938 to 2010

The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, is an economy car that was built by the German company Volkswagen (VW) from 1938 until 2003. It has a rear-engine design with a two-door body style and is intended for five occupants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamborghini Diablo</span> Sports car

The Lamborghini Diablo is a high-performance mid-engine sports car built by Italian automobile manufacturer Lamborghini between 1990 and 2001. It is the first production Lamborghini capable of attaining a top speed in excess of 320 kilometres per hour (200 mph). After the end of its production run in 2001, the Diablo was replaced by the Lamborghini Murciélago. The name Diablo means "devil" in Spanish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chevrolet Impala</span> American full-size car

The Chevrolet Impala is a full-size car that was built by Chevrolet for model years 1958 to 1985, 1994 to 1996, and 2000 to 2020. The Impala was Chevrolet's popular flagship passenger car and was among the better-selling American-made automobiles in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamborghini Countach</span> Sports car produced by Lamborghini (1974–1990)

The Lamborghini Countach is a rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive sports car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Lamborghini from 1974 until 1990. It is one of the many exotic designs developed by Italian design house Bertone, which pioneered and popularized the sharply angled "Italian Wedge" shape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiat X1/9</span> Motor vehicle

The Fiat X1/9 is a two-seater mid-engined sports car designed by Bertone and manufactured by Fiat from 1972–1982 and subsequently by Gruppo Bertone from 1982–1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincoln Town Car</span> Full-size luxury sedan (1980–2011)

The Lincoln Town Car is a model line of full-size luxury sedans that was marketed by the Lincoln division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. Deriving its name from a limousine body style, Lincoln marketed the Town Car from 1981 to 2011, with the nameplate previously serving as the flagship trim of the Lincoln Continental. Produced across three generations for thirty model years, the Town Car was marketed directly against luxury sedans from Cadillac and Chrysler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renault 4</span> Motor vehicle

The Renault 4, or R4 in short, is an economy car built by the French company Renault from 1961 to 1994. Although the Renault 4 was first marketed as a short estate or wagon, its minimal rear overhang, and its top-hinged, single-piece tail-gate made it the world's first mass-produced hatchback car, as well as the first time Renault had used a front-wheel-drive layout in a family car. A bare-bones, entry-level Renault 3, or R3 was also offered in 1961/1962.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dodge Charger Daytona</span> Motor vehicle

Dodge produced three separate models with the name Dodge Charger Daytona, all of which were modified Dodge Chargers. The name was taken from Daytona Beach, Florida, which was an early center for auto racing and still hosts the Daytona 500, NASCAR's premier event. The original Dodge Charger Daytona was designed to beat the competition in NASCAR racing. It was the first NASCAR vehicle to reach 200 miles per hour, which was a major milestone at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opel Calibra</span> Coupe produced by Opel

The Opel Calibra is a coupé, engineered and produced by the German automaker Opel between 1989 and 1997. In the United Kingdom, where it remained on sale until 1999, it was marketed under the Vauxhall brand as the Vauxhall Calibra. It was also marketed as the Chevrolet Calibra in South America by Chevrolet, and the Holden Calibra in Australia and New Zealand by Holden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferrari 275</span> Motor vehicle

The Ferrari 275 is a series of front-engined V12-powered grand touring automobiles with two-seater coupé and spider bodies produced by Ferrari between 1964 and 1968. The first 275 series cars were powered by a 3.3 L (3286 cc) overhead camshaft Colombo 60° V12 engine producing 260–320 hp (190–240 kW). An updated 275 GTB/4 was introduced in 1966, with a revised four overhead camshaft engine producing 300 hp (220 kW). The 275 series were the first road-going Ferraris equipped with a transaxle and independent rear suspension.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferrari Mondial</span> Motor vehicle

The Ferrari Mondial is a mid-engined, V8, grand tourer manufactured and marketed by Ferrari between 1980 and 1993 – with styling by Pininfarina and bodywork by Carrozzeria Scaglietti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BMW Z1</span> Motor vehicle

The BMW Z1 is the first model in BMW's line of Z series roadsters, and was produced in limited numbers from 1989 to 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Citroën Méhari</span> Motor vehicle

The Citroën Méhari is a lightweight recreational and utility vehicle, manufactured and marketed by French carmaker Citroën over 18 years in a single generation. Built in front-wheel (1968–1988) and four-wheel drive (1980–1983) variants, it features ABS plastic bodywork with optional/removable doors and foldable, stowable, fabric convertible top.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austin Cambridge</span> Motor vehicle

The Austin Cambridge is a medium-sized motor car range produced by the Austin Motor Company, in several generations, from September 1954 through to 1971 as cars and to 1973 as light commercials. It replaced the A40 Somerset and was entirely new, with modern unibody construction. The range had two basic body styles with the A40, A50, and early A55 using a traditional rounded shape and later A55 Mark IIs and A60s using Pininfarina styling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MG Magnette</span> Motor vehicle

The MG Magnette is an automobile that was produced by MG between 1953 and 1968. The Magnette was manufactured in two build series, the ZA and ZB of 1953 through to 1958 and the Mark III and Mark IV of 1959 through to 1968, both using a modified Wolseley body and an Austin engine.

Morris Cowley was a name given to various cars produced by Morris from 1915 to 1958.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chrysler Centura</span> Motor vehicle

The Chrysler Centura is a midsize car which was produced by Chrysler Australia between 1975 and 1978. It was based on Chrysler Europe's Chrysler 180 model, but was also available with larger Australian-made Hemi Six engines. 19,770 Centuras were built.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaguar XK (X100)</span> Grand Tourer made by Jaguar from 1996–2006

The Jaguar XK8 is a grand tourer launched by Jaguar Cars in 1996, and was the first generation of a new XK series. The XK8 was available in two-door coupé or two-door convertible body styles with the new 4.0-litre Jaguar AJ-V8 engine. In 1998, the XKR was introduced with a supercharged version of the engine. In 2003, the engines were replaced by the new 4.2-litre AJ34 engines in both the naturally aspirated and supercharged variations. The first-generation of the XK series shares its XJS-derived platform with the Aston Martin DB7, with both cars tracing their history back to an abandoned Jaguar development study in the mid-1980s known as XJ41/XJ42, which had been mooted to be known as the F-Type.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adler 2.5-litre</span> Motor vehicle

The Adler 2.5-litre was a sensation when first presented by Adler at the Berlin Motor Show early in 1937, although this did not convert into correspondingly sensational sales.

References

  1. May, Melanie. "The Shamrock Car might just be the rarest Irish-made car of all time". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 6 September 2020.