Ireland is a country known for many things, but automobile manufacturing is not one of those. Back in the late 1950’s, Shamrock Motors, LTD had lofty aspirations to change that.

American businessman James Conway joined forces with William Curtis of Castlebury, Co. Monahen to form Shamrock Motors, LTD. With their office in England, the pair’s goal was to produce a large luxury car aimed for the export market, with the United States as the primary target. They assigned Alvin “Spike” Rhino, a Canadian who formerly raced in the 500cc Formula 3 series, to design the car.

Production goals were, to say the least, ambitious. Conway and Curtis set sights on manufacturing 3,000 units in their first year, which would be for the 1960 model year. Their car was designed with a 98-inch wheelbase X-frame chassis sporting fiberglass body panels. Power was sourced from a 1500cc four-cylinder Austin A55 and corresponding four-speed transmission. The design featured coil springs on all four corners and independent front suspension. Production was commenced at a factory in Castlebury.

Problems arose almost immediately. The 1.5L Austin powerplant displaced just over 50 horsepower, making the car seriously underpowered compared to the vehicles it sought to compete with in the luxury market. The fiberglass body panels at the rear of the car shrouded the rear tires, making it impossible to remove a wheel without dropping the rear end. Financial issues also quickly came about, resulting on the production of eight finished vehicles when production halted after only six months. According to a magazine article published about these cars in 2013, all the remaining parts for the cars were dumped into an area lake.

That article also stated that it is believed five of the original eight cars survive, two in Ireland and three in the United States. All of the cars left the factory painted white with green interiors and green convertible tops. One of the United States cars has been repainted in a light green color and one of the cars in Ireland reportedly has a removeable fiberglass hardtop believed to have been a factory prototype.

The car appears to be exceptionally correct, and we believe the odometer reading of slightly over 10,000 miles to be correct but in accordance with Missouri statutes regarding the sale of motor vehicles by licensed dealers the car will be sold “mileage exempt” due to age. The white paint on the vehicle still presents well and the limited brightwork on the vehicle is in excellent condition. Both the car’s interior and convertible top appear to be in very good condition.