Talk about the Irish car industry and most thirtysomethings will look at you blankly, wondering if you have lost your mind.
Some more aged motorists may recall the times of assembly in Ireland and the odd afficianado may remember the infamous Shamrock, Ireland's answer to the horseless carriage.
Yet, while we might not be able to boast our very own Toyota or Porsche brand, it will surprise many to learn that most marques and models of European and Japanese cars driven on Irish roads have Irish-made parts.
Around 26 component manufacturers here are making often highly sophisticated parts for nearly all European and Japanese marques, so the chances are good that the car you're driving is just a little bit Irish.
The car assembly industry faded into oblivion after Ireland joined the European Union over 30 years ago. Attempts at making Irish-made cars had also failed. In the mid-1950s, fewer than 12 Shamrocks were made, based on an Austin/ BMC 1500 body.
The big hope was these Irish- made cars would be sold in the US. Some are still around, despite the fact they have the nimble cornering qualities of a three-legged rhinoceros. Then around 1960, the Heinkel Bubble car was made in Dundalk and did quite well for a number of years, before that particular car bubble burst.
Any hopes of reviving an indigenous car-making industry are non-existent, but instead a host of component firms, mostly German and privately-owned, but with some US, one Canadian, one Japanese and a handful of Irish contenders, have sprung up and survived over the years. They employ close to 5,000 people.
Despite the intense cut-price competition, most have managed to keep going, although the Magna Donnelly Electronics plant in Naas, Co Kildare, which makes mirrors, is just completing a major restructuring programme, which has seen staff numbers fall to around 370.
Magna is Canadian-owned, one of the biggies in global car component manufacturing. Its Naas plant was among the earliest component factories to set up here, way back in 1968. It makes interior rear-view mirrors and the much more sophisticated electronic self-dimming mirrors.
As an example of where its products are used, all high-end Volvos have its self-dimming mirrors, while all Renault cars use both types of mirror.
Naas-made mirrors also feature in virtually all Citroën and Peugeot models, as well as in some Jaguars and Land Rovers.
The Magna Donnelly Electronics plant in Longford, which employs about 190 people, according to Shane Caher, general manager for Magna Donnelly Ireland, makes printed circuit boards for mirrors.
The newest Magna plant, in Bagenalstown, Co Carlow, makes large-scale stamping dies, as well as tools, for the auto industry. It was launched in 2003 and employs around 65 people.
The other really big component firm here is the German- owned Kostal company, which has been in Abbeyfeale, Co Limerick, since 1981 and in Mallow, Co Cork, for nearly three years. It makes all kinds of sophisticated electronic parts such as steering column and door control modules. Between the two plants, it employs 1,300 people.
Its Irish-made products are found in nearly all European cars on the road here.
Another German firm, Beru, which specialises in diesel ignition equipment, such as glowplugs, is based in Tralee, where it employs 250 people. Its other components are found in marques that range from Alfa Romeo to BMW, Ferrari to Lamborghini. The longest established German firm in the sector is Iralco, based at Collinstown, Co Westmeath, since 1964, where it makes all kinds of trim, for such marques as Audi, Volvo and VW.
It makes tonneau trims (the covers for the boot) for the Porsche Boxster and 911; A/ B post cappings and guide rails for the Bentley Continental Flying Spur and the bright trim pack for the Ford Galaxy, which is still to be launched.
Conor Magee, its technical sales director, adds: "We also make roof mouldings for the Bugatti Veyron, although I haven't seen any in Ireland yet."
Yet another privately-owned German firm, Kirchhoff, has been in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, for the past 25 years. The vast majority of the products it makes are engine brackets, as well as other components, which according to managing director, Sean McDermott, are fitted to many makes of car, including the new Opel Astra, the Opel Zafira and Jaguar.
While the Germans seem to have a near monopoly on the components manufacturing sector here, there is one Japanese firm, Alps, which makes such products as electronic heating and air conditioning controls and door modules, at Millstreet, Co Cork, where it has just announced a €14 million expansion.
CEL in Tuam, Co Galway, started in 1982 making security systems for cars. It's one of the rare indigenous firms in the sector. Now its electronic products focus is on driver assistance and security systems. Alan Moran, business development manager, says that they are focusing on camera products, which are expected to grow significantly in the coming years. The company employs 230 in Tuam and a further 35 in its plant in the Czech Republic.
In the North, the big Montupet UK firm, which is French- owned, has its main plant on the former De Lorean site at Dunmurry, while it has a second foundry at Campsie, near Derry.
Its production includes 800,000 aluminium cylinder heads a year for Peugeot's Tremery plant in eastern France and cylinder heads for Ford's production plants in Cologne and Dagenham, used in Ford Mondeos, the Ford Transit, the X-Type Jaguar and in London taxis.
Future development opportunities for the components sector here are likely to lie with automotive software and electronics, according to IDA Ireland.
This country also has a small but active research base in automotive electronics and software.
Some of the more traditional firms have fallen by the wayside, like Kromberg & Schubert in Waterford, which started out as a cable harness maker, in the days when Ireland was a low cost manufacturing location. At its peak, it employed 1,100 people. Those jobs went to Hungary and Slovakia.
The recent tale of a company in Donegal, a US firm, Go-Ped Europa, which set up on the Gweedore Business Park eight years ago, is a reminder of what can happen to the sector, which is under constant cost pressure.
Go-Ped was successfully making motorised scooters until about a year ago. Then identical scooters, made in China, started coming on the market for a fraction of the price. Go-Ped closed down its Co Donegal plant just before Christmas.