An Irish Classic: Only eight Shamrocks were made. Paddy Byrne has two of them. He tells Oonagh Charleton about them.
One thing retired fireman Paddy Byrne is sure of is that he'll never jump into his 1959 Shamrock to get anywhere in a hurry, let alone rush to a blazing inferno. Not that he doesn't have a certain amount of faith in the Austin A55 engine, but he admits that the one comic end to American investment in Irish car manufacturing is sitting happily in his driveway.
Paddy has been the centre of attention for several years as owner of one of the eight Shamrocks ever made - with a second one in his garage awaiting restoration.
Several British car TV programmes have contacted him, among them Drive which camped out at his Drogheda house to complete a documentary on his Irish classic.
Light-hearted about the criticism his car has received through the years, he lives in wise acceptance of the digs proffered in the occasional review. This in itself reinforces the legacy of the Shamrock as one of Ireland's worst-made cars, but most loved by those who came to own one.
"When I got it there was only 22 miles on it," grins Paddy who is bursting with information and enthusiasm. "I bought it for £100 and there is no way in the world I will ever sell it."
All the running gear in the Shamrock is Austin - a 1.5 litre engine, fibreglass body and ladder-frame chassis. The engine produces around 53 bhp at 4.5 rpm and rod and coil springs are used in the suspension, rather than the more common leaf springs.
"Personally speaking, they didn't do their homework on it," Paddy admits. "She swings around like a ballet dancer and the engine is too small for it." While he freely acknowledges her failings, he enjoys the attention the car gets at shows around the country.
"When you go to shows, people will come over and look," he glows. "They have no idea it's Irish."
Designed and destined for the US market by an American, Bill Curtis, the idea was to produce 3,000 cars in the first year rising to 10,000 within the following two years. The plant was at Castleblayney, Co Monaghan. Eight cars were built before a cash-flow crisis halted the project.
The idea was to build a car in the retro fashion of the day and give it an Irish twist. It had excessively overhanging front and rear, tail fins, yards of chrome and convertible capability.
The Shamrock was built to a design by a Spike Rhiando and oozed Jackie Kennedy, with plush wall-to-wall carpeting, and loud white paintwork.
Paddy rarely brings it out for a spin but, when he does, he admits that precautions must be taken.
" If you are going anywhere in it," he says, " you have to plan in advance. For instance, you also can't put too much weight in the back."
A quirky Shamrock characteristic is its down-right refusal to let you change the rear tyres. "At one stage, I went to take the back wheel off . . . you just couldn't. The shock absorbers were too short to drop the axle down enough. So, if you got a puncture, well . . . they just didn't account for these things when they were making it."
Another thing Curtis got wrong was the fact that the engine was just too small for the body. Nor did he think about the cost of fibreglass at the time. Fuel consumption is about 30 mpg.
Paddy is emphatic about one thing: the Shamrock has never failed him. "You do have to play safe with it, but she has never let me down."
The other Shamrock in Paddy's garage has 33,000 miles on the clock - and, according to Paddy, has plenty of life left in it.
His garage is home to many vehicles from a motor museum which the Byrne brothers ran in Drogheda until funding ran dry. Among them are a Renault Caravelle and a Penny Farthing. At 16-feet long, the Shamrock is impossible to miss. Its front bull-bar, split lines along the wings and fins, and blinding shine all help of course.
Admittedly, the Shamrock hasn't gone down in motoring history as a great manufacturing feat. It hasn't achieved any design status.
Nevertheless, it does hold a place in the hearts of those who happen to own one. And owning two of only eight cars ever built in the world is no small feat.
So, while Paddy Byrne may not be racing around the countryside pulling handbrake turns with his "ballet dancer", he is quietly preserving a small piece of Irish motoring history and a car that deserves at least one run.