Historic Information - Country of Manufacture

The cars were manufactured in a factory built from the ground up in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland just six miles from downtown Belfast. The site of the factory was 72 acres of boggy land right between the Catholic district of Twinbrook and a Protestant area near Lisburn Road. In addition to the factory in Ireland where the cars were assembled (using parts primarily manufactured elsewhere), two Quality Assurance Centers (QACs) in the United States (Costa Mesa/Irvine, CA and Wilmington, DE) handled quality related issues prior to dealer delivery. A $600 charge for the processing was added to the window sticker.

The car company was originally started with money from investors wanting a four-to-one-writeoff available with tax regulations at the time. The factory in Ireland and related working capital for production of the first cars was provided with backing by the English government and their NIDA organization (Northern Ireland Development Administration), and I suspect the employment situation in Northern Ireland had much to do with the governments initial eagerness to help out. General unemployment was at 11 percent, though some put Catholic rates closer to 40-50 percent.

The car was originally intended for the US market and all the proper emissions equipment is standard on the car. Most of the cars were sold in the US with only a few sold elsewhere in the world. A series was produced for the Canadian market.