Most irish car

The Laguna of course. I remember they were everywhere in the 90s and early 00s.

The Megane Classic was another very Irish very popular car and the MK1 Megane too.

From my memories;

60’s - Morris Minor

70’s - Beetle and Mk 1 Escort

80’s - Cortina

90’s - Corolla/Datsun Cherry

00’s - Fiat Uno

10’s - Golfs/Korean

20’s - Audi/Korean

For me it is the Toyota Corolla. Loads of them consistently sold here since the 70s and we do love a reliable no frills motor.

Growing up in the 80s & 90s the Ford Escort & Opel Kadett/(and later Astra) were the stand out. Loved those adidas Ireland shirts with Opel as sponsor. For nostalgic reasons would love if they came back as sponsor.

Very true, couldn't find a red one 😁 there was a lady who lived in Mullingar with one , locals tell me she's had it since new , late 70's model I believe and I swear it looked new .

Those fiestas had a very distinctive sound too. Lived in a filling station/house as a young lad. Got to know the sound of those entering the fore court. Unmistakable

Well I suppose I was being harsh 😏, I worked in mullingar a number of years ago so it's been a while , it was in pristine condition, lovely lady, I commented on it .

My own interest is in Fiat X19's , getting rare now but still a few around that were originally registered in Ireland .

Oh the horror

The car that broke Alfa. The 156. It was beautiful but not at all reliable. How was yours? I too remember them being everywhere. I think Alfa underestimated how many of them they would sell. O would say it lost Alfa a lot if customers . I had a cousin who had a Fiat Punto mk1.

That's amazing about the Renault 18. I never knew that.

In custard yellow, or orange, with the back sagging from towing

If you want to pick one car from the past 40-50 years then it's the Corolla, they never made a bad one and they were always mega reliable. Yes, the early K20, K30 and K70's rusted to beat the band, but so did all cars of that era. Corolla was so popular here that more recently Toyota only sold the saloon 'Corolla' version in Ireland, Belgium, Spain and Turkey, everywhere else got the Auris. Even the UK never got some versions in RHD, only we did.

But really it depends on your age. Growing up in the 70's for me it was the Morris Minor, they were absolutely everywhere in rural Ireland. Mk 1 and Mk 2 Escorts took over from them, then the Japanese and the Golf/Jettas arrived.

Also depended where you came from; our local garage was an Opel dealer, so Kadetts were the car of choice, Ascona's for the aspiring middle classes and diesel Rekords (with the 2.3 bonnet hump) for those on the top of the heap.

Younger people will pick Octavia's and then Hyundai's or Qashqai's. Not having any assembly lines here or indigenous manufacturer means it can be a regional thing; Cork and Ford's in days gone by anyone?

@kevrossi my point exactly about the Corolla. I wonder what is the best selling car in Ireland ever (not differentiating between the marks or factoring in rebrands/replacements e.g. Kadett to Astra or escort to focus). Is it the Corolla or Golf?

I am a child of the 80s so remember the last of the Morris Minors, Marinas and Beetles. Looking back rust such a problem then compared to now.

I'd imagine the Corsa would be up there as well.

Any way if knowing for certain Colm? other than wading through years of data. As you post suggests, depends what way you would count them as well.

The fiesta was a brilliant little car for its day. Pretty far from a monstrosity, they are never ugly either.

As already stated, I was probably being a little harsh