Renault 5 Turbo, 158hp. Not massive by modern standards, but substantial in the early eighties.

Hadn't thought about the engine access issue. Good point. Cabin's quite nice, too.

The Nissan passenger vans are just so weird.

Those wheels, the tints - a thousand times no. So you stuck a V8 in it. Good for you. People seem to think that an everyday Benz can command ridiculous money.

Thing is, can it even be a valid VIN since it has a "Q" in it?

Is the guy trying to claim he has a title for it? How?

Yes, that's what I thought of too. I have a vague memory of reading that they're related somehow, but I wouldn't swear to it.

Part of me says Subaru Alcyone, but part of me says mid-80s F150. I don't care where he's from, Han's a American boy.

I agree with everything you've written.

It's just that you've been referring to them as "Irish Soldiers" and that everything you've said indicates that you don't understand the origin and significance of the ceremony. Indeed, the entire situation past and present is a good deal more nuanced than your reading of it suggests.

I think you may slightly confused about what is actually happening here. The Duchess of Cambridge is not presenting shamrocks to soldiers of the army of the Republic of Ireland.

I agree with you. The idea that "everyone in Ireland is drunk today" may be relatively harmless, but it's false and ridiculous. I've had people in America say to me "How can you call yourself Irish if you don't drink?"

In fairness to the author, this article is so much better than posting the recipe for Irish Car Bombs, which Jalopnik used to do on St Patrick's Day. I mean, it's actually about something. And it has sparked some interesting car-based conversations.

Thanks for the extra info. I've been pretty curious about them since only discovering they existed a few weeks ago.

There's a fair bit of information on the York Nobel here [www.carandclassic.co.uk] and here [www.britishmm.co.uk] but I can't vouch for the accuracy of either. There may have been as many as a thousand made.

In fairness to the author, you could say Dunmurry is part of Belfast. But "Dunmurry, Ireland" does sound odd.

There were probably others, but I know that VW Beetles were assembled in the Republic, and Shorts up in Northern Ireland built a bubble car, the York Nobel (see picture), briefly. A version of the Clan Crusader was produced in Newtownards in the 80s, as far as I know.

The huge difference is that the dealer said something that was perhaps unintentionally funny, whereas you knowingly said something offensive.

Whether joking or serious, why on earth would you make a comment like that?

Cheers for expanding my knowledge.