Vin number, is my car Irish built?

[hybridized]

Hi lads, I'm new to this club, almost finished restoring my first mini, I've had an interest in them for a long time as my dad served his time in Lincoln and Nolans and my grandad was a manager there too. My question I'd love to get answered is whether my '77 mini is an original Irish built CKD or not.
It was sold new in Cork and the vin is: 80i268i. The original Irish taxbook stamped back to '77 is the same. I can't find any on the net that are remotely similar. I read that Reg Armstrong was assembling minis in '77 so maybe it's possible?
Any help at all solving this puzzle would be greatly appreciated! Cheers Dan

[woody]

Most Irish built cars have a plate close to the vin plate stating who in Ireland assembled it .

[hybridized]

Unfortunately the car was resprayed at some stage and the vin above was the only one on the car. Any English vins I've seen from that era start with three letters and end with an 'A' for longbridge. It looks totally different than my Uk clubman vin which is typical of what I've seen.

[kerryminigringo]

Are there any shamrocks etched in the glass which would indicate Irish made glass.I have never seen a car as late as 77 built in Ireland as most of that industry finished after Ireland joined the EEC in 1973.

[dayoungfella]

My '69 Irish built car has an E on the end of the VIN which stands for 'Eire', as far as I know, so yours may well be Irish assembled too.

[hybridized]

Yeah I thought of the shamrocks on the glass alright, there are none. That's interesting about the 'E' at the end. It was suggested I could apply for a heritage certificate from the uk, that would tell me. Still nobody who has seen the serial has said that they've seen that configuration before.

[woody]

My '77 is a few hundred after yours including the E but I never found anything on it to indicate an Irish build. All my older cars have a seperate plate with Irish firm on it

[hybridized]

It's strange they don't start with the normal three letters. I read that Reg Armstrong built minis right at the end and they were built in '77. Only what I read on a forum so can't confirm that. I think I'll just bite the bullet and get a heritage certificate.

[hybridized]

Front windscreen has a shamrock but none of the others do.