Innovation Assessment
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The Crosslé Car Company
Nestled in the countryside of Holywood Co. Down, the Crosslé Car Company, established in 1957 by John Crosslé, has been a key player in the racing world since the 1960’s with drivers such as Nigel Mansell, Eddie Irvine, John Watson, Martin Donnelly and Thierry Boutsen all winning races from behind the wheel of a Crosslé.
Through the decades the Crosslé Car Company has evolved through innovation…
During the 1960s they produced European Formula Junior, American Formula B and Formula C cars, and sports racing cars. 1969 saw the creation of John’s first Formula Ford racing car, the legendary 16F.
In the early 70s, the Crosslé 19F set the first 100mph lap at Aintree Circuit and the 25F set a new lap record at the Formula Ford World Cup at Brands Hatch. By the late 70s Crosslé was producing over a 100 cars a year with exports forming 81% of their sales.
The 90s saw a dramatic change of direction in design as they developed the 80T, the company’s first sporting trials car. This innovative design has dominated the sport ever since and the 80T’s success has seen a resurgence in this branch of the sport, both locally and nationally.
Fast forward to today and the Crosslé Car Company is the oldest surviving specialist racing car manufacturer in the UK. They continue to build cars and direct operations from their original factory in Holywood; the company has a famous past, a unique position in the market today and a great team of people.
Up to a few years ago much of the company’s business came from refurbishment of original Crosslé cars from all over the world. However, more recently with the help of Invest NI’s Technical Development Incentive (TDI) Scheme, the company has been able to produce a new, limited edition vehicle - the 'Vaillante by Crosslé’. The Vaillante racing car is a current day realisation of the race car from the hugely popular French comic series 'Michel Vaillant' which was created in 1957 by French cartoonist Jean Graton.
The company fostered relationships with the Vaillante brand and the Classic Racing School in France, which resulted in the concept of "Vaillante by Crosslé" and with support from Invest NI, they were able to access the technology necessary to develop the custom body work for the bespoke racing car. As part of the project, Crosslé would create 13 limited edition Vaillante by Crosslé racing cars.
The company showcased their first 'Vaillante by Crosslé' at the Paris Retromobile Show in 2019, making their first sale there and then.
All 13 vehicles have now been sold, at a cost of £52,000 + VAT each, and the company is continuing to use their experience and newly acquired technical knowledge to complete the commission.
Crosslé Car Company owner Paul McMorran said:
"Without the involvement of TDI from the beginning it would have been difficult to get this project started"
Invest NI also provided support to help Crosslé register their company trademark and to attend international trade shows and the Paris Retromobile Show where the company made their first 'Vaillante by Crosslé' sale.
Paul attributes much of the success of the Vaillante project and the longevity of the company's success to innovation.
"Innovation is the life motto of Crosslé Car Company and it probably always will be"
As a result of Crosslé successfully completing each step of the Innovation Framework - ideation, selection, development and commercialisation, and successfully creating value for the company from their idea, Innovate NI recognised their achievements in December 2020 by upgrading their innovation status from Gold to Platinum.
Case Study | Hear how innovation has helped the Crosslé Car Company adapt to their evolving market.
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