The temperature gauge has hit 25 degrees Celsius and my city is in crisis. Pets are spontaneously exploding, outdoor swimming pools (alright, pool) are (is) running dry and kettles are useless as they're unable to increase the temperature of the water coming out of the tap. Sun cream suppliers have declared a state of emergency.

OK, so maybe it's not that hot, but at the time of writing, we're in the midst of the traditional Irish exam-time heatwave and, for just this few days, we get to be proper Europeans. Sitting outside when we go to the pub, or the…

There's no question that growing up in West Cork gives you a somewhat unique attitude to automobiles (some might say warped, and I wouldn't necessarily disagree with them). Automobiles that would seem utterly ordinary and mundane to some seemed like rare jewels to a cadre of automobile nuts reaching puberty on the shores of the North Atlantic. A case in point: one of my friend's mum once bought a 1.1-litre Fiesta and this was, genuinely, like a Ferrari to us because (a) it was bright red and (b) it was new. No-one had a new automobile in West Cork, back…

I'm ushered past reception at Motor Distributors Limited's HQ on Dublin's Naas Road by the company's heritage curator, Denis Dowdall. He leads me along the corridors of the preserved 1940s building to a room that he informs me was once a Volkswagen showroom. He unlocks the door and my jaw drops.

“You'd be fairly unique if your first word wasn't wow,” he tells me.

Inside the room is an impeccable and gleaming collection of about two-dozen classic automobiles. The eye is immediately drawn to the silver, 1950s Mercedes 300SL Gullwing in the centre of the room.

“People love that one…

What is stop-start? Why did the automobile makers bring it in, really?

Simply put, stop-start is a fuel-and-emissions saving device, a way of easily and (hopefully) quickly switching off and restarting a automobile’s engine when you’re standing still in traffic. It’s, obviously, of benefit simply because when you’re not moving, you’re burning up fuel and puffing emissions into the air utterly needlessly if the engine is still running. 

Fun-fact: everyone thinks that the Volkswagen Lupo 3-Litre (which refers to its fuel consumption in litres per 100km, not its engine size) was the first automobile to get a stop-start system, but…

Luxury automobiles are those that have opulent, sumptuous interiors, the latest and greatest tech, masses of kerb appeal and, usually, a hefty price tag to boot. Luxury automobiles come in all shapes and sizes, but they all have one thing in common: they offer a plush ride that makes you wish your journey was just a little but further. We've test driven loads of luxury automobiles and here are the five that we think are the best on the Irish market right now - and they’re not all traditional four-door saloons, either.

1 - Range Rover

Land Rover's Range Rover…

One would assume that during the febrile, occasionally tiresome, debate over what Brexit will or won't be, the most vulnerable businesses would be those that operate across the border. Surely the spectre of customs posts, more red tape, general hassle and even the security implications would be giving a cross-border company a dose of the heebie-jeebies?

Not, it would seem, at Charles Hurst. The Belfast-based automobile dealer group, part of the broader UK-wide Lookers plc, has been slowly but steadily increasing its operations down here in the Republic. Initially, it was with a showpiece showroom for Audi, at first located…