I couldn't resist getting behind the wheel of the Seicento and giving it a run over this last week to see how it performs as a second or starter automobile for someone motoring the bangernomics way. I have to say it is actually surprisingly nippy - especially in the lower gears and up to 80km/h.

Hard cornering, should you get too enthusiastic, does result in understeer, but it is easily controlled. The brakes are fine around town, but do require a bigger shove to stop if you are in more of a hurry and are probably the one area…

While much of the motoring world's attention will soon switch to Paris for the biennial Mondial de l'Automobile much of Ireland's attention will instead turn to Heathpark in New Ross, County Wexford for the National Ploughing Championships.

The two-day event has grown from strength to strength in recent years and now forms an important part of the automotive as well as agricultural calendar. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles will again act as the official motoring sponsor of the event with 15 Amarok double-cab pick-ups on hand to ferry organisers and personnel over the 700-acre site the Championships take place on.

Imagine you are two days away from starting your holiday. A holiday that will see you travel a total distance of over 2,000km in a week. Now imagine returning to your automobile to find that, since leaving it parked up for just a few hours, someone has reversed into it, smashing a headlight, pushing out the wing and marking the corner of the bumper. Yes, that's how I returned to find the Clio. I probably did use up my vocabulary of expletives at that moment.

With it being a weekend and my departure being a 4am start I had…

So did you have a guess at what tiny automobile the new addition could be?

Well allow me to reveal the metallic silver year 2000 registered Fiat Seicento 1.1 SX. Now many of you will have pre-conceived ideas on these automobiles, and perhaps Fiats in general. Indeed, back in 2009 I owned a Fiat 500 1.4 Lounge with nearly all the extras. I bought it brand new and while I loved the styling and the attention it got, I felt it was a real disappointment to drive.  I sold it on after just two years and never thought I would…

Bluetooth, the ubiquitous technology that allows users to share data without the need for cables, was introduced to the world way back in 1999. A little over a year later the first mobile phone to feature the ground-breaking technology, the Ericsson T36, was introduced. Since then everything from laptops to sunglasses have been fitted with Bluetooth and as of today there are in excess of 16,000 companies worldwide signed up to use Bluetooth in their products.

Why is it then that so few automobiles have it fitted as standard?

Since 2006 it has been against the law in Ireland to…

With a first service due in less than 2,000km I called into the garage on Monday to get booked in. Booking in my last automobile would take five minutes, but I could have to wait for a month so I was expecting the same. I need not have worried. A booking was made for two days' time and I was offered a courtesy automobile if I needed it. The whole process took less than five minutes and I was back on the road. My booking was made for Thursday afternoon and should take around an hour and a half.