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 cars. 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 car 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 car’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 car to get a stop-start system, but…

Luxury cars 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 cars 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 cars 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 car 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…

The Geneva Motor Show returned to form this year with its usual smattering of significant new production models, high-performance exotica and futuristic concepts. There was something for almost everyone, although the messages from the industry were mixed. With CO2 emissions being as much to the forefront of consumers' minds, showcasing 800hp supercars like the McLaren Senna and 300hp compact SUVs like the Cupra Ateca seemed a little off-message. Other car makers were making up for it with an ever-increasing number of pure-electric concepts such as the somewhat unexpected

These are the cars that we all desire – the tightly-styled, sporting but still practical saloons and estates (usually, but not exclusively German) that trigger pangs of jealousy in others. Nothing cheap here, but some surprisingly good value all the same...

1 - Audi A4

Yes, it does look pretty much exactly like every other A4 ever made, but the current Audi four-door is smooth and soothing to drive, solidly made and practical and useful in Avant estate form.

Read the Audi A4 reviews here

2 - Mercedes C-Class

Is this Mercedes' handsomest car? Probably,…