The radio wheels of Ireland

Radio law dictates that you’re not a radio station without a decent fleet of branded vehicles. So which Irish stations’ vehicles turned the most heads at RadioDays Europe? Here’s our countdown of the best roadsters.

7. Beat 102-103

Regional station Beat brings sharp flashes of red and white to town with this Waterford-based Audi A3. Extra points for getting this far without any mud splatters. Lose a few for being, basically, just a family hatchback. That’s appropriate enough though – CEO Gabrielle Cummins is expecting.

6. Ocean FM

Looking as fresh as Ocean spray itself with a rugged upper body styling that says “yes, I can”. The judges were disappointed that the paint job wan’t more extensive.

5. WLR FM – Waterford Local Radio

Now this is a paint job. The all-over water effect caressing the curves of this VW Beetle make this a worthy holder of position five in our chart. The registration plate looks a bit like an FM frequency but isn’t.

4. Nova 100 FM

Growing Dublin station Nova firmly asserted is presence with this flash black Tonka toy.

3. RTE Raidió na Gaeltachta

RTE’s Gaelic language station parked its impressively large mobile studio around the side of the conference hall. Extra points for being coy. The people inside were lovely but waved more enthusiastically than anyone in public radio should.

2. RTE 2FM Roadcaster

This looks the business. Funky shape. Big windows. Silly name. Roadcaster indeed! Are you also thinking Alan Partridge? Its number two position in our chart is further affirmed by the excellent external sound system. Punchy sound all round.

1. The FM104 Road Hog

Number one in the Dublin market and number one on our chart, when FM104 wheels into town you know about it. This beast sits on the chassis of a container lorry, is pulled by an industrial tractor and has a 5kW onboard generator. It’s also red.

Inside, the live air-conditioned studio can seat the cast of a proper morning show and links to RCS Master Control at base.

The rear aspect provides the best views of any vehicle we’ve seen. The desk lights up. It wins.