Half Scottish and half Chilean, 26-year-old entrepreneur Andy Meikle, who mixes Latin looks with a gruff Scottish accent, bought his white 2010 Mercedes C200 Kompressor AMG in August and is more comfortable than most interviewees when answering questions about it.
My Car: First-hand accounts of life behind the wheel
Whether they're off-roaders or family transports, vehicles in the Emirates inspire plenty of passion in their owners.
Born in Edinburgh but having lived in Dubai since he was six, Meikle established The Question Company - an SMS-based information service - 18 months ago. It has since motored to answering up to 1,000 queries a day.
When asked whether The Question Company receives many motoring-related requests, Meikle laughs. "You wouldn't believe the number of random car questions we receive. We get loads of regular car questions, like where to buy specific cars and parts or recovery, servicing and repairs. We even get people who send in their licence plate number for us to let them know how many speeding fines they've racked up," he adds.
However, random question like "How much does a Ferrari weigh?" often come in - much to the delight of Meikle's team. "The thing with our service is that we need to give an adequate response, so we replied - 'Each type of Ferrari has a different weight. However, the popular Ferrari F430 weighs 2,954lbs, which is 1,340kg'," he says.
"I used to have an Audi A6 but fancied something sportier, so was checking out Audis and other cars at the showrooms on Sheikh Zayed Road. This C200 was one of many I test drove and was definitely the smoothest drive of all," he says.
"It was only six months old and it just caught my eye - plus the salesman in Gargash Used Cars taunted me, saying it was the only manly one in the showroom, so I had to opt for this one and thought it was a snip at Dh125,000," Meikle adds.
And it wasn't only the Mercedes' looks and performance that appealed to this sensible head on young shoulders: "I really liked the shape of the body and the sporty and simple interior. The salesman also explained the safety features and this appealed greatly - having lived in the UAE most of my life, I've seen countless examples of drivers playing dodgems on the road."
"I actually like my Mercedes C200 even more now than when I bought it and feel the AMG sports package gives it an extra edge," explains Meikle. "I've no intentions of swapping the car as I don't get to enjoy it enough. I definitely need to get it out on the open road more and put it through its paces as it's too restrictive driving around the city with all the speed cameras," he says.
Contentment is hardly a characteristic of the average entrepreneur so, upon further prompting, Meikle concedes he does covet a car from his homeland: "Okay, I admit it, I would love to replace the C200 with an Aston Martin DB9, as I've driven one and it's just an incredible vehicle.
"Everything about it oozes class, power and technological superiority, so it suits me, particularly due to my British roots."
Meikle says his friends love driving his car and he has received compliments about its smooth drive and the effectiveness of its powerful brakes. However, as a popular man about town, Meikle appears a little coy when asked what the opposite sex thinks of his car.
With a flash of his smile, the young business bright spark says: "Girls haven't really commented much on my car - maybe that's why I should step up my saving for a DB9." With this fast-moving young entrepreneur, it doesn't seem out of the question.
