NEXT GENERATION DIARIES
Luke Robson’s first car is his forever car. Here he tells us all about his Allegro – and why he’ll never part with it
HOW DID YOU COME TO OWN YOUR CLASSIC?
‘This was my first ever car. I wanted to stand out at college so my dad and I looked for a classic car online when I turned 17 and found this Allegro. He was a car mechanic at the time so I used to go to the garage with him as a kid and I was just obsessed with all the old cars in there. He did a lot of work on the Allegro to fix things like oil leaks. It’s a little bit pimped up on the inside – we fitted a stereo, surround sound speakers, a subwoofer and a dixie horn – but on the outside we made sure it looks authentic and I really like the brown colour so we kept the paint.’
WHAT DO YOU USE IT FOR?
‘I learned to drive in it and it was my daily driver throughout college and university but now I drive it for leisure because I moved to London so I don’t need it around town. It’s been a great bonding experience for me and my dad; classic cars are our thing now and we take it on car runs. We made our own classic car run to the Cotswolds from Surrey when the London to Brighton Classic Car Run was cancelled over Covid. Any time I travel to the countryside I take the Allegro and it gets a lot of attention. Someone always stops me to have a chat about it at petrol stations – I just love the joy that people get just from seeing it drive by.’
WHAT ARE YOUR BEST OWNERSHIP TIPS?
‘Enjoy your car, take care of it and cherish it. Mine was my everyday runner so I abused it a bit; I'm a film-maker so the backseat was always full of camera equipment. I’m glad I can drive it for leisure now. In terms of running costs, classic car insurance is quite affordable – it’s the maintenance and parts that can be a bit expensive. I’m lucky that my dad knows how to fix the Allegro. There's going to be things that go wrong when you get a classic car – it’s just part of the ride. The Allegro would break down all the time when I was at university – it became a normal thing. But it’s all part of the fun of owning a classic car.’
WHAT DO YOU SEE BEING IN YOUR GARAGE IN FIVE YEARS’ TIME?
‘I’d love to get a classic sports car. I’ve got the classic family car but it would be great to get something I could do a track day in. I’m filming more racing stuff for work now so I’d love to have a faster car with that classic feel. In an ideal world a classic Porsche would be really nice – just something that feels quick, like an Aston Martin maybe. I’ll still have my Allegro, too, of course; it has so much sentimental value for me and I’ve got so many memories in it with my dad and friends. I might pimp it up
