Peter Robinson
Journalist
Peter has been living on Planet Car since, as a boy, he and cousin Bruce sat on the gutter of a main road in Melbourne, Australia, watching the cars go by, arguing the virtues of European versus American versus Australian cars. After a 59-year career as a motoring writer, he appreciates how fortunate he has been to owe his livelihood to driving and writing about cars.
His career began in 1962 and by 1971 he was editor of Australia’s Wheels magazine. Offered the position of European Editor of Autocar magazine, he moved to Italy in 1988, continuing to work for Wheels. For 16 years he drove all the new models, profiled the industry’s key designers, engineers, product planners and CEOs. Peter has the distinction of having been banned for life by Ferrari. Twice.
First car:
A 1292 Pontiac paddock bomb. But it was an Austin Healey Sprite that taught me the delights of open-top motoring
Dream car:
Porsche 911 Carrera 2 (993). In left-hand driver to avoid the RHD model's compromised driving position
Fondest driving memory:
Discovering four of Italy’s great hillclimbs in a Ferrari 599 GTB over five days and 900 miles of pure driving magic
"What makes a car great? For me the common threads are a blend of the elegant and the practical, a dynamic character, useable performance and above all, a sense of connectedness. The cars I like don’t necessarily need to be do-everything models, but they must work over my sensibilities"
