Robbo's Archives

by Peter Robinson Ours was not the most jovial table in the dining room of the Geneva airport’s Movenpick Hotel that Saturday evening in August 1990. We dithered over the fish, sipped the Chardonnay and looked, well, embarrassed. Guilty that our hosts, the people responsible for the car we’d been driving all day, were paying […]

by Peter Robinson Woodward Avenue is gridlocked. Deliberately. Traffic in the four north-bound lanes is stationary, held in check behind a black Chevrolet Suburban and Hummer H2. Now, with the huge SUVs parked longitudinally across Woodward, the road ahead is clear, and our entourage can begin to move out from the Athens Coney Island diner.    […]

by Peter Robinson Even now, 27-years after the 928’s death, Zuffenhausen doesn’t like to be reminded that its front engine V8 started life as a replacement for the 911. The 928 arrived in 1977 with a price tag 38 percent higher than the 911, yet Porsche still believed it could replace the classic rear-engine model. […]

by Peter Robinson In the beginning, appropriately, it was Piero Ferrari’s idea. Enzo’s second son believed any successor to the mighty F40 should be no less than an F1 car for the road. Piero’s idea, first conceived in 1989 – only two years after the launch of the F40 and the year following the death […]

By Peter Robinson “Journalists are the enemy….do not talk to motoring writers.”   The instruction, from the communications department of a famous German car maker, was delivered verbally to its astonished designers. And almost immediately passed on to the ‘enemy’.  At new model time and (the now vanishing) motor shows, car makers are happy for us […]

by Peter Robinson Nine months before the launch of the 996 – the first water-cooled 911 – I attempted to arrange an interview with Butzi Porsche, designer of the original air-cooled 911 and son of Ferry Porsche. That was February 1997. However, my attempts to set up a meeting with Butzi at Porsche Design, his […]

by Peter Robinson Luca di Montezemolo delivered his last address to invited journalists at the 2014 Paris Motor Show. Elegant, as always, in a grey suit, his legs crossed, his black socks visible as he sipped Italian mineral water from a wine glass, the tension between Montezemolo and his boss Sergio Marchionne was obvious. This […]

by Peter Robinson If Nigel Tait had followed the family tradition, he’d have worked in the music and entertainment industries. For over 70 years, the five brothers Tait – Charles Tait, the eldest brother, Nigel’s grandfather – brought Australians some of the world’s best musical and theatrical attractions, including My Fair Lady and Joan Sutherland. […]

Good evening and thank you for inviting me to this Alfa Romeo Club gathering. Perhaps now is the moment when I should confess that I’ve never owned an Alfa Romeo…. Despite this obvious failing, I still consider myself an authentic Alfisti. Let me explain: I’m still not sure which comes first: do great drives make […]