Luke Wilkinson

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Luke’s worked as an automotive journalist since 2018. He started his career as a Staff Writer in Britain’s biggest weekly motoring magazine, Auto Express, before joining the Parkers team in February 2022.

He was dabbling in car journalism long before he left university, however. He just wasn’t being paid for it. As a student, he’d visit his local car dealerships (acting as if he had some money to spend) and test drive cars. He’d then write reviews on those cars for his own website, FinalDrive magazine.

The work he did in his spare time was enough to land him an internship with the Daily Record’s motoring supplement, Road Record. This gave him his first taste of how a working automotive title operates and set him up for his first proper job after his studies.

Highlights of his career so far include driving a V8-powered (and ULEZ exempt!) Range Rover Classic down Savile Row, redlining the David Brown Automotive Mini Remastered and hammering a McLaren 720S down a mile straight at 167mph in the pouring rain.

Luke needs to keep up to speed with the new car market for his job, but he’s arguably even more interested in driving older vehicles. He’s currently working to get his classic Mini back on the road, while his Dad has just finished restoring his Alfa Romeo 156. Needless to say, a love for corrosion-prone motors runs in his family.

Luke’s top tips for Parkers readers are:

• Watch model cycles like a hawk – for example, when manufacturers launch facelifted versions of their cars, there are usually deals to be had on pre-facelift models.
• Don’t be afraid of a naff badge – historically low-rent brands such as Skoda and Dacia have come an awfully long way, and now make some cracking family cars with perfectly acceptable interiors and driving dynamics.
• Shop used – leasing is all the rage these days, but you can get an excellent used car for not much more than the cost of a Personal Contract Hire deal’s deposit. Don’t over stretch yourself just for the sake of having a brand-new car on your driveway.