There’s plenty of allure for lefties 
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I have that gun, vintage 1940s in a take-down .300 Savage. I love that gun!
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Only lefties are in their right mind!
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The Savage 99 was a sweet rifle!
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I guess for me it might be nostalgia. I grew up looking at a Win 94 on the top shelf of my parents’ closet. It fascinated me as well as the boxes of ammo and cartridges for it. I believed that it was my dad’s primary rifle when he was in the 101st and 82nd Airborne. I later found out that he got it from a rancher for something like $20 in the late 50s. I sometimes think about it when I pass through that busy freeway area where that ranch was located. I only shot it once before I finally got it as a gift a few years ago. I didn’t appreciate it the first time because I was very young and thought the recoil was too much. After I shot it again as a much older person, I enjoyed it and it’s what I have as one of my home defense tools, which is between my bed and a wall inside a soft rifle case. That might be my first choice because the negative stereotypes associated with scary, black rifles and “high” capacity magazines will most likely be used against me in court.
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I own a Marlin 1894 SBL and 1895 SBL…
And the “allure” for me is… There simply BA. Fun to shoot and Reliable. I own a AR-15 and AR-10, but if I’m out Prospecting, the Levers are with me. Besides I have a giant Ruger Red Hawk 9" SS in .44 Magnum that matches the 1894 for Cartridges. When I’m in Bear Country the 1895 in .45-70 is in my hands… I’ll also state that the Irons on both those rifles are accurate as F. If I had to grab something from the Safe and Run… Hard choices would have to be made… But the 1894 and AR-10 will be leaving the building…
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There’s lots of reasons to like a lever action rifle. It doesn’t matter if it’s nostalgia from the old Western movies or wanting to shoot what you’re Father did. It works and looks good.
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Left handed. Most bolt action rifles are made for right handed people. Ejecting shells burn, I know from experience.
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Lever actions sure simplify life for left handed riflemen 
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My father has a marlin and a couple of Winchesters which I shot growing up. I recently purchased a Henry myself and have had the chance to shoot quite a few different rifles including semi autos, bolt action and lever actions. I really like the comfort of a bolt action but nothing feels better then the lever actions. They seem to sit well in my grip, fast loading, quick to reset for the next shot, great for hunting small to large game in NA. I have to say my AR10 provides a real sense of power at range that you don’t get from the lever actions, but then that’s not what a lever action is made to do. I love taking it out for plinking some targets across the pond and the .22 is cheap to run.
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We have Marlin, Winchester, and Henry lever rifles in the safe from 22 LR to 45/70, and lots of stops between those two extremes. These were made between 1897 and 2017. I love the things–they may not be as accurate as some of my bolters, and they may not have the volume-of-fire potential that my gas guns have–but they hunt well and I enjoy them.
I just did a mental inventory and realized there are a total of 7 lever action rifles in my safe right now! First time I’ve really thought about it. I guess I do like them…
Edit: Whoops, 8… 
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I have levers and they are a help for me as my left arm is challenged due to polio. I can work the lever with the left hand reasonable quick but even a LH bolt is more of a challenge. I have three - 2 Henry’s in .45 colt & 30-30 and a Marlin 30-30. By far the Henry’s are easier to use and much slicker lever action. All make good home defense but the .45 Colt is the best.
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I’m not sure why I especially like lever action rifles, and I don’t particularly care. I haven’t been into cowboy stuff since before kindergarten. I like westerns, but sci fi is my favorite genre. Mechanically, they aren’t particularly durable or reliable, if my own repair experiences are any indication. They aren’t particularly accurate, at least the vast majority that do not have free floating barrels, though some of mine exceed my sighting capabilities with iron sights and red dots.
I do think maybe there’s some pleasing connection to the past there, like using fountain pens (which I often do, when I have occasion to put pen to paper at all). I guess there’s some part of me that just likes them, and I’ve seen the same in others. If you dislike pedaling a bicycle, then you’ll probably want a motorcycle and wonder why people bother with bicycles. If you take no pleasure in cycling the action of a gun manually, then you’ll probably prefer a semi-automatic. It’s rational enough. But if you shoot a lot with manually-cycled firearms, the lever action is simple, intuitive, and fun to use. From a combat perspective, a lever action is going to deliver the next highest rate of fire after semi-automatic carbines (or tied with the less common pump action rifles). Finally, although there’s no doubt that anti-gunners would take away everything if they could, lever action rifles are pretty far down the list of firearms consuming their attentions. Even Australians can have them.
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