Author: Keith Martin

Keith Martin has been involved with the collector car hobby for more than 30 years. As a writer, publisher, television commentator and enthusiast, he is constantly on the go, meeting collectors and getting involved in their activities throughout the world. He is the founder and publisher of the monthly Sports Car Market, now in its 33rd year. Keith has written for the New York Times, Automobile, AutoWeek, Road & Track and other publications, is an emcee for numerous concours, and had his own show, “What’s My Car Worth,” shown on Velocity. He has received many honors, including the Lee Iacocca Award, the Edward Herrman Award, was inducted into the Concorso Italiano Hall of Fame and more. He is on the boards of directors of The LeMay Museum and Oregon Ballet Theater, and was formerly the chair of the board of the Meguiar's Award.

Keith’s Blog: Could It Be the Vacuum Line?

My son Bradley’s 1982 Chevrolet Corvette continues to create its own adventures. He spent a weekend at Sauer’s Machine and Racing, a shop in Medford, OR. His grandfather, Dick Ewing, who dragged-raced a C1 Corvette and was known for his ability to work wizardry with nitrous injection, works as a […]

Keith’s Blog: The Drive to Monterey

It’s been 30 years since SCM made our first 2,000-mile roundtrip from Portland to Monterey Car Week. For many years, we drove a van with boxes of magazines strapped to the roof. More recently we have shipped our materials ahead and flown down. However, my son Bradley turned 16 this […]

Keith’s Blog: See You in Monterey

For the first time in four years, I’ll be in Monterey. I’m going to keep an abbreviated schedule this year, arriving on Wednesday in time for our annual SCM contributor’s meet-up, and departing Saturday morning. I’ll be bringing my son Bradley with me, and he is all agog about seeing […]

The Kumbaya Corvette

You could hear the screech of the A/C compressor belt up and down Main Street. Forty classic cars were lined up for the start of the concours wine tour. Now in its 49th year, the Forest Grove Concours d’Elegance is the oldest concours in the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1973, […]

Keith’s Blog: Belts and Suspension

My son Bradley and I have just finished another classic car tour weekend. We were participating in the Northwest Classic Car Challenge, hosted by the Alfa Romeo Owners of Oregon. Restoration shop Vintage Underground were the primary sponsors. There were a nice mix of classic and modern cars in this […]

Keith’s Blog: The As-Delivered Corvette Bootie

My son Bradley is now in his second month of ownership of his 1982 Collector’s Edition Chevrolet Corvette. His immersion into the world of Sharks continues. For 1980-82 third-generation Corvettes, the National Corvette Restorer’s Society has a judging and restoration manual that has well over 300 pages. With SCMer and […]

Keith’s Blog: Strutting With the Sporto

The 911 Sportomatic project is moving along nicely. We purchased it last October from the “for sale” corral at the Hershey swap meet. The path to bringing it back into service has been a convoluted one. SCM Editor-In-Chief Jeff Sabatini took the car on a 400-mile round trip to Sisters, […]

Keith’s Blog: The Joy of Concours Weekends

The 49th annual Forest Grove Concours d’Elegance went off without a hitch. It was an immersive weekend for me and Bradley. He drove his 1982 Corvette on the tour through the rolling hills of Oregon’s Willamette Valley, and I didn’t get us hopelessly lost. We were only on the wrong […]

Why We Do the Things We Do

The fifth annual SCM 1000 is in the books. I have many memories to savor. To start, I’ve never seen anything like 45 classic cars dwarfed by the majestic presence of the Grand Coulee Dam. It was certainly a tribute to engineering prowess. Speaking of which, I watched Grand Marshal […]