Martin Swig, 1934–2012

He lived on his own terms

I only saw Martin Swig two or three times a year. So the fact that he is now gone, forever, doesn’t create an immediate void. Instead, there’s a small, dull ache that will become a little more apparent each August when I think about his traditional Sunday night party on the last night of Monterey Car Week — and there will be no Martin to swap tales with. Or in April, as our thoughts turn to the California Mille, there will be no Martin with his infectious grin and rapier-like wit to welcome us to his beloved Fairmont Hotel.

We’ll miss him at the SCM reception at Retromobile. Martin was always the sauce at an event that caused your senses to perk up — and to realize that fooling around with old cars was profoundly irrelevant and profoundly important.