Sports Car Market is the world’s leading monthly magazine on buying, selling and collecting classic and sports cars.

Keith Martin

Keith’s Blog: Jurassic Oregon

Over Labor Day Weekend, we attended the 47th annual All British Field Meet. Held at Portland International Raceway, it bills itself as the longest-running and biggest three-day all-British car event in the country. It averages nearly 700 cars a year. Now that Bradley is driving, this has become a family

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Keith Martin

Keith’s Blog: Speedo Calibration Will Be Up To You

After spending three weeks talking to gurus and posting on social media about this issue, I’ve come to the following conclusion: I am going to put our two-owner 1972 Mercedes-Benz 250C onto Bring a Trailer with a speedometer that reads slow. We bought this car specifically to prepare for the

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Keith Martin

Keith’s Blog: Cars and Coffee or Concours?

Twenty years ago, there were really only two places to show off your cars. The first was at a concours, the second was generally a national meeting of a club. In these nascent, pre-internet days, national meets of clubs were a big deal. For we Alfa guys, they were often

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Keith Martin

Keith’s Blog: Should I Rent a Porsche Macan?

It’s a tradition to have an SCM car or two in the local Porsche Club’s Northwest Passage Tour. Its 40-car entry list is made up of mostly late-model Porsches. However, I have driven our Lotus Elise on the tour and one year we entered a trio of Alfa Romeos with

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Keith Martin

Keith’s Blog: Should I Repair the Speedometer?

Now that the SCM Duetto has moved on to a new home, the thinning of the herd continues. The next two cars that will go are the two-owner 1972 Mercedes 250C and the 1982 Corvette C3 Collector’s Edition. That brings up an interesting question. Just how much do you “fix”

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Affordable Classics

The Leading Edge

While the all-new Mustang that debuted in 1994 had sold in respectable numbers, Ford heard the rumblings of Mustang purists who felt that the fourth-generation car was too generic. To these fans, who decried it as a “two-door Taurus,” the SN95-platform Mustang had lost its soul. So, for its mid-cycle

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Collecting Thoughts

The Wide World of Porsches

As you peruse Porsche classified listings, auction lots and SCM auction reports, you may have seen the term RoW, meaning “Rest of World.” Many buyers view RoW versions of Porsches (and other marques) to be pur sang — the way automakers chose to build them without intrusive North American safety

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Legal Files

Big Lie Country

The August 2024 “Legal Files” about California cracking down on Montana-registered cars produced quite a response. We received more letters about this topic than for any other recent column, so we’re revisiting the subject this month. The surprise was that almost all the letter-writers were unsympathetic to this practice. Many

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Shifting Gears

There and Back Again

I recently had the opportunity to speak at the 49th national meeting of the North American MGA Register, held locally here in Welches, OR. The convention was organized by SCM contributor Reid Trummel and hosted by the Columbia Gorge MG Club. My address to the group concerned a trip I made

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American

1969 Shelby GT500 Fastback

Assembled 10 days ahead of schedule on February 21, 1969, this 1969 Shelby GT500 left the factory finished as it is today, in Acapulco Blue over black trim with Clarion Knit and Corinthian vinyl Hi-Back seats. The car was further equipped with an automatic transmission, air conditioning, sport-deck rear seat,

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Etceterini

1928 Bugatti Type 43

Assembled in the factory during the summer of 1928, chassis 43264, fitted with engine 124 and crankshaft 159, would not be mentioned for the first time until May 13, 1929, in the factory archives, along with two other chassis and inscribed “Prix Bugatti.” These three cars were destined to be

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German

1928 Mercedes-Benz 36/220 S-TypeSports Tourer

This Mercedes-Benz 36/220 S-Type Sports Tourer was delivered on December 19, 1928, to British Mercedes Ltd. London for a Mr. Cecil Harcourt-Smith of London and Cairo. According to the commission sheet, the S was delivered with a Sindelfingen 4-seater sports body, number 924 614. Recent research has established that it

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Italian

1968 Intermeccanica Italia Spyder

This 1968 Intermeccanica Italia Spyder is one of approximately 400 examples produced between 1966 and 1973. Chassis 50049 spent 37 years with its previous owner, undergoing a multi-year refurbishment by R&A Engineering of Manchester, MI, in the 2000s before being shown at the 2010 Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance. It was

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Next Gen

2015 McLaren P1

McLaren unveiled the P1 in March 2013, and all 375 customer slots were filled within eight months. Rarer than the LaFerrari and 918 Spyder, each P1 is uniquely specified with an unbounded volume of special equipment available from McLaren Special Operations. However, not all P1s are created equal. Chassis 108

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Keith Martin

Keith’s Blog: Cars, Coffee and Champagne

So the first thing we were served at the Summer Car Classic was not actually champagne, but a refreshing, bubbly rosé. It was followed by full-bodied chardonnay before we moved on to pinot noir, and then a rich red blend. What a great way to start a car show. The

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