Author Archives: Keith Martin

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 and bi-monthly American Car Collector magazines, has written for the New York Times, Automobile, AutoWeek, Road & Track and other publications, is an emcee for numerous concours, and has his own show, “What’s My Car Worth,” shown on Velocity.

Your Mission in Monterey

Posted on by Keith Martin

The confetti cannons will belch their crumpled-paper payloads around 4 p.m. on Sunday, August 20. Best of Show for the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance will have been crowned.

And with that culmination of the week’s activities, hundreds of thousands of car fanatics will begin the trek home from Monterey Car Week.

While our focus is on the transactions that take place that week, there is more than buy/sell going on. Between the auctions, concours, shows, and general get-togethers, Monterey Read More

Keith’s Blog: Three Alfas Start, Two Finish the Forest Grove Wine Tour

Posted on by Keith Martin

“Dad, there’s a big clunk from the front of the GTV.”

That was my daughter Alexandra’s message to me as she headed home from Durant Vineyards in Dayton, Oregon.

We were on the 15th Annual Wine Tour, held as a prelude to the Forest Grove Concours d’Elegance.

I enjoy this casual drive every year, as it gives me a chance to get several of my cars some much-needed exercise. SCM Editor-at-Large, good friend and co-emcee of the Forest Grove Read More

Keith’s Blog: Happy Independence Day

Posted on by Keith Martin

I’m on a big Land Rover club expedition through the rugged terrain of eastern Oregon right now, and I keep thinking how lucky we are to share this great world of old cars and their adventures.

Bradley is along on the trip, and he’s seeing some amazing sights — and loving every minute of bouncing around in SCM’s Defender 90.

I hope you’re having a great holiday, and please be very, very careful around any fireworks. Enjoy the day!

Keith’s Blog: Unrestored in Costa Rica

Posted on by Keith Martin

The crappier the car the better. That seems to be the mantra of some collectors these days.

Instead of trying to restore cars to better-than-new condition, they look for the most original vehicle they can find. The more bedraggled the better. You can even find people who will “un-restore your car” and make it look old and nasty.

Finding original, unrestored cars is becoming more difficult.

However, I came across a perfect “preservation” example a few days ago in Costa Read More

Keith’s Blog: When It’s Time for a Car to Go

Posted on by Keith Martin

We’ve decided that our time with the SCM Mehari has come to an end.

A couple of Alfas are coming out of restoration, so we need to free up some space in the garage.

We’ve enjoyed the Mehari — and we’ve done quite a bit to make it a very good driver (all things in context, of course). It has been tuned, electronic ignition installed, the shift-linkage bushings replaced, and the brakes properly set up. It’s actually quite fun for Read More

A Heads-Up on Hoods-Up

Posted on by Keith Martin

I have a pet peeve at concours. It’s owners who insist on leaving the hoods of their cars open all day long.

It’s hardly the way designers would want their cars seen.

Further, the hoods jutting upwards are a jarring contrast to the elegant setting of a concours field.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post about this — and offered a solution:

I proposed an “SCM Hoods-Down” standard. I propose that hoods of all cars be down Read More

Keith’s Blog: Driven: Two Alfas, a Lotus and a Viper

Posted on by Keith Martin

I had a gearhead’s holiday last weekend.

In the course of two days, I got to put nearly 100 miles each on the SCM Lotus Elise, the ACC Dodge Viper ACR GTS and two vintage Alfas — the 1965 Giulia Spider Veloce and the 1967 GTV.

These are all sports cars, but they each represent a unique approach to spirited motoring.

The Viper is the brute of the bunch. With its massive V10 engine, it launches like a Saturn 5 Read More

Keith’s Blog: I Almost Bought a Junior Z

Posted on by Keith Martin

Online auctions have transformed the collector car world. In a matter of minutes — in your own office — you go from contemplating a quiet lunch to posting a $35,000 bid.

I was editing the next issue of American Car Collector last Friday when a text message popped up on my phone.

“BaT Auction Alert: 1970 Alfa Romeo Junior Zagato 1300 is ending in 1 hour. http://bringatrailer.com/listing/1970-alfa-romeo-junior-z/

Bidding was under $30,000 at that point, and I peg these as Read More

An Alfa is Reborn

Posted on by Keith Martin

We were crossing the Oregon High Desert at 80 mph in a 52-year-old Alfa Romeo when Bradley’s jacket blew out the window. A second earlier he had been struggling to get one arm out of a sleeve.

We were about 20 miles from Madras, OR, in a caravan of vintage Alfas. This was the Alfa Romeo Owners of Oregon’s 39th Annual Old Spider Tour. We covered 500 miles in two days on two-lane country roads. The 1965 Giulia Spider Veloce Read More

Keith’s Blog: Put Those Hoods Down!

Posted on by Keith Martin

Owners who leave the hoods open on their cars for the entire day are my car-show pet peeve.

Two weeks ago, while I was emcee of Keels & Wheels in Texas, I mentioned this to the organizer, Bob Fuller. He said, “It drives me crazy too. I spend all day going around asking people to shut their hoods.”

I was at a very small regional car show this past weekend — the Clark Lumber Annual Car Show and Barbecue — Read More

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