Keith Martin
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Blasts From the Past
Soon you will have the entire contents of 35 years of SCM at your fingertips. We are about to unveil a project we’ve been working on since the very first issue was created. This magazine was born in the midst of a revolution in desktop publishing and database management for microcomputers. The database program dBase…
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A Date to Remember
January 6 was the fourth anniversary of my stroke. That day in 2019 started like any other. I was up at 5 a.m., put on my Hoka running shoes and pounded out a relaxed 5k along the Willamette River. I had just turned 68 years old, and I was trim and healthy. Little did I…
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Keith’s Blog: SCM Finds its Porsche 911 Sporto
“Good things come to those who wait.” For the past couple of years, I have been watchfully waiting for the right Porsche 911 with a Sportomatic transmission to come along. I’ve chased a couple on BaT but dropped out when the bidding passed the $70k mark. While I continue to busy myself looking for two-pedal…
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Keith’s Blog: Shall We Drive to Monterey?
It’s never too early to start planning for Monterey Car Week. For several years, we organized a casual drive from Portland down the Pacific Coast. On our last trip, our motley crew included an Autozam AZ-1, an Alfa Giulia Super and Berlina, and a Citroën DS21 Decapotable. It won’t surprise you to learn that fewer…
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Keith’s Blog: Mercedes, Jaguar or Alfa?
The SCM 1000 is less than six months away. It will be an all-inclusive 1,000-mile romp on select, challenging two-lane roads of eastern Washington. With a hub in Spokane, in the heart of the restaurant district, the route will take us to the Grand Coulee Dam, rustic Lewiston, ID, and more. The decision that confronts…
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Keith’s Blog: My Giulietta Sprint Speciale on BaT
SCM advertiser Fantasy Junction is selling a Sprint Speciale I recently owned and restored on Bring a Trailer. You will find many pictures and comments with the listing. Here are a few of my own thoughts (which I posted): I was the previous owner of this car and oversaw the restoration. I first found the…
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Keith’s Blog: How My $2,500 Land Rover Became a $15,000 Rig
I am no stranger to Land Rovers. Over the past two decades I have owned a Discovery Series I, Range Rover Classic, Series III 88 and an RHD D90 turbodiesel. I was looking for something civilized for the mild trail runs the Pacific Coast Rover Club puts on every couple of months. I’m not a…
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Keith’s Blog: Upgrade or Stock?
I’ve been having a back-and-forth discussion with SCM Contributor Jim Schrager (my long-time mentor) about upgrading engines in vintage cars. This started when I mentioned to him that I was confused about 911 restorations. I see so many ads for early 911s that blather on and on about $250k restorations and then add, “by the…
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Keith’s Blog: Happy New Year
Every first of January marks a new beginning. Go out to your garage, and take a look at your sleeping beauties. Think about how much effort has gone into finding, selecting, buying and refurbishing each one. Note that I didn’t say restoring, as now that we are grownups, we’ve all decided to buy cars that…
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Keith’s Blog: Your Classic Car New Year’s Resolutions
Be very picky about what you buy. Get exactly what you want, then build it to your specs. Life is too short to buy the wrong car and have to fight your way out of it. During the past year, I’ve developed a much greater sense of clarity about the cars I own and why…