“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 […]
Author: Keith Martin
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Keith’s Blog: A Never-ending Sears Catalog
I was reminiscing with a friend last night about how our homes and childhoods would light up when the Sears, Montgomery Ward and Spiegel catalog would arrive around this time of year. We would always take turns picking out our favorites. I liked farm sets with plastic horses and cows. […]
It’s Not a Restoration, It’s a Build
Let’s make one thing clear right from the start: A car is only “as-born” once. It can never be returned to that state. Any attempts to do so result in a fictional re-creation, done to please the owner and whatever standards he is aspiring toward. And that’s okay. We can’t […]