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.
Fun with an element of danger — that’s a forest run in a vintage Land Rover.
On Saturday afternoon, I got separated from the other 20 Rovers in my Caravan. I came to a fork in the road and had to make a decision. I made the wrong one.
Every year, the Pacific Coast Rover Club hosts a Christmas tour in Tillamook Forest. We meet in Banks, which is 25 miles west of Portland, OR, on State Highway 6.
It’s Read More
It was a hectic day. I had just picked up the Bertone 308 GT4 from Matt Crandall at Avant-Garde Collection. Its throttle had been sticking, which made driving in rush-hour traffic more exciting that I wanted it to be.
Matt’s ace mechanic Chris Smith attended to it quickly. It turned out to be a combination of throttle linkages that needed lubricating and poorly attached carpet balling up under the gas pedal. Cocoa mats are on the way.
A friend Read More
I barely saw the brake lights ahead of me go bright red before I started sliding sideways at 40 mph down the ice-covered highway.
For the past couple of years, I’ve had my own secret escape from the complexity — and sometimes drudgery — of the Thanksgiving holiday.
I simply pack up the SCM Defender 90 turbo diesel and head to Timberline Lodge.
Just 62 miles away from Portland at the 6,000-foot level of Mount Hood, Timberline opened in 1937. Read More
The next chapter in the life of the Bradley GT has started.
It sold last week on Bring A Trailer for $4,000. There were over 12,000 views of the auction. If we had charged just $1 for each view, think how far ahead we would be.
Our good friends at the Avant-Garde Collection, Matt Crandall and Josh Bryan, created the posting, and I must say the Bradley has never looked so good.
The new owner is Mark Brachmann, from Read More
I grew up in the Parkside District of San Francisco, with a view of the Pacific Ocean from the bedroom in the back of our house.
There was a bakery shop around the corner on Taraval Street. Each day on the way home from elementary school, I would stop in. The baker would squirt some icing into my mouth. I can still recall the sugar high when it hit my taste buds.
It’s no different now when I’m at a Read More
The SCM Bradley GT is one of a kind. When was the last time you saw one actually running and driving?
And now you can be part of the adventure. It’s being auctioned on Bring a Trailer at no reserve, with the auction closing this Thursday at 2:40 pm, Pacific time.
Our good friends Matt Crandall and Josh Bryan at the Avant-Garde Collection prepared the listing for us, and the Bradley has never looked so good.
These shenanigans started Read More
This was my fourth time attending the Hilton Head Island Concours d’ Elegance.
Over the years, it has grown to be a more than just a concours. It bills itself as a Motoring Festival, and that it is.
The festivities start the weekend before with the Savannah Speed Classic, which includes vintage races held in nearby Savannah.
The car show weekend kicks off on Friday, with a hanger party that this year featured the debut of the Gulfstream G500 Read More
I’d like to start following my own advice.
When someone tells me they have acquired a new classic car, one of the first things I say to them is to just leave it alone.
Attend to any basic running and safety issues and have the car inspected. (My 1967 Duetto’s brakes failed 30 miles after I bought the car. This happened while I was descending a curved section of a parking garage exit ramp. It created some excitement.)
But don’t Read More
It’s not as formal as a concours, but more upscale than a cars and coffee.
This was my third year as emcee of the European Auto Festival in Greenville, SC.
Held on a golf course adjacent to an Embassy Suites hotel, the Euro Auto Festival is a delightful event.
The mix of cars is eclectic, ranging from air-cooled Porsche SCs to Jaguar E-types all the way to surprise cars, such as this year’s barn-find Renault Le Car and three Opel Read More
On July 12 of this year, the last of the classic cars on the SCM 30th Anniversary tour arrived at the posh Heathman Hotel in downtown Portland, OR.
For the previous four days, these 1950s and 1960s sports cars, all owned and driven by SCM subscribers, explored the backroads of Oregon. Stops included Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood, Crater Lake and the lava fields of the McKenzie Pass.
Longtime contributor Ken Gross chronicles his participation in the event on p. Read More
Sign up for a free weekly insider's report on the collector car market — and get a free gift.
