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.
The 2014 collector car market has launched. Today all the bidders are gone, and the temporary tents are starting to come down. The trashcans are full of discarded promotional items, bidders’ paddles and parking passes.
The busiest guys in Arizona have to be the collector car transporters, as they load thousands of cars for their destinations in new owners’ garages.
I only caught a brief glimpse of most of the Arizona auctions, as we were shooting new episodes for “Read More
I’m sitting in a pickup truck headed west on Interstate 10, headed to the Pima Air & Space Museum. After a day fawning over the first-rate automobiles at the inaugural Arizona Concours, I expect seeing acres of mothballed F-16s to be something completely different.
Just four days ago, I went to the tony Bonhams world headquarters on New Bond Street in London for a private dinner with journalists from Europe and Robert Brooks, Philip Kantor and James Read More
It’s that time of year, when we start racking up frequent-flyer miles. We’re also buying a few more lottery tickets so that after we win we can put a Gulfstream G650 into the SCM corporate hangar. While we’re at it, we’ll buy a corporate hangar as well.
Today I’m headed to London, for a private dinner on Thursday at the new Bonhams world headquarters on New Bond Street. There will be 16 of us in attendance, including Chairman Robert Brooks and Read More
Concours d’Elegance is just a fancy name for a fancy car show with fancy awards.
Whether it’s the weekly Beaches Cruisin’, which draws 1,500 vintage cars and thousands of gearheads every Wednesday all summer long in Portland, or the rarified air that surrounds the multi-million-dollar cars at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance — car shows are about owners who enjoy preparing and putting their cars on display and spectators who enjoy gazing at them.
I’ve just had my first visit Read More
As we wait for the ball to drop in Times Square, it’s a good time to reflect on all the good, bad and insanely stupid things we’ve done in the name of car collecting this past year, and how we might become better collectors in the future.
Here are my resolutions. Let’s check back in December 2014 to see how I’ve done.
First: Never fool yourself into believing that a car needs nothing. Unless you know the restorer, the mechanic Read More
Tonight Santa circumnavigates the globe, leaving presents for young and old everywhere.
To make sure that car collectors aren’t left out of his munificence, on behalf of all of you, we’re sending this to him via SCM email express.
Dear Santa:
We’ve all been good little boy and girl collectors this year.
Therefore, we request you look favorably upon the following tiny requests.
Under our tree, please leave:
1) A Read More
The fettling of the Sprint begins
We were just outside Corbett, Oregon, driving SCM’s 1958 Giulietta Sprint at 70 mph. It was pitch black and 30 degrees outside. I reached over to twist the dash-mounted heater fan rheostat, heard a pop from the fuse block and suddenly everything was dark. Gone were the headlights, directional turn signals and of course the heater fan.
I had discovered earlier that the dash lights weren’t working, and that, probably due to a bad ground, Read More
Boar’s Head or Rovers in the Snow?
Every year I’m faced with the same difficult decision. The first weekend in December is when the Pacific Coast Rover Club has its annual Christmas run in the Tillamook State Forest, followed by a tasty dinner at hosts Paul and Pamela Petroff’s home.
It’s the same night that my alma mater Reed College (well, my first college anyway, but that’s a different story) hosts its Holiday Dinner. The highlight of the evening Read More
It was just over 14 months ago that I bought our 1958 Giulietta Sprint Veloce at Concorso Italiano.
I was attracted to it because it was a true numbers-matching Veloce. The freshly restored car had been driven to Concorso from Los Angeles and appeared to have minimal needs. It looked nearly ready for SCM “service” as it sat.
Well, that was $40,000, a near total respray and a complete drivetrain restoration ago.
Last Saturday, I drove out to the Read More
The invitation came on a Monday, from Luigi Orlandini of Canossa Events Srl.
“Would you like to spend two days in Modena, learning about the restoration program Modena Classic Works, tour both Ferrari museums and drive some classic Ferraris on the Modena Circuit? The event starts this Friday, so you would have to leave from Portland on Thursday. You would be back in Portland Sunday morning.
“And we’d like your daughter, Alex, to come as well, as we have enjoyed Read More
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