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.
You wouldn’t ride a horse down Main Street, and soon you won’t drive a collector car down your town’s main drag.
Twenty years ago, I wrote that in the future we would treat our old cars like horses. Our cars would be trailered to roads that were appropriate for them, we would use them there — and then trailer them home.
That future is now.
Increasingly, our old cars are simply unsuited for the mix of everyday traffic.
A few Read More
I’m learning that just as car restorations have their own progressions, so does physical rehabilitation.
This week I made some decisions about the restorations on my cars, and I made some steps forward with my own rehab.
I’ve decided not to proceed with the full-bore, glass-and-headliner- out interior restoration of our 1961 Giulietta Sprint Speciale.
While the body is dry and with great panel fit (partly from 30 years of indoors storage in the Cayman Islands Motor Museum), the paint Read More
In preparation for the Revs Institute Symposium on Collecting, founder Miles Collier sent out a list of questions for participants to consider. Since not all of us can make it to Naples, FL, I will share some of the questions and my responses in the next few newsletters. I also invite you to submit your own questions as well.
Miles Collier: Does every restoration have to be to the highest possible level, involving a complete disassembly and reassembly of Read More
Dear SCM Friends,
It’s been a month since my stroke, and I wanted to touch base. I continue to make progress. A full recovery seems likely, but there are still months of hard work ahead.
Doctors have found no underlying cause for my stroke. My blood pressure was 120/80 and I ran 3 miles the day before. Genetics? Bad luck?
No one knows.
I was alone in my condo when it happened, and I could easily have died.
I didn’t Read More
Editor’s note: Mark Wigginton is taking over this space for a few weeks while Publisher Martin grinds away at his stroke rehabilitation. A bunch of us from SCM World Headquarters visited him a few days ago, and he’s making amazing progress at regaining mobility on his left side. The man is even playing the piano! We’re sure he will be back very soon. In the meantime, welcome to the car-addled world of Mark Wigginton:
It’s pretty easy to read about Read More
Exactly 20 years ago, I wrote this lead to the “Shifting Gears” column for the March 1999 issue of Sports Car Market:
Would you have bought it anyway?
That’s what we seem to be asked most frequently about our 1964 Ferrari 330 America, pulled from a barn in Butte, MT, last October.
As the bills pile up, and the car remains stationary, that’s a fair question.
Since taking delivery of s/n 330GT5077, we’ve had Nasko of Nasko’s Imports put in Read More
I have a little bit of news to share with all of you. Last week, I was in my Portland condo and suddenly found my legs getting weaker and weaker.
I was in the shower at the time, so I got out, shaved and brushed my teeth. Why I did this, I don’t know.
A few minutes later, I couldn’t stand up. It suddenly dawned on me that I might be in trouble. I used my right leg to push Read More
SCM’s 30th Anniversary year is now complete.
And we are well on our way to celebrate our 31st year.
At the end of the year, I like to reflect on how fortunate we are to be able to have old cars in our lives.
More important than the cars and the tours and the events are the people.
The enthusiasts I have met over the past three decades have enriched my life immeasurably.
Old car fanatics have a great sense Read More
SCM Executive Editor is taking over my blog for the Christmas holiday. He’s sharing a memory of his mother — and a sensational Matchbox garbage truck — from Christmas 1967:
I carry 57 years of Christmas memories around in my head — including the first time I ever kissed a girl — but the one I remember best is the oldest.
It was 1967, and I was a 6-year-old with a horrible allergy to grass pollen. We lived in the Read More
Irecently had a chance to drive two state-of-the-art supercars — a McLaren 720S and a Ferrari GTC4Lusso T.
The press kits that accompanied each car were full of cutting-edge technobabble. Lightweight turbines capable of 160,000 rpm. Twin injectors improving fuel nebulization. Magnetorheological dampers.
They carry price tags worthy of their prowess. The 720S that I drove stickers at $324,135, while the Lusso is at $347,930.
If this seems like a lot of money to you, you’re probably not a target Read More
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