Keith Martin
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Keith’s Blog: Goodbye Disco, Hello Longroof
At last, Bradley has picked out a car that he actually wants. When he turned 16, I bought him a 1982 Corvette C3 Collector Edition. That was my personal decision driven totally by my vanity. I wanted Bradley to be able to say, “I turned 16 and Dad bought me a Corvette.” And since you…
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Keith’s Blog: To Paddle or Not to Paddle?
I just returned from the biannual Oregon Region Porsche Club of America’s NW Passage tour. I spent 1,500 miles switching between a 2024 Porsche 911 with PDK and a 2025 Porsche Macan GTS with the same paddle-shift gearbox. It’s got me thinking about transmissions, and my time owning a 996 Turbo with a Tiptronic automatic.…
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Driven to Dance
“Dad, is there any way we can see you dance?” My kids have asked me that many times. Sadly, my short-lived but meteoric career in dance occurred in the era before even VHS camcorders were around. I have no visual records. But here is the written version of the tale. In September of 1971, I…
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Keith’s Blog: On The Road
Keith is still driving on the 2025 NW Passage, a tour put on by the OregonRegion Porsche Club of America. His blog will return next week, but enjoythese photos he shot over the weekend.
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Keith’s Blog: BaT Comes North
We’ve written before that the doomsayers who are declaring the collector car hobby is dying are living on a different planet than we are here at SCM. In addition to Cars & Coffee and marque-specific tours (the Oregon Region of the Porsche Club of America holds two tours per week), there is a new entry…
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Keith’s Blog: Sell the Sporto?
I was dropping off the Alfa Romeo Spider S4 at Mac’s Radiator shop to have the A/C compressor replaced. It was a hot day, and I asked about putting A/C in our 1975 Porsche 911S Sportomatic. They quoted me “about $10,000” if it is a factory A/C car with all the right holes and bits…
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Keith’s Blog: Do You Put Your Charger on a Timer?
The place I have been storing some of my cars just sent me a note that my low-power trickle charger overcharged and ruined the new battery in the Lotus Elise. It was suggested to me that you should always put a trickle charger on a timer, so that it only charges a few hours a…
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Adventure Time
Seaside, OR, is just 78 miles from Portland. The route there, out Highway 26, is a relaxing mix of 60-mph roads traversing the Coast Range and 80-mph straightaways through Tillamook Forest. It is one of my favorite “Sunday drives” and I like to make it as often as I can — although it’s even better…
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Keith’s Blog: The Giulia Spider Veloce, 45 Years Later
In August of 1980, we were on our way to Monterey when an ad in Hemmings Motor News caught my eye: “1965 Alfa Romeo Spider. Twin carburetor version. Two owners. Gray with red. $22,000.” This was followed by a Portland phone number. Times being what they were, I waited a couple of weeks until we…
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Keith’s Blog: The Disappearing Car Show
“The Submerged Cathedral (La cathédrale engloutie)” was written for piano by Claude Debussy in 1910. It is based on an ancient myth of a cathedral that is submerged off the coast of an island. In the morning it rises up from the water, accompanied by the sounds of chanting priests, chiming bells and organ music,…