Buy What You Love, Pay What You Should
Keith Martin
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Martin Swig, 1934–2012
He lived on his own terms I only saw Martin Swig two or three times a year. So the fact that he is now gone, forever, doesn’t create an immediate void. Instead, there’s a small, dull ache that will become a little more apparent each August when I think about his traditional Sunday night party…
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Keith’s Blog: Old Cars Give Me A Headache: Can You Help?
Old cars can be a pain in a lot of ways, but some of mine give me a headache. A real headache. And I’m wondering if I’m the only one who suffers from this, or if someone else has figured out how to solve it. I know, the first thing that comes to mind is…
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Keith’s Blog: The Logic Behind Illogical Collecting
Chess Pieces in the SCM Garage Are About to Get Shuffled As my daughter, Alex, pulled out of the driveway this afternoon in our 1967 GTV, en route to a 500-mile Labor Day weekend road trip, her parting words to me were, “Don’t buy too many cars while I’m gone!” Last week she referred to…
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Keith’s Blog: The New SCM Accidental Purchase – Got Any Parts We Need?
The “duckling imprint” theory of collecting continues to rear its billed head around the SCM offices. Many years ago, I had an Alfetta GT as my daily car. While it was a profoundly poorly-constructed vehicle and cost me thousands of dollars in my short period of ownership, nonetheless I was always taken with its rakish…
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GTOs and Cobras: Investments or Insanity?
Here at SCM, we like to maintain two simultaneous views of the collector world, with one seen through a long-range spotting scope, and the other viewed through close-range binoculars. For example, in the short-term viewfinder, the sale of a 250 GTO for $35m is a breathtaking escalation of the value of these most-watched Ferraris. Long…
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12 Years of SCM — Searchable Online
We expect instant gratification from our computers. Type in “How many times have Ferraris won at Le Mans?” “Nine,” Wikipedia answers instantly. How many Corvettes have been sold since 1953? More than 1.3m, you learn after a few keystrokes. What’s the current wheel-driven land speed record over one mile? You’re an instant expert as your…
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Keith’s Blog: The SCM Rover Takes on the Black Canyon Wilderness Area
I’m taking a break from the sports car world and have joined our local Pacific Coast Rover Club for a five-day off-road camping trip. I’ll be out of cellphone and internet reach until July 5. (How will I stand not being able to text or post?)
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Keith’s Blog: A Cornucopia of Corvettes in Bloomington
For the sixth consecutive year, I’ve been a part of Bloomington Gold—a mecca for Corvette enthusiasts in Pheasant Run, Illinois—and managed to come back to Portland without buying a Corvette. For a car-a-holic, going to any marque-specific meet is tough. You think, “Everyone else has a Sting Ray, why don’t I?” It gets worse if…
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Keith’s Blog: Back from Europe, Again – and Driving the 2002 tii to Seattle
I’ve said goodbye to my new best friends at United, Air Canada and Delta – at least for three days, when I check in with my other best friends at Alaska. But we’ll get to that in a second. This weekend marked the high school graduation of Wendie’s youngest son, Drew. So the family trundled…
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Keith’s Blog: Life is Good
Unbelievably – and happily – I’m back in Europe for the second time in less than a month. It seems like I’d just unpacked my bags from my trip to the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, where I saw many friends and wonderful cars, before packing up again and boarding a plane for France.