We at SCM have long maintained that a well-filled garage is like a well-stocked wine cellar. Just as different times of day, different events, and different meals call for different pourings, so, too, do different motoring adventures require different motoring choices. And just as each wine has its own trademark […]
Author: Keith Martin
Keith Martin has been involved with the collector car hobby for more than 40 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, now in its 37th year. Keith has written for the New York Times, Automobile, AutoWeek, Road & Track and other publications, has been an emcee for numerous concours, and had his own show, “What’s My Car Worth,” shown on Velocity. He has received many honors, including the Lee Iacocca Award, the Edward Herrmann Award, was inducted into the Concorso Italiano Hall of Fame, and more. He has served on the board of directors of The LeMay Museum and Oregon Ballet Theater, and was formerly the chair of the board of the Meguiar's Award.
Somebody Stop Me!
Perhaps SCM should be in the soft adventure business. But rather than offering a chance to parachute off mountaintops attached to a safety-line, or fly a Russian Mig with an instructor who will keep you from nosing into the ground, we have something even better. Last year, my former editor […]
A Steering Wheel as the Circle of Life
“How did you get started with cars?” is a question I’m often asked.While I have been fortunate to have a variety of careers and occupational passions, cars and machinery came first.My earliest memories of the mysteries of the internal combustion engine revolve around my grandfather, Thomas Lester McDowell, who, along […]
Riding High
Sometimes ignorance is bliss, and other times it leads to nothing but trouble. Our 1978 911SC is a perfect case in point. Relatively pampered, in mostly original paint, and with 177,000 miles on it when it joined our stable last year, it rode low and had an appealing “boy racer” […]
Going to the Mat with a Paddle
“That’s a good piece, you should buy it.” The auction catalog description read, “Persian Heriz carpet, geometric central medallion and stylized floral decoration on madder red ground with ivory spandrels, 9′ 6″ x 11′ 9″. Estimate: $700-$900.” Offered by local auction house O’Gallerie, the rug met my three criteria: It […]
Another Soft Adventure
The two emotions dominating the market today are exuberance-especially from new collectors-and wariness, from those who have seen this all before.I’ve just finished participating in the three-day, Miles Collier-hosted symposium, Connoisseurship 2006. This was my third time attending, and the second time I have been privileged to be a member […]
It’s Not a Bubble, It’s a Wave
For the past decade, we’ve been watching the price of real estate escalate, seemingly without an end in sight. Some houses seem to double every decade, and, despite the increases, there appears to be no shortage of eager, willing buyers. So why are we so surprised when GT350s, worth $50,000 […]
The Year of the Car
The 2006 North American International Auto Show in Detroit heralded the return of the car. As gas prices soar, customers are looking for-and manufacturers are competing to offer-products that are decidedly European in flavor. Compact size, styling, affordability, efficiency, and performance all seemed equal parts of the equation, and were […]
You Can Go Home Again
If knowledge is power, SCMers are about to become an even more formidable group of collectors. The information on all 40,000 cars in our database will soon be available to you 24/7, from anywhere in the world, via your handheld devices.Starting at the Scottsdale auctions in January, anyone with a […]
Frommer, Zagat, and Me
What makes a car collectible? And what makes one car more desirable than another? We all might agree that a 1967 911S is more desirable that a 1977, but exactly why? At SCM, we have long felt there was a need for an evaluation and rating system for collectible cars […]