Buy What You Love, Pay What You Should
Keith Martin
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Successful Collecting? Trust the Force
“I’ve never owned a collector car, and I’d like to get into the hobby. How should I start?” It’s a question we hear often. The path to collector car happiness is relatively straightforward; regular readers of SCM are familiar with our maxims. But this, our first issue of the new year, is a good…
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Keith’s Blog: To Denver and Back in the Same Morning, Plus New Year’s Resolutions
Facebook followers already know that my day started early on Friday, December 29, with a 5:45 am flight to Denver from Portland. At 11:25 am, I flew back home. Of course, to most of the world this would seem like madness, but just 1,850 miles from achieving coveted “Premiere Executive” status on United, it was…
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Keith’s Blog: It’s My Birthday, and I’ll Buy If I Want To
Last Thursday marked one more happy year of existence on this planet for me, and unsurprisingly, it put me in a car-shopping mood. I casually posed the question of what to buy on my Facebook wall and had twenty responses in less than six hours. Here are some of the highlights. Harvey Briggs recommended an…
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Keith’s Blog: Look Homeward, Volvo!
As SCM readers are keenly aware, the key to buying any old car is turning the process into an adventure. I knew that picking up the newly purchased 1973 Volvo 1800 ES with four-year-old Bradley would have to be full of first-times if I wanted the experience to compare with fresh and visceral memories of…
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Keith’s Blog: Last Year You Sold me a Range Rover, This Year Sell Me a P1800!
It’s Road Trip Time It’s time for my annual fly-and-buy road trip with my daughter, Alex. She’s returning home for Christmas break after a semester studying marketing and business management in Grenoble, France, and she’s already asking what we’re going to buy this year. Last year I was on the hunt for a Range Rover…
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Keith’s Blog: What Do You Want Under Your Tree This Year?
For those in need of a reason to buy a car, the holiday season offers the perfect excuse. As my birthday comes near Christmas, I conjure up even more fantastical justifications. It’s the time of year that you’re likely to hear phrases like these from around the SCM office: “It’s Christmas, I deserve an…
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BMWs at Buttonwillow
I’ve been to a variety of driving schools, with instruction ranging from cursory to custodial. When the opportunity came for my daughter Alex and me to attend a two-day BMW Car Club of America high-performance driving school in Southern California, I thought I knew what to expect. I’d be in the advanced class (of course…
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From Carlisle to Carousel
The collector car summer goes out with a roar. For me, it was a blur of events that included Fall Auburn, the Kirkland Concours, Funfest, Fall Carlisle and a visit to the Milhous Collection. My airline status for next year is assured; I’ll always be the one who gets asked first whether he wants…
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Keith’s Blog: Audi S6 Avant vs. P1800—And the Rovers Are Ready To Rumble
Well, 73 blog comments later, my search has narrowed. I appreciate the knowledge, enthusiasm and opinions you’ve all shared during the past week, and you have definitely propelled things forward. Here’s where we stand. I’ve located a gray / gray 1995.5 Audi Avant in the Pacific Northwest that seems like a good candidate for the…
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Keith’s Blog: Is it P1800 time? Or Would a 1995 Audi S6 Trump All?
Passions and opinions run deep in the world of sports cars. To the many, many people who emailed me their suggestions as to whether the next addition to the SCM stable should be an Alfa Berlina, a BMW 2002 tii “roundie” or a Volvo P1800, I thank you. Just when I thought I had settled…