We’ve put over 10,000 miles on our 2000 Land Rover Discovery II in the past four years. Ever since watching John Wayne lasso rhinos in the movie “Hatari!” I’ve had a soft spot for the English rigs. (Yes, I know that wasn’t a Rover he was sitting on, but in […]
Keith Martin
Keith’s Blog: Use It or Lose It
SCM’s mantra has long been “value in use.” For us, the best part of collector car ownership is in exercising our cars. Putting the key in the ignition. On some cars, knowing how many clicks to pull out the choke levers. On others, pumping the throttle a couple of times […]
Keith’s Blog: Mirror, Mirror
I recently added a passenger-side rearview mirror to our 1972 Mercedes 250C. It transformed the car. Even though the car has a tall greenhouse with good visibility, adding the second mirror increased my road awareness and feeling of safety. We have since decided to do the same to our 1971 […]
Keith’s Blog: The Six-Car Collection, At Last
As I looked back over my past columns on this topic, I realized that there are only four cars in the collection that could be called regular drivers. I can’t work the clutch in the 2006 Lotus Elise or the 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider Veloce, so I’m going to […]
Keith’s Blog: The Six-Car Collection, Part IV
Why is it so hard to get to six cars? Perhaps because each car we are considering speaks in its own distinct language and creates its own excitements and trepidations. Each model also is a key for entry to marque activities. The Jaguar E-type V12 gets us into English car […]
Keith’s Blog: The Six-Car Collection, Part III
I just put a note in the mailroom of my condo: “Parking space wanted.” I’m having trouble getting down to just six cars. To recap, we are keeping the 1971 Jaguar E-type V12 coupe, the 1991 Alfa Romeo Spider S4 and the 1965 Alfa Giulia Spider Veloce. The C3 Corvette […]
Keith’s Blog: The Six-Car Collection, Part II
Last we discussed finding the perfect mix of garage space, event participation, affinity groups and classic cars. We note that our current “keepers” are the 1971 Jaguar E-type V12 2+2, the 1991 Alfa Romeo Spider S4 and the 1965 Alfa Giulia Spider Veloce. Here are two more contestants. While the […]
Keith’s Blog: Today’s Six-Car Collection
We call it “Car Knitting” or “Car Solitaire.” It’s the never-ending and always entertaining process where we mentally and physically reshuffle the cars in our garage. At SCM, we’re getting closer to the desired combination of cars and garage spaces. At the same time, as our patterns of use evolve, […]
Keith’s Blog: Jurassic Oregon
Over Labor Day Weekend, we attended the 47th annual All British Field Meet. Held at Portland International Raceway, it bills itself as the longest-running and biggest three-day all-British car event in the country. It averages nearly 700 cars a year. Now that Bradley is driving, this has become a family […]
Keith’s Blog: Speedo Calibration Will Be Up To You
After spending three weeks talking to gurus and posting on social media about this issue, I’ve come to the following conclusion: I am going to put our two-owner 1972 Mercedes-Benz 250C onto Bring a Trailer with a speedometer that reads slow. We bought this car specifically to prepare for the […]