Keith Martin

My son Bradley and I have just finished another classic car tour weekend. We were participating in the Northwest Classic Car Challenge, hosted by the Alfa Romeo Owners of Oregon. Restoration shop Vintage Underground were the primary sponsors. There were a nice mix of classic and modern cars in this 34th running of the event.…

My son Bradley is now in his second month of ownership of his 1982 Collector’s Edition Chevrolet Corvette. His immersion into the world of Sharks continues. For 1980-82 third-generation Corvettes, the National Corvette Restorer’s Society has a judging and restoration manual that has well over 300 pages. With SCMer and NCRS Senior Judge Michael Pierce…

The 911 Sportomatic project is moving along nicely. We purchased it last October from the “for sale” corral at the Hershey swap meet. The path to bringing it back into service has been a convoluted one. SCM Editor-In-Chief Jeff Sabatini took the car on a 400-mile round trip to Sisters, OR, a few weeks ago.…

The 49th annual Forest Grove Concours d’Elegance went off without a hitch. It was an immersive weekend for me and Bradley. He drove his 1982 Corvette on the tour through the rolling hills of Oregon’s Willamette Valley, and I didn’t get us hopelessly lost. We were only on the wrong roads a few times. On…

New-driver Bradley has nearly 1,000 miles under his belt now. The last 250 came behind the wheel of his mother’s manual Boxster S. He prefers the manual but appreciates the time he has had just “driving” with automatics. He has spent a little time driving friend Chris Bright’s 1300-cc Alfa Super. Driving the manual SCM…

As our launch date of August 14 draws closer, some of the puzzle pieces of our trip are coming together. Please join us for some or all of it. At the moment, it appears the SCM contingent will include our 1972 Mercedes 250C, along with my son Bradley’s recently acquired 1982 Corvette Collector’s Edition. It’s…

This was all my fault. I was scrolling through Facebook and came across a listing for “The Malaise Car Show.” It was for cars from 1972 to 1995. As Bradley’s C3 Corvette is a 1982, it fit squarely within the parameters. He signed up, entered my credit card, and $25 later he had a QR…

My son Bradley and I have just returned from the successful SCM 1000 Tour. On it, he co-drove with SCM contributor Philip Richter, who joined us from Ft. Lauderdale, FL. They shared the 1971 Jaguar V12 E-type S3 coupe and the 1972 Mercedes 250C. Including the traverse from Portland to Spokane, WA, and back home,…

I took Bradley and his friends to a local MAG auction in Salem, OR, a few weeks ago. For reasons I will never understand, all three 16-year-old young men were smitten by the C3 Chevrolet Corvettes on offer. I have never paid attention to these “Mako Shark” derived cars. They were smog-strangled and had flamboyant…

At 9 am on Monday, August 14 we’re leaving Portland and heading towards Monterey. There may be two cars or 10, we don’t know. Our plan is to take it easy and smell the flowers. We will take I5 South, then cut over to the coast near Eugene and have lunch in Bandon. On the…