It’s been five years since I last attended the Boca Raton Concours d’Elegance. It’s a different event now than it was then. On Sunday there were 220 cars on display, ranging from appetizing to stunning. Lincoln was the featured marque. I’ll have a complete report next week. As a part […]
Keith Martin
Keith’s Blog: An 8C 2300 Monza at a Hot Rod Show?
The Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza was one of the great sports cars of all time. Only 189 8C 2300s of all types were built, and Gooding sold one for $11,990,000 at their 2016 Pebble Beach auction. I wasn’t expecting to see one at the Salem Roadster Show, a gathering […]
Keith’s Blog: No Barfing in the Barfmobile: The Giulia Super Goes On A Tour
The Alfa 1967 Giulia Super is our family sports car. It has four doors and rear seats that can accommodate full-sized adults. Two summers ago, we took it on a 1,000-mile trip across Oregon. Bradley, then 8, and his friend Grayson occupied the rear seat. They lived in the back […]
Keith’s Blog: Today’s Kids are the Next Generation of Concours Judges
Is there a better time to get kids involved with old cars than when they are 6 to 12 years old? There are already a few “junior judge” programs, often supported by Hagerty, at concours. These programs generally mix kids from pre-teenagers to 18 years old. However, I think there […]
Keith’s Blog: Bringing a Knife to a Gun Fight
I took our 1967 Alfa Romeo GTV out for a drive through downtown traffic last week. It was like bringing a knife to a gunfight. The weather was overcast — but not raining — when I left SCM World Headquarters in Portland, OR. The last time I had put miles […]
Keith’s Blog: A Tire-Kicking Holiday
For the first time in ten years, I’ve just had a holiday in Scottsdale. As there was no Arizona Concours this year, and shooting for “What’s My Car Worth” is on hold, my only official duties during Arizona Car Week were to host the SCM Insider’s Seminar at the […]
Keith’s Blog: Making Restoration Decisions
Last week I wrote about the decisions I was making concerning the restoration of our 1961 Giulietta Sprint Speciale. We need the car ready by the SCM 30th Anniversary Tour in July. Which means it should be on the road by the 1st of June to have time to shake […]
Keith’s Blog: Getting a Restoration Right
The SCM 1961 Alfa Sprint Speciale is in transition. When we bought it at Auctions America in Fort Lauderdale in March of 2015, it had been stored for at least 30 years in the Cayman Motor Museum. Its engine was frozen — upon disassembly, it appeared the head gasket blew, […]
Keith’s Blog: New Year’s Resolutions for Car Collectors
It’s a new year and a time for a fresh start. For some of us, car collecting is like being stuck in a pounding surf, where each wave that hits sucks $5,000 out of your pocket. For others, it’s a daily lesson in collector car math — buy a car […]
Keith’s Blog: The 12 Cars of Christmas — Part Two
Last week I picked the first six cars I’d like to find under the Christmas tree. There’s no linear order to these selections. These are just cars I like — and that represent a specific point of view in the world of collector cars. Last week’s six were the Mazda […]