Keith Martin

There was a new Ferrari Lusso waiting for me at the Petersen Automotive Museum. Silver and red, like the exterior of the museum, the 4-seat rocket was sleek and menacing. It was a museum-themed weekend for me in Los Angeles. The Petersen was having its annual gala — and celebrating 70 years of Porsche at the…

Suddenly we have more cars than we have parking spaces. It’s those darn “accidental purchases” catching up with me. So our 911 has to go. It’s a 2003 996 6-speed coupe with sunroof. It’s an unusual and attractive seal gray with a light gray interior. The wheels have been powder-coated a dark gray. The VIN of…

There is one element of a concours that is beyond our control: the weather. We can spend years restoring our cars and attending to every little detail. Likewise, months of preparation can precede the one day of glory that concours anticipate. But mother nature can have her own ideas. This was the 22nd annual Radnor…

It was an all-Alfa weekend. Last Thursday, the Alfa Romeo Club of Oregon hosted its annual “Red Duetto Tour.” The brainchild of Fred and Lisa McNabb, the entry rules are simple. To participate, you must have a red “long-tail” Alfa spider, built between 1966-69. Long-tail spiders were Alfa’s in-your-face response to impending safety regulations and…

The 1964 Shelby Daytona Coupe. The 1966 Ford GT40 Mk II. The 1970 Porsche 917LH. The 1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B MM. These are some of the greatest racing cars of all time. They are four of the 65 world-class racing cars in the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Fred Simeone…

We were sitting outside a Porta Potty near Tenmile, Oregon. Our unlikely four-car caravan had traveled about 200 miles from Portland before our first catastrophic failure. Our group included a 1966 Citroën DS-21 décapotable (cabriolet) owned by Greg Long from Seattle, a 1972 Alfa Berlina that belonged to Brad Miller and his wife Nancy from Portland…

Editor’s note: Keith Martin invited SCMers Luke Chennell and Richard Lincoln to come along on SCM’s Caravan to Concorso. Last week, Luke took over Keith’s Blog and wrote about the SCM Autozam blowing a head gasket. In this installment, Chennell takes us to California’s Lost Coast with a failing master cylinder: I believe that fun…

Editor’s note: Keith Martin invited SCMers Luke Chennell and Richard Lincoln to come along on SCM’s Caravan to Concorso. The catch: They had to drive SCM’s Autozam. Luke took over Keith’s Blog this week to tell the tale: Road trips start off with a great longing of what’s to come, to see the adventures along…

It’s been a busy car weekend. I spent Friday and Saturday in Olympia, Washington attending the Alfa Romeo National Convention. “Sempreverde,” Sea to Summit, attracted more than 200 Alfas and 400 registrants. I drove the 1958 Sprint Veloce to the convention, and Doug Hartman and Julie Brown drove her 1969 GTV. There were four “big…

Bradley and I visited a conservation and breeding facility for Galapagos tortoises last week. Located on San Cristobal in the Galapagos Islands, its goal is to help keep these giant reptiles from extinction. They were once thought to number over 200,000 on San Cristobal alone. Now, after centuries of being used as a convenient food…