Keith Martin
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Keith’s Blog: Judging Sports Cars at Amelia Island
The 23rd Annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance is in the history books. Best of Show Concours de Sport was a 1963 Ferrari 250/275 P owned by the JSL Motorsports Collection of Redwood City, CA. Best of Show Concours d’Elegance was won by a 1929 Duesenberg J/SJ convertible entered by Harry Yeaggy of Cincinnati, OH. (Video…
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Keith’s Blog: Join Me in the Caravan to Concorso in August!
On Saturday, August 18, I’m driving south from Portland, OR to Monterey. This will be my third year doing this — it took me 27 years to figure out that the perfect way to get to Monterey Car Week is in a classic car. Every year, SCM sponsors a class of Alfas at Concorso Italiano.…
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Keith’s Blog: Jay Leno Called Me a Communist!
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 of the weekend, Wayne Carini…
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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 of hot rods and customs.…
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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 for five days. With all…
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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 should be a class specifically…
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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 on the GTV was when…
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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 Gooding Auction. Aside from that,…
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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 it down before the tour.…
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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, and the car was pushed…