Keith Martin

As we wait for the ball to drop in Times Square, it’s a good time to reflect on all the good, bad and insanely stupid things we’ve done in the name of car collecting this past year, and how we might become better collectors in the future. Here are my resolutions. Let’s check back in…

Tonight Santa circumnavigates the globe, leaving presents for young and old everywhere. To make sure that car collectors aren’t left out of his munificence, on behalf of all of you, we’re sending this to him via SCM email express. Dear Santa: We’ve all been good little boy and girl collectors this year. Therefore, we request…

The fettling of the Sprint begins We were just outside Corbett, Oregon, driving SCM’s 1958 Giulietta Sprint at 70 mph. It was pitch black and 30 degrees outside. I reached over to twist the dash-mounted heater fan rheostat, heard a pop from the fuse block and suddenly everything was dark. Gone were the headlights, directional turn…

Boar’s Head or Rovers in the Snow? Every year I’m faced with the same difficult decision. The first weekend in December is when the Pacific Coast Rover Club has its annual Christmas run in the Tillamook State Forest, followed by a tasty dinner at hosts Paul and Pamela Petroff’s home. It’s the same night that…

It was just over 14 months ago that I bought our 1958 Giulietta Sprint Veloce at Concorso Italiano. I was attracted to it because it was a true numbers-matching Veloce. The freshly restored car had been driven to Concorso from Los Angeles and appeared to have minimal needs. It looked nearly ready for SCM “service”…

I was strolling through the Saturday Market in downtown Portland’s South Park Blocks last weekend, trying to chose between Fuji and Braeburn apples, when a gentleman walked up to me. “I’m a long-time subscriber to SCM,” he said. “I’ve never owned a collector car, I can do some work myself and I’m ready to take the…

Without question, cars today are extraordinary. The Audi A6 I drove this weekend is surprisingly quiet inside, accelerates nicely, handles superbly and has copious interior room. It is also safer, by an exponential amount, than any of the cars in our fleet from the ’50s and ’60s. (Here at SCM, we get two new cars…

2014 marks the 60th anniversary of the Giulietta. We at SCM are considering organizing a three- to five-day tour through the remote areas of Oregon and Washington to celebrate this milestone. I’ve driven my Alfas thousands of miles over the scenic two-lane backroads of the Pacific Northwest. I think these roads are some of the best…

Only one member of the SCM Fleet is truly excited about the onset of Oregon winter, with its cold days, rain and occasional snowfall. Yes, it’s the 1984 Land Rover D90 200 Tdi. It has started to act like an automotive bully in the garage, accusing the Alfas of being fair-weather pansies wrapped in designer…

I was flipping through a boating magazine last year, looking for new ways to squander my wealth. I came across a small article noting that the only functioning PT boat in the world was based in Portland, and that its supporters were offering rides on the boat in exchange for a modest donation. I did…