Keith Martin

A year ago, SCM was named “The Best Classic Car Magazine in the World” by About.com. Just last weekend, we were honored again, this time by the prestigious Society of Automotive Historians. Each year at their annual meeting, they give the Richard and Grace Bingham Award, for “the outstanding treatment of historical topics in an…

In a recent blog post, I asked for help with the headaches I was getting when driving certain old cars. I noted that I had purchased a CO meter, and that the interiors were all reading well within acceptable limits. Your responses were immediate, numerous and helpful. Let me provide an update.

It’s been unseasonably warm in Oregon, so this past weekend we took the opportunity for a quick run to the Warm Springs Indian Reservation and the Lodge at Ka Nee Tah. Set in the Central Oregon desert, near the Deschutes River, the lodge has a hot spring-fed pool, along with waterslides, hiking trails, miniature golf…

I’m on my way home from Columbus, Ohio, where the 43rd annual BMW CCA Oktoberfest has just concluded. The week-long annual event is like Disneyland for BMW owners, and it’s the kind of event that car clubs all over the world aspire to put on.

I’m just back from the 18th annual Oregon Festival of Cars, in Bend, OR, and this year’s event was as much about the journey as the car show itself.

For the past year, our 1967 Alfa has defined reliability. Built by engineer Dave Rugh as a daily driver for his wife Colleen, who used it for twenty years that way, it simply goes and goes. In fact, weekend before last, Alex drove it to Tacoma and back (over 300 miles) without a hiccup. But…

Old cars can be a pain in a lot of ways, but some of mine give me a headache. A real headache. And I’m wondering if I’m the only one who suffers from this, or if someone else has figured out how to solve it. I know, the first thing that comes to mind is…

Chess Pieces in the SCM Garage Are About to Get Shuffled As my daughter, Alex, pulled out of the driveway this afternoon in our 1967 GTV, en route to a 500-mile Labor Day weekend road trip, her parting words to me were, “Don’t buy too many cars while I’m gone!” Last week she referred to…

The “duckling imprint” theory of collecting continues to rear its billed head around the SCM offices. Many years ago, I had an Alfetta GT as my daily car. While it was a profoundly poorly-constructed vehicle and cost me thousands of dollars in my short period of ownership, nonetheless I was always taken with its rakish…

I’m taking a break from the sports car world and have joined our local Pacific Coast Rover Club for a five-day off-road camping trip. I’ll be out of cellphone and internet reach until July 5. (How will I stand not being able to text or post?)