Keith Martin
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Keith’s Blog: Collector Car Therapy, Rover Style
Sometimes it’s good just to get away from it all. As you read this, I’ll be on a 6 a.m. flight out of Portland, with an eventual destination of Amelia Island, FL. During my week there, I’ll be shooting episodes of What’s My Car Worth at the Gooding auction, with Donald Osborne as my co-host.…
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Keith’s Blog: Are there any good reasons to buy this Alfa?
For the past 15 years, I have watched a three-car mini-collection, parked on the street, slowly degrade. The cars all have some interest. They include a 1967 Duetto, a chrome-bumper 914 and a first-generation 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle 300 Deluxe. They were all parked within four blocks of SCM World Headquarters. All three cars carry current…
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Keith’s Blog: Alfas and the Affordable Sweet Spot
We took the Alfa (non-identical) twins out for their first run together yesterday. The occasion was the (post) Valentine’s Day Tour organized by Neil d’Autremont for the Alfa Romeo Owners of Oregon. Wendie and I drove the 1967 GTV, and good friends Michael Cottam and Andrea Allen took our 1965 Giulia Spider Veloce. This was the…
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Keith’s Blog: The Thin Line Between Day-Tripping and Tragedy
In the end, it was a choice between walking 12 miles in the snow with my wife and our four-year-old, or just turning around. Here’s how the story unfolded. We made a quick trip to Bend, OR, this weekend, to attend an organizational meeting for this September’s Oregon Festival of Cars (formerly the Sun…
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Keith’s Blog: Driving a Super Car on Super Sunday
The Martin family had its traditional Super Bowl Party Sunday, and we all wished we had placed a bet on the first possession of the Patriots ending in a safety. Someone, somewhere did, and we hope they’re buying a Ferrari today with their winnings. Two SCMers from opposite ends of the spectrum brightened up our…
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Keith’s Blog: To Gatorland and Back, 700 HP Later
The weekend was fast and long, with me flying to Kissimmee and back in the span of just a few days. It was my first time attending Mecum’s mammoth Florida auction. With over 2,000 cars on offer, I’d liken the experience to wrestling with a porcupine – there was no way I was walking away…
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Keith’s Blog: Blazing From Scottsdale to Kissimmee
Another Arizona Auction Week has come and gone in a whirlwind. In addition to the SCM gang hosting another wildly successful Corvette seminar, consignment tours at RM and Gooding for Platinum subscribers, booths at Gooding, Russo and Silver, we managed to attend every auction and pretty much every after-hours gala event. The What’s My Car Worth?…
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Keith’s Blog: 911 SC Update
Alex and I took the Boxster S out for a delightful, top-down drive a week ago. Despite 40-degree weather, the interior space was cozy, thanks to a factory windblocker between the roll hoops, windows rolled up, heated seats and a prodigious heater. We went out along the Sandy River, through a variety of backroads towards Mt.…
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Keith’s Blog: This is NOT About Arizona
This week’s newsletter is chock-full of information about the upcoming Arizona auctions, and I’m sure I’ll see many of you there. But buying interesting cars (and trucks) is only the beginning of the experience. The next step is to actually use them in the manner in which they were intended, to begin to understand what…
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Keith’s Blog: To Denver and Back in the Same Morning, Plus New Year’s Resolutions
Facebook followers already know that my day started early on Friday, December 29, with a 5:45 am flight to Denver from Portland. At 11:25 am, I flew back home. Of course, to most of the world this would seem like madness, but just 1,850 miles from achieving coveted “Premiere Executive” status on United, it was…