Keith Martin
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Keith’s Corner: Vintage Cars Come in and Vintage Cars Go Out
The SCM garage sale continues. Our Volvo 544 has gone to a new home in Mexico, the Guzzi is going to Seattle, and the white ’74 MGB has gone to Los Angeles. This week we’ve got our daily-driver extremely original Mercedes 219 with a 220S engine on eBay, along with the 1974 MGB-GT, the best…
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Keith’s Corner: Saying Goodbye to the Volvo 544
It’s time to say goodbye to the Volvo 544. It all started with a 122 sedan we owned a few years ago. That was an okay car, but visually just didn’t hit anyone’s hot button. We sold it and immediately turned around and bought a 544 from a local Craigslist advertisement. I don’t quite know…
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Keith’s Corner: Bloomington Gold and the Survivor Car Show
This past weekend, the SCM / CM team descended en mass upon the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles Illinois, for the annual Corvette extravaganza called “Bloomington Gold.” I had the chance to emcee the Certification Awards, ate tri-tip steak from the food court area, and generally admired the display of cubic inches. It was…
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Keith’s Corner: The Road to Reno and On to Bloomington
The B Team has made its way to Reno and back. All three MGBs ran flawlessly, and only Legal Files Analyst John Draneas running out of gas slowed us down. There will be a complete writeup in the issue of SCM we are now working on, but here are a few pictures of six boys…
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Keith’s Corner: June 14th
The Portland Art Museum has never looked so good. All 16 cars for the Allure of the Automobile have been moved from their transports into the museum, and even the august New York Times took notice.SCM has been very involved with helping the museum meet and exceed its $700,000 fundraising goal, and SCMers have been…
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Keith’s Corner: From Rocky Roads to Shakespeare’s Lair
‘Tis the season to be rambling and rumbling, and Team SCM in all its various guises is on the road. Two weekends ago, we joined the Pacific Coast Rover Club for their annual Memorial Day outing in Central Oregon. Just getting there proved more exciting that we thought it would be – Wendie, her 17-year-old…
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Keith’s Corner: The SCM Fleet is Leaving the Harbor
We continue the rush to get five SCM vehicles ready for two events happening over the next 10 days. The 2006 Lotus Elise and the 2000 Boxster S have to be ready to launch on this Thursday, heading out in the afternoon to meet everyone in Eugene, Oregon. It’s the start of the 1,000-mile Oregon…
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Keith’s Corner: May 24th
While the multi-million dollar auction sales make exciting reading, it’s more prosaic stuff that’s keeping the SCM car teams busy this week. SCM “Legal Files” columnist Draneas took the burgundy MG for a couple of days and came back with this report: It drives pretty good although not as good as the GT. Here is…
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Keith’s Corner: Will You Drive Our MGs Back From Reno?
We’re looking for a couple of drivers to pilot two of our 1974 MGs from the MGA/B National Convention in Reno, back to Portland. The cars would be available as of Monday night, June 13 or Tuesday morning, June 14. SCM will pay for your gas and publish the story of your trip in our…
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Keith’s Corner: May 10th
Portland car season is heating up, and the pace of car repairs and refurbishments at SCM proves it. SCM staffers Chad Tyson and Tony Piff have been running a non-stop MGB shuttle program, running the three cars between the SCM Garage, Guy’s Interior Restorations (for new seat cushions, new dash pads), and Harold’s Auto Service…