Just 10 days ago, I watched as a spectacular 1929 Duesenberg J/SJ convertible and a 1963 Ferrari 250/275P were crowned as the winners of the 2018 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. One week later, I was climbing up the side of a 1,000-year-old Mayan pyramid in Yucatan, Mexico. Earlier that day […]
Author: Keith Martin
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 […]
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 […]
Arizona Auction Week and One Star Car
We picked the cars we planned to profile in this issue during a routine editorial meeting last January. Each month, Managing Editor Jim Pickering goes through recent sales, and he then presents those of interest to me, Executive Editor Chester Allen and Art Directors Dave Tomaro and Jeff Stites. We […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Rhapsody in Blue
The McLaren 570S Spider left a swirling vortex of freshly fallen snow in its wake. I was piloting the 562-hp supercar through Government Camp as I crossed Oregon’s Mount Hood on Highway 26. The road was dry, and the snow wasn’t sticking. I felt confident pushing the Curacao Blue car […]