Author: Keith Martin

Keith Martin has been involved with the collector car hobby for more than 40 years. As a writer, publisher, television commentator and enthusiast, he is constantly on the go, meeting collectors and getting involved in their activities throughout the world. He is the founder and publisher of the monthly Sports Car Market, now in its 37th year. Keith has written for the New York Times, Automobile, AutoWeek, Road & Track and other publications, has been an emcee for numerous concours, and had his own show, “What’s My Car Worth,” shown on Velocity. He has received many honors, including the Lee Iacocca Award, the Edward Herrmann Award, was inducted into the Concorso Italiano Hall of Fame, and more. He has served on the board of directors of The LeMay Museum and Oregon Ballet Theater, and was formerly the chair of the board of the Meguiar's Award.

Keith’s Blog: Buy, Discover, Spend, Persevere

A couple of weeks ago, restorer Bill Gillham finished up fettling our Alfa Giulia Super and sent it over to Dan Sommers at Veloce Motors for a mechanical checkover. Here’s the note I just got from Dan: Keith, In my earlier note I talked about the list getting longer as […]

Keith’s Blog: La Jolla Takes it Up a Notch

Every car event has its own flavor, from the industrial magic of Pebble, where the world’s greatest cars emerge to be ogled by some of the world’s most influential collectors, to Concorso Italiano, where the smiling-face chaos begins when the first Fiat arrives and ends as the last Ferrari exits […]

Cranking Up the Collector World

  I love the way the collector-car year launches. Arizona in January is like Mardi Gras, with cars to be auctioned replacing floats. The procession of delectable automobiles is non-stop, with the six big auctions pulling out all the stops. For me, the action started earlier this year than usual. […]

Keith’s Blog: Desert Concorso is a Hit

It’s a good time to be a gearhead. This is the second opportunity I’ve had in the past three months to be involved in a new car event, and both have been spectacular. In January, I was the emcee for the inaugural Arizona Concours d’Elegance. (See my previous blog post and column.) Despite […]

Keith’s Blog: There’s a Duetto in the Garage

It’s only taken me two years to find the right car, and it was right here under my nose. To recap, I decided last year that I would create a focus to my mini-collection. Instead of it looking like a sampling of “The Greatest Hits From Bring A Trailer,” with […]

Keith’s Blog: Cars Hold Me Prisoner All Week Long

The 19th annual Amelia Island Concours has come and gone. Our second shooting session for “What’s My Car Worth” is over. Now all that is left is to gather everything up, throw it in the van and drive south to Fort Lauderdale, where on Wednesday we set up the cameras […]

Keith’s Blog: See You in Florida!

It’s roadtrip time for me again. It’s a good thing I like cars, as my next two weeks are going to be full of them. Put Amelia Island weekend, Auctions America in Ft. Lauderdale and What’s My Car Worth into a mixing bowl, and you end up with a ticket […]

A Collector-Car Catechism

At times, the SCM offices resemble an automotive confessional. Emails, texts, Facebook postings, faxes and sometimes even old-school, hand-written letters flood in — each missive asking for collector-car absolution or permission. “Dear SCM, please forgive me as I have sinned and bought a car over the Internet without seeing it […]