Marionberry milkshakes, pancakes and old cars are a Martin family tradition. The Elderberry Inn is a family-owned restaurant about 50 miles from Portland, and about 25 miles from the Oregon coast. You get there on Highway 26, a scenic, curvy road that crosses the Coast Range, mountains that are really […]

My son Bradley is filling out applications to college. In just a few months, he’ll be leaving the nest and be on to the next big adventure in his life. Currently on his list are McPherson College in Kansas, the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, the University of […]

We’ve put over 10,000 miles on our 2000 Land Rover Discovery II in the past four years. Ever since watching John Wayne lasso rhinos in the movie “Hatari!” I’ve had a soft spot for the English rigs. (Yes, I know that wasn’t a Rover he was sitting on, but in […]

SCM’s mantra has long been “value in use.” For us, the best part of collector car ownership is in exercising our cars. Putting the key in the ignition. On some cars, knowing how many clicks to pull out the choke levers. On others, pumping the throttle a couple of times […]

I recently added a passenger-side rearview mirror to our 1972 Mercedes 250C. It transformed the car. Even though the car has a tall greenhouse with good visibility, adding the second mirror increased my road awareness and feeling of safety. We have since decided to do the same to our 1971 […]

As I looked back over my past columns on this topic, I realized that there are only four cars in the collection that could be called regular drivers. I can’t work the clutch in the 2006 Lotus Elise or the 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider Veloce, so I’m going to […]

Why is it so hard to get to six cars? Perhaps because each car we are considering speaks in its own distinct language and creates its own excitements and trepidations. Each model also is a key for entry to marque activities. The Jaguar E-type V12 gets us into English car […]

I just put a note in the mailroom of my condo: “Parking space wanted.” I’m having trouble getting down to just six cars. To recap, we are keeping the 1971 Jaguar E-type V12 coupe, the 1991 Alfa Romeo Spider S4 and the 1965 Alfa Giulia Spider Veloce. The C3 Corvette […]

Last we discussed finding the perfect mix of garage space, event participation, affinity groups and classic cars. We note that our current “keepers” are the 1971 Jaguar E-type V12 2+2, the 1991 Alfa Romeo Spider S4 and the 1965 Alfa Giulia Spider Veloce. Here are two more contestants. While the […]

We call it “Car Knitting” or “Car Solitaire.” It’s the never-ending and always entertaining process where we mentally and physically reshuffle the cars in our garage. At SCM, we’re getting closer to the desired combination of cars and garage spaces. At the same time, as our patterns of use evolve, […]