Keith’s Blog: Your SCM Books Are Finally in the Mail

Producing “The Best of Shifting Gears, Volume 1” and “The Best of Legal Files” has turned out to be a more formidable task that we imagined. But the books are finally printed and in the mail.

Through the yeoman efforts of designer Jodi Ellis, print coordinator Matthew Strauss and editor John Nikas, we think you will be pleased when you receive them.

Here’s what master car restorer and TV personality Wayne Carini has to say about “The Best of Shifting Gears, Volume 1:”

For more than 25 years, Sports Car Market is the one magazine I always read from cover to cover and then all over again. It’s a constant companion and an invaluable resource that has a permanent spot in my briefcase. While everyone has a favorite section, Keith’s ‘Shifting Gears’ column never fails to inform and entertain. Reading this collection is like reliving one of the most exciting and turbulent eras in car collecting with an old friend. Don’t miss it.

If you haven’t ordered yours yet, got to www.sportscarmarket.com/books. We promise your copy will go out without delay.

Correction – Jesse Coombs and the death-defying waterfall

It’s a poorly-kept secret that we are setting up the infrastructure for an SCM off-road adventure, SCMX. Last week we mentioned a Land Rover trail run was coached by Jesse Coombs, and we claimed that he held a world record for going over a waterfall in a kayak.

It turns out we were incorrect. Here’s what Jesse sent us:

I cannot claim to own the record for highest waterfall successfully completed in a kayak. My top height is/was 100 feet. The current record is 198 feet I believe.

On the other hand, when the world record holder went after my first successful descent of one of the 100 waterfalls I did, he broke his back. So I certainly was one of the premier expedition and large waterfall kayakers, and one of the best sponsored. 

I have been on professional kayaking expeditions in North America, Central America, South America, Europe and Asia. I am honored to be the winner of the 2007 National Geographic Adventure Hero award. Those were some amazing times and adventures. 

At the moment our plans call for 20 rigs, at least 20 years old. Land Rover will be the featured marque, but others will be accepted by application. Start and finish in Bend, Oregon, with headquarters at the Hilton. (I tried glamping this spring and frankly, I’d rather be in a nice hotel room.)

There will be off-road challenges and coaching by Jesse and our resident expert, Doug Shipman each day.

Here is a little of Doug’s background:

• Originator and head of Team Trophy Challenge for 11 years from 1995-2005 (an all-make event of extreme off-road challenges).
• Founder, original organizer of the Northwest Challenge, a Land Rover-only extreme off-road event over 25 years old.
• Scuba diver around the world, including Central America, Pohnpei, Truk Lagoon (WW2 wrecks), Fiji, and a Red Sea dive with Fabian Cousteau on Jacque Cousteau’s undersea habitat built in the ’60s.

There will also be seminars each evening talking about the plusses and minuses of various off-road rigs and the market values of each. For instance, there is a flood of 25-year-old D90s coming into the U.S. What should you be looking for and what should you avoid?

Our current schedule is targeting late September 2022.

To be put on a list for more information as it becomes available, drop an email to [email protected] with SCMX in the subject line. As with every Rover run, kids and dogs are welcome!