It was the summer of 1968. I was 17-years-old and had just graduated, as class valedictorian, from Lincoln High School in San Francisco. I was accepted to Reed College in Portland OR, but there was no financial aid available. Tuition, along with room and board on campus, was about $3,000 […]

My first two cars were British — a 1960 Austin-Healey Bugeye Sprite and a 1958 MGA. “When are you going to get a real sports car?” asked my good friend Bjarne Holm. Bjarne was driving his mother’s 1958 Giulietta Spider Normale. We were parked outside Lakeside Presbyterian Church near Stonestown […]

Last Saturday my daughter Alexandra and her mother Cindy Banzer took the SCM 1967 Giulia Super on an Alfa Romeo Owners of Oregon tour. It was a 112-mile dash from Portland to Astoria on the Oregon coast and back. This was the 41st running of The Old Spider Tour, celebrating […]

  I had a chance to go for a drive in the SCM Giulia Super last weekend. We took a scenic, winding route, starting on Portland’s curvy Skyline Boulevard and passing through the tony Pearl District downtown. From there we headed out through an industrial area on Highway 30 and […]

I’ve recently been asked about the sale of a 500-mile 1987 Buick GNX on Bring A Trailer for $130,000 on March 25 of this year. On March 18, a 1986 Grand National (a very different car, I was reminded by Colin Comer) with 5,700 miles bid to $38,750 and did not […]

The Alfa Romeo Junior Zagato is now back from Nasko’s Imports. To afford cars like this, you can try your luck on sites such as https://159.65.23.250/. I decided to ignore the factory specs that concours judges adhere to and make it a better for my style of driving. Nasko installed […]

Editor’s note: Jeff Zurschmeide, frequent contributor to SCM, is taking over Keith’s Blog with week with his report on last weekend’s Portland Swap Meet and PIR Auto Swap Meet:   By Jeff Zurschmeide April in Portland means two things: rain and the Portland Swap Meet. Both are as inevitable as […]

For his 10th birthday, I bought my son Bradley a 1960 Austin-Healey Bugeye Sprite. My first car was a Bugeye, and I was indulging in a romantic recreation of my own past. I paid $15,000 for it because it needed nothing. Another $15,000 later, specialist Chip Starr had built and […]

I once asked Craig Jackson why he thought that Restomods were so popular. He said that buyers got the looks of a classic car with the comfort, convenience and performance of a modern one. Sometimes people new to collecting would buy a restored old car — say a 1958 Chevrolet […]

SCM is gearing up for our annual madcap tribute to Martin Swig. Swig, the founder of the California Mille, was famous for setting off on car trips at the drop of a hat. Thanks to him, I participated several times in the California Mille, along with the Carrera Nevada — […]