SCM BLOG PREVIEW • SEPTEMBER 2026
OGDEN OR BUST
From Alfa Romeo Market Letter�to Sports Car Market
A preview of my Alfa Romeo Owners Club presentation in Ogden, Utah
KEITH MARTIN • SPORTS CAR MARKET
AROC National Convention • Ogden, Utah
Keith Martin Tech Session • Thursday, September 24 • 4–5 p.m.
2
1988: the Alfa Romeo Market Letter
One marque. One community. One question: what are these cars really worth?
“Subscribe Today to the Alfa Romeo Market Letter.”
Hundreds of Alfas for sale.
Accurate market reports.
Price guides.
One year: $33.
30
first-month
subscribers
The obligation to publish came immediately after the idea.
Source: Keith Martin, “How It All Began,” SportsCarMarket.com (2014).
AROC 2026 • OGDEN, UTAH
KEITH MARTIN • SPORTS CAR MARKET
3
One marque became the collector-car market
The publication grew because the questions Alfa owners asked were the same questions every collector asked.
1988
Alfa Romeo
Market Letter
1993
Sports Car
Market Letter
2003
“Letter” drops;
full-color SCM
2026
38 years
of SCM
The subject expanded. The method stayed the same: look at real cars, real sales and real people — then call it as you see it.
Sources: SportsCarMarket.com history columns; SCM founded as Alfa Romeo Market Letter in 1988.
AROC 2026 • OGDEN, UTAH
KEITH MARTIN • SPORTS CAR MARKET
4
What changed? Almost everything around the car
The collector car itself may be analog. The market around it is now continuous, global and searchable.
2006
2026
Print classifieds
Online marketplaces
Auction weekends
24/7 auctions
Monthly comparables
Instant comparables
Mostly local bidders
Global bidders
A few photographs
Photos + video + comments
Price guides as answers
Data as a starting point
AROC 2026 • OGDEN, UTAH
KEITH MARTIN • SPORTS CAR MARKET
5
Sports Car Market in 2026
The little Alfa newsletter became a publishing, research and collector-information platform.
38
YEARS
collector-car market expertise
12
ISSUES
Sports Car Market each year
500+
BACK ISSUES
available digitally
~60
EXPERTS
marque-specific reporting
1,000+
VALUATIONS
2026 Pocket Price Guide
300k+
AUCTION RECORDS
searchable in the SCM database
Sources: SportsCarMarket.com, 2026 subscription, Buyer’s Guide and Pocket Price Guide pages.
AROC 2026 • OGDEN, UTAH
KEITH MARTIN • SPORTS CAR MARKET
6
Our job now: context, not just price
The more searchable the market becomes, the more important it is to understand the car behind the number.
“What did it sell for?”
is the easy question.
“Why did it matter?”
is the useful question.
CONDITION
Was it actually as good as the catalog said?
SPECIFICATION
Was it the version collectors really want?
HISTORY
What did provenance add — or subtract?
MOMENT
Was this the market, or just two bidders?
AROC 2026 • OGDEN, UTAH
KEITH MARTIN • SPORTS CAR MARKET
7
Thirty-eight years watching the market
Four things I believe more strongly now than when I started.
1
Buy cars you actually want to drive.
2
Condition and history beat clever buying.
3
Fashion changes faster than great cars do.
4
Value is what a car is worth. Enjoyment is what it gives you.
The data got better. The reason to own the cars did not change.
The Alfas became part of the family
Alex. Bradley. Different Alfas. The same idea: use them, share them, make memories.
Alex + GTV
Keith + Bradley + Giulia Spider Veloce
Bradley + Series 4 Spider
AROC 2026 • OGDEN, UTAH
KEITH MARTIN • SPORTS CAR MARKET
OLD CARS CREATE ADVENTURES
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