Sports Car Market Magazine

What Sports Car Market Magazine does

Sports Car Market Magazine (SCM) is a privately held, subscription-based media publication founded in 1988 and headquartered in Portland, Oregon. The company serves the collector car market with a monthly magazine available in print, digital, and combined formats, providing auction reviews, car profiles, market analysis, and expert editorial content targeted at classic and sports car collectors, dealers, and investors.

The company's core technology asset is the SCM Platinum Auction Database, a proprietary dataset containing over 300,000 collector car auction entries with 60,000+ expert-annotated mini-profiles spanning more than 30 years of historical auction data, searchable by make, model, keyword, and VIN. The product portfolio extends beyond the flagship magazine to include annual publications (Pocket Price Guide with 1,000+ valuations, Restoration Guide, Concours Guide), event-specific Insider's Guides for Monterey, Arizona, and Spring gatherings, exclusive Digital Books collections, a classifieds marketplace, and an email newsletter.

The business model is direct-to-consumer recurring subscriptions with tiered annual pricing: Digital Only at $49/year, Print & Digital at $88/year, Print/Digital/Auction Database bundle at $220/year, and Auction Database Only at $132/year. Distribution is self-serve via sportscarmarket.com, with digital subscriptions sold globally and print editions shipping within the US, Canada, and internationally. The company also generates advertising and classified revenue from dealers and automotive service partners. Leadership consists of founder Keith Martin and Editor-in-Chief Jeff Sabatini, and the company operates with 11–50 employees as an apparently bootstrapped, founder-owned business with no disclosed venture capital, private equity, or parent company ownership.

Name

Sports Car Market Magazine

Legal name

Sports Car Market Magazine

Website

https://sportscarmarket.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sports Car Market Magazine is a subscription-based publisher founded in 1988 serving collector car enthusiasts, dealers, and investors with a monthly magazine, the 300,000+ entry SCM Platinum Auction Database, and annual price/restoration guides priced from $49 to $220 per year.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Collector Car Media and Publishing

NAICS

Book Retailers and News Dealers (4592)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Automotive & Transportation Magazines (MPAJAEAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Business, Finance & Industry Trade Magazines (MPAJAEAM)

Keywords

• Collector car publishing
• Classic car market analysis
• Auction price database
• Automotive market reporting
• Vintage car valuations

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Magazine Subscriptions: Subscription-based revenue model offering digital-only, print + digital, and premium database access tiers. Annual billing with tiered pricing from $49/year to $220/year depending on included features.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Sports Car Market Magazine publishes a monthly subscription-based print and digital magazine providing collector car market analysis, auction reviews, car profiles, and expert insights, complemented by the SCM Platinum Auction Database (300,000+ entries, 60,000+ expert-analysed mini-profiles). The publication also offers annual price/restoration/concours guides, event insider guides, digital books, and a member classifieds section.

Product overview

Sports Car Market Magazine operates as a subscription-based media platform offering a portfolio of print and digital publications focused on the collector car market. The core product is the monthly Sports Car Market Magazine (available in print, digital, or combined formats), which provides market analysis, auction reviews, and car profiles. This is complemented by the SCM Platinum Auction Database—a standalone or bundled subscription add-on offering access to the world's largest collector car auction database with over 300,000 entries. The subscription ecosystem also includes Insider's Event Guides (Monterey, Arizona, Spring guides), Digital Books collections, the annual Pocket Price Guide, Restoration Guide, and Concours Guide. All subscription tiers include access to digital back issues (over 500), online articles, Insider's Guides, classifieds, and the newsletter archive. The Print & Digital subscription adds physical magazine delivery and exclusive print content, while the highest tier bundles the Platinum Auction Database for comprehensive auction research capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SCM Platinum Auction Database: Comprehensive collector car auction database with over 300,000 car entries and 60,000 mini-profiles, providing historical auction results and market data.

Products and services

• Sports Car Market Magazine Flagship monthly publication providing collector car market analysis, auction reviews, car profiles, and expert insights for enthusiasts, collectors, dealers, and investors; available in digital-only, print-only, or combined formats.
• SCM Platinum Auction Database Standalone subscription providing access to the world's largest collector car auction database containing over 300,000 car entries with 60,000+ mini-profiles featuring expert condition analyses and photographs, searchable by make, model, keyword, and VIN.
• Pocket Price Guide Annual value guide featuring over 1,000 valuations covering the breadth of the collector car market, created by SCM auction analysts and marque experts.
• Restoration Guide Annual comprehensive guide to collector car restoration with expert advice and market valuations for restoration projects.
• Concours Guide Annual guide covering concours events and show car coverage for collector car enthusiasts.
• Insider's Event Guides Event-specific guides including the annual Monterey, Spring, and Arizona Insider's Guides covering major collector car gatherings, available to magazine subscribers.
• Digital Books Collection Subscriber-exclusive collection of digital books with expertly curated content, market insights, and guides available only to SCM subscribers.
• Classifieds Classified advertising section on the website allowing subscribers to buy and sell collector vehicles.

Quantifiable outcome

• Trusted by tens of thousands of readers globally including newbies to world's top collectors
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Gooding & Company: Gooding & Company is a collector car auction house with deep editorial catalog content. Adjacent to SCM in covering collector car profiles and auction results, but operates as a primary auctioneer rather than an independent subscription media business.

Broad incumbents

• MotorTrend: MotorTrend is a large-scale automotive media brand covering new and enthusiast vehicles, with some classic and collector coverage. Comparable as a subscription-having enthusiast automotive media outlet, though its breadth and scale dwarf SCM's collector-only niche.
• RM Sotheby's: RM Sotheby's is one of the world's largest collector car auction houses and publishes extensive auction results, catalogs, and market commentary. While primarily an auction business, its published results and editorial coverage overlap with SCM's auction-reporting and valuation content.
• Bonhams Cars: Bonhams operates a global collector car auction business and produces auction catalogs and editorial-style content around its sales. Comparable to SCM in providing auction-result data and market commentary, though Bonhams is a primary auctioneer rather than an independent third-party publication.

Emerging players

• ClassicCars.com: ClassicCars.com is an online collector car marketplace with editorial content and valuation tools. It is comparable to SCM's classifieds marketplace component and competes for dealer advertising dollars, though its primary identity is as a listing platform rather than a subscription publication.

Direct peers

• Hemmings Motor News: Hemmings is a long-running classic and collector car publication (founded 1954) offering a subscription print magazine, online classifieds marketplace, and auction listings. It competes head-on with SCM for collector car enthusiasts and advertisers, with a similar subscription-and-advertising revenue model.
• Octane Magazine: Octane is a UK-based subscription magazine focused on classic, sports, and collector cars with editorial depth and event coverage. Comparable subscription pricing, print + digital model, and collector-focused editorial voice make it a strong international direct peer.
• Bring a Trailer: Bring a Trailer runs a leading online collector car auction platform with substantial editorial content (auction write-ups, comments, market analysis). It directly addresses the same collector buyer/seller audience as SCM and has become a primary source of auction data, partially overlapping with SCM's Platinum Auction Database value proposition.
• Hagerty Media: Hagerty's media division (Hagerty Drivers Club magazine, Drivers Club Journal, and online editorial) covers collector cars, valuations, and market trends, making it the most direct peer in collector car publishing. Overlap in target audience (collectors, investors, dealers) and content (auction results, price guides, market analysis) is substantial.

Regional players

• Classic & Sports Car: Classic & Sports Car is a long-running UK-based collector car magazine covering classic sports and GT cars. Comparable editorial scope to SCM with a primarily UK/European audience, making it a regional peer rather than a US-headquartered competitor.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sportscarmarket
• Facebookfacebook.com/sportscarmarket
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sports-car-market-magazine

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sports Car Market Magazine