You've probably already heard about Martin. He died Tuesday, aged 78, and the car world is still figuring out what that means.

I won't bother enumerating Swig's contributions: AutoWeek and SCM have done that already, and there'll hundreds more items like those. He was charismatic, whip-smart, irascible, entrepreneurial, knowledgeable, entertaining, tasteful, profane, generous, obstinate, hilarious, and scarily talented. He drove everything fast, no matter how slow it should be, and he owned every room he walked into. Martin did not do half-measures.

Here's what I care about. If it wasn't for Martin, I'd have never met most of the people I care about now. If it wasn't for Martin, LeMons would never have happened. If it wasn't for Martin, there'd be no widely accepted assertion that every car out there--old and new, cheap and expensive, common and rare, fantastic and awful--exists to be driven. Even if you never met the guy, you're enjoying the world he created.

Thanks for everything, Martin. We'll miss you at the end of the drive--John "Jay" Lamm