The Daily Vroom

Good Morning Vroomers,

Another big week in the books. More than a thousand cars sold across the major platforms, clearing over $47 million in total sales. Every time I pull the numbers, I’m reminded how global this whole world really is. It’s easy to think of the enthusiast market as a US-centric bubble, but spend even a little time abroad and you realize just how deep the passion runs everywhere.

There are serious collectors in every corner of the globe. This week alone you could buy a 2021 Ferrari 812 GTS in Dubai, a beautifully sorted Porsche 356 in Germany, and half a dozen modern classics in the UK before lunch. The auction landscape isn’t local. It’s a constant, worldwide flow of metal, money, and momentum and that’s what makes tracking it so fascinating.

The Unicorn GTO Heads to Mecum

Just as an example of how closely we track the market, we were recently quoted in a feature published by Mansion Global, part of the Dow Jones Media Group, on the only white Ferrari 250 GTO ever built. It is one of those unicorn cars that almost never appears publicly, and when it does, people naturally start asking questions about value, history, and venue. You can read the full piece here. Let us know if you disagree on what we say.

One detail that stood out is the venue. Mecum sells thousands of cars a year, and they do a fantastic job, but a GTO is typically the kind of car you would expect to see at RM Sotheby’s or Gooding. That alone makes this listing worth paying attention to. It is a reminder that even at the very top of the market there is no fixed playbook anymore. Exceptional cars can surface anywhere.

It is a small example of the vantage point we have built, watching the entire landscape, knowing when something breaks from the usual patterns, and having the historical context to explain why it matters.

No Reserve Auctions To Keep An Eye On

Every platform needs a moment that reminds people why it exists. For Hemmings, this is that moment.

A blue on blue 1989 Toyota Celica GT Convertible with more than two hundred thousand miles is not typically the kind of car that lights up the auction world. But when it has been owned and driven for three decades by Jello Biafra, the punk legend behind Dead Kennedys and Alternative Tentacles, suddenly it becomes something else entirely. It becomes cultural property. It becomes a story.

And Hemmings desperately needs more stories.

The car itself is exactly what you would expect from someone who toured, recorded, agitated, and lived the life. Honest miles. Battle scars. A top that makes its own decisions. An interior that smells like it has survived arenas, dive bars, and every era of the American underground. But mechanically it is all there. The seller says it runs beautifully, passes California smog with ease, and has been maintained with no corners cut. That matters.

The real hook, though, is the delivery experience. The winning bidder can choose to pick the car up in the Bay Area, where Jello will personally take them on a drive through his favorite historic punk landmarks. That is not a test drive. That is a once in a lifetime lane assignment.

And this is where the listing becomes more than entertainment. Hemmings needs inventory that pulls people in emotionally, not just another batch of lightly used muscle cars and square era pickups. They need relevance. They need cultural oxygen. They need moments that remind buyers there are still reasons to check Hemmings before defaulting to the usual suspects.

This car does exactly that. It brings in non traditional bidders. It pulls punk fans, Toyota fans, nostalgia fans, and people who simply want to own an object that lived an actual life. It is the first Hemmings listing in a while that feels shareable. That feels alive.

And for the winning bidder, there is real upside. You are not just buying a Celica. You are buying the right to say your car came with a guided tour from Jello Biafra himself. That is the kind of provenance no restoration shop can replicate.

Where it ends is almost irrelevant. What matters is that Hemmings needed something like this, and they got it. A listing that breaks out of the algorithm world and reminds everyone that the best car auctions are still driven by stories, not specs.

This is one of them.

Some listings aren’t about nostalgia or rarity. They’re about capability. This 1993 Chevrolet G20 Quigley 4x4 is exactly that, a one rig solution built by someone who understood the assignment.

LS-family 5.3 Vortec under the hood. Reman long block. Fresh PCM. Proper tune. Overhauled 4L60E. Quigley hardware underneath with a Dana 44, NP241, and locking hubs. FOX fronts, Bilstein rears, Hellwig bar. New Toyos on beadlock-style Racelines. None of this is cosmetic. It’s functional.

The exterior has been coated in bedliner tinted Toyota Quicksand, with a custom aluminum-and-cedar roof rack, ladder, LED lighting, and just enough dents to prove someone actually used it. Inside - swivel captain’s chairs, a fold-flat bed, Maxxfan, tables, lighting, stereo, and space to disappear for a weekend.

It has lived a life, 217k on the chassis but all the expensive mechanical work happened recently, with a binder full of receipts to match. This isn’t a “just finished for the auction” build. It’s the fully sorted version of the van everyone says they want.

Cars like this 1988 BMW 635CSi are where the real value is hiding. Same owner since 1993. Cirrus Blue. Honest interior. Mechanically looked after. And because the Carfax shows a 2017 total loss and the odometer quit, most bidders immediately talk themselves out of it.

Their loss.

The accident was a front-fender hit at low speed, documented and repaired by a known shop with photos and receipts. The car was lightly restored, serviced over its entire life, and runs exactly like a well-kept M30 six should. The interior is worn in the way E24s always are. The TRX wheels scare people, but they’re part of the story and easily converted later if it bothers you.

This is the sweet spot: a handsome sharknose with decades of proper ownership, selling at no reserve because the paper trail looks messy. If you want perfection, this isn’t it. If you want a usable, good-looking Six for real money instead of fantasy pricing, this is the buy.

Soft bidding right now. Opportunity written all over it.

Some trucks just have presence, and this Discovery II has it before you even get to the spec sheet. Vienna Green, the top-trim HSE7 layout, the right stance, and a seller who clearly knows how to look after a fleet, it all reads like a Disco that’s been used, sorted, and enjoyed, not neglected into cheapness.

The story helps. This one spent most of its life in the South, which is exactly where you want a Discovery to have lived. No rust scares. No freeze-thaw drama. And while it carries the usual Carfax marks of a twenty-year-old Rover, the mechanical side is what matters. The engine was rebuilt earlier this year. The big wear-items and gaskets have been handled. The cooling system has already been given the thermostat conversion. And the seller has a very “fix it before it becomes a problem” mindset, which always shows.

The upgrades are sensible rather than loud. A one-inch lift, LED lighting, a factory brush guard, refinished wheels, a modern head unit, and a Raptor-lined roof that you may or may not love aesthetically, but at least you’ll never worry about clearcoat failure again. Inside, it’s the classic seven-seat Disco layout with jump seats, heated fronts, and the Harman/Kardon audio. It’s a proper configuration for someone who actually plans to use the thing.

With a fresh engine, a long list of recent service, and no reserve, this has the feeling of a Discovery someone could genuinely daily, trail, or throw into winter duty immediately. These trucks are getting harder to find in honest condition, especially ones that haven’t been rusted, hacked, or driven into the ground.

Where it ends is anyone’s guess, but as a sorted HSE7 in the right color, this looks like one of the smarter buys of the week.