The Daily Vroom

Good Morning Vroomers,

I do not usually step outside the auction world in this newsletter, but the Ford news from yesterday is hard to ignore. They are easing off the full EV roadmap and moving back toward hybrids, plug in hybrids and gas engines. In my view the push to go all electric happened a little too fast for how people actually use trucks, vans and performance cars. It needed time. That is all I will say because you are here for the auction stories, not an essay on drivetrain policy.

With that news in the air, I thought it would be a good moment to highlight a few interesting Fords crossing the block today. Three very different cars, three very different stories and all worth a look.

Let’s start with what we’re the biggest sellers yesterday. (Porsche & Ferrari)

YESTERDAY’S TOP 5 SALES

Sale of the Day

A simple one today but a great reminder of why no reserve auctions matter. This 2006 Mercedes ML500, clean history, unmodified, all wheel drive, 5.0 V8, and 123,500 miles, just sold for $5,500. For what you get here, that is a great price.

The second generation ML was a big step up from the original. Better materials, better ride quality, and it finally felt like a real luxury SUV. This one still has all the good equipment: heated multicontour seats, Harman Kardon audio, bi xenons, sunroof. Nothing crazy, just a well spec’d Mercedes that has held together the way it should.

It is not perfect. The listing shows chips on the front end, wear on the seats and trim, cracked wood, and some underbody corrosion. All normal for a nineteen year old Mercedes that has actually been used. The key is that it has a clean Carfax, recent servicing, and the seller put a couple thousand miles on it with no issues.

At $5,500, this is a cheap, comfortable V8 SUV with plenty of miles left in it and one of the first MLs we have featured here in TDV! Not every win on the platforms is a special edition or a collector piece. Sometimes it is just a well kept Mercedes that sells for the right number.

Ford Auctions To Watch

This notch has already traded hands multiple times in a matter of months, and the numbers tell the story. The only confirmed sale is the September deal at about $48,000. That seller clearly didn’t understand what a 132 mile Emerald Green 5.0 coupe means in today’s Fox market.

From there, the car resurfaced with an asking price of $135,000, and several people in the comments insist it actually sold somewhere in the $140s. No one can verify it, but the range makes sense when you consider the dealer publicly said they had been chasing this exact car for years. People don’t overpay to flip a Fox. They overpay because they believe they finally caught the unicorn.

Then you look underneath and the picture gets more complicated. Surface rust across the undercarriage. Oxidation in the engine bay. Pitting on untreated metal. Hood insulation chewed up by rodents. For a 132 mile car, that’s not the museum grade presentation many expected.

This is where nostalgia makes things fascinating. One person sees $20,000 worth of issues and questions how it ever reached six figure territory. Another sees the mileage, the spec, the rarity, and says it’s easily a $100,000 to $150,000 car.

This is why Fox Bodies are such a wild market right now. Two people can stare at the same car and be $100k apart on value.

My take is the number unfolding on BaT today is the real benchmark. The hype, the rumors, the “someone paid $140K” talk, none of it matters once the hammer drops. And personally I don’t see it returning to that $140K zone. But the final hours will be fun, because this is exactly where nostalgia collides with reality.

This Super Snake is one of those listings where the numbers barely matter until you step back and remember what Shelby actually built here. A 2012 GT500 is already a serious car. Turn it into a 50th Anniversary Super Snake, add the wide body, the Kenne Bell blower, the Alcoas, the Shelby paperwork, and now you’re playing in a completely different league. According to the seller it’s one of only thirty seven Anniversary cars and just two with the factory wide body. That alone explains why the bids moved past $80k quickly.

And the presentation matches the spec. 5k miles. Black and gold. All the Shelby parts documented. The wide body gives it a stance that makes everything else look timid and the Borla system and cooling upgrades tell you this wasn’t built to sit still, even if most owners treat these like museum pieces.

The interesting part here is the price versus the original cost. Back in 2012 you paid about $53k for the GT500 and another $82k for the Super Snake and wide body packages. So someone was into this car for over $130k before taxes, shipping, and all the Shelby memorabilia. That anchors the whole conversation. If you’re a collector, you already know you’re not buying a Mustang. You’re buying one of the rarest modern Shelbys and the wide body puts it in its own category.

There isn’t much controversy on this one either. No rust drama. No odd storage stories. Just a low mile Shelby that’s been parked carefully and started periodically. The only real nitpick is the tires being from 2013, and that’s exactly the kind of note you get on a car that’s lived a quiet life inside.

This one feels like it will land exactly where the modern Shelby market lives right now. Not a bargain, not a moonshot, just the real number for a wide body Anniversary Super Snake with five thousand miles and documentation.

This is the one in today’s write-ups that feels the most like actual fun.

You’ve got a 2002 Focus SVT in Sonic Blue, 49k miles, six speed, no reserve, and a parts list that reads like someone’s early 2000s forum build thread finally brought to life. CGI block, forged pistons, Crower rods, GT28RS turbo, Quaife LSD, proper suspension and brake upgrades. The seller says it should be around 250 wheel at 11 psi, which in a light front drive hatch with this chassis is more than enough to get you in trouble in third.

The best part is that it is not pretending to be a collector car. Clearcoat is peeling on the bumpers, roof and spoiler, the hood is faded, there are scratches and a dent up front, the interior has wear and patched holes. This is a driver. It looks exactly like the fast kid’s SVT at the back of the school lot that never quite cooled down after lunch.

Then you get to the quirks, which are what make this one so interesting. The fuel gauge reads empty all the time because of the Holley Hydramat, and the Check Engine light is on for the same reason. The seller is honest about it and just tells you how to live with it. Fill up every 180 to 200 miles, plan your gas stops, and you are fine. He even did a 600 mile road trip recently with no issues. It is the most tuner car detail in the whole listing. The electronics gave up first. The hardware kept going.

For me, this is where nostalgia gets fun. On one side you have people remembering Focus SVTs as cheap used cars they modded until the warranty vanished. On the other, you have a fully built example with no reserve and real money in the drivetrain and suspension. Someone is going to get a proper little riot here for used Corolla money.

If you want something you can actually beat on, talk about and not feel guilty parking at the grocery store, this is the one.

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