The Daily Vroom

Good Morning Vroomers,

Starting off a bit different today and getting right into it. Everyone knows Doug DeMuro as the face of Cars & Bids. But the platform wasn’t built by Doug alone. Behind the scenes was Blake Machado, the product and tech brain who co-founded the site and helped turn Doug’s following into a real business.

When The Chernin Group put $37 million into Cars & Bids, Blake stepped away from day-to-day operations but stayed on the board. And today, he’s the seller on one of the most exciting no reserve listings of the week: his own 2023 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS.

It’s a spectacular spec. Gentian Blue Metallic, Weissach Package, magnesium wheels, PCCB brakes, carbon buckets, front axle lift, full paint protection film and just over 4,000 miles. No stories, clean Carfax, under warranty and still CPO backed through 2028.

For a car that was nearly impossible to order when new, this is a rare chance to skip the line and buy one from someone who helped build the platform itself. Watching one of the company’s original founders sell a halo Porsche to the highest bidder no safety net, no reserve feels like a full circle moment for Cars & Bids.

This auction is already drawing huge attention, and it should finish strong. Whoever wins, gets a GT4 RS from the man who helped create the marketplace it’s selling on.

Hagerty At It Again

I have said it until I am blue in the face. Curated collections change the game. They bring ready made confidence for buyers, cohesive storytelling for sellers, and a level of trust that random one offs cannot match. Hagerty has figured that out and keeps proving it.

This week auctions ending come from the killer collection of Raleigh Classic Car Auctions all no reserve sale. Thirty eight cars from three estates, all lined up and selling to the highest bidder. Raleigh Classic has spent 26 years building a reputation for pristine, low mile, documented American classics. They are regionally trusted, nationally recognized, and known for finding the kind of original, well cared for metal collectors crave.

The lineup is pure Americana. 1950s Cadillacs dripping in chrome, early Mustangs with the right badges and mileage, time capsule Oldsmobiles and Buicks, even a 300 mile 1984 Camaro Z28 still waiting for its first road trip. Everything is online, no reserve, and open for inspection at the Raleigh Classic showroom in Zebulon, North Carolina.

This is exactly where Hagerty shines. They have become the go to partner for estate liquidations and curated collections, attracting new players while giving seasoned collectors an easy way to buy with confidence. They are showing they are more than just valuations (do people go here for that??) and insurance. They are now the marketplace where big, story rich collections change hands.

And here is a question worth asking. Many of the classic car sites like Raleigh Classic and Streetside Classic run on ‘Speed Digital’, which is the technology that these sites sit on. Speed Digital is you guessed it owned by Hagerty. Are we starting to see Hagerty quietly leverage that relationship to feed their marketplace? It would make a lot of sense.

Are there relationships Cars & Bids could tap through its private equity ownership? We’ve seen Bring a Trailer use Car and Driver and other Hearst outlets to push its auctions.

When you’re part of a larger group, those built-in advantages can help you hold ground against smaller rivals and even accelerate growth.

No Reserve Auctions Ending Today

Sometimes I stumble on a listing overseas and it just stops me cold. We get plenty of great cars here in the States, but every once in a while something shows up that we were flat-out denied. This week it’s a 2001 Lotus Exige S1, the first and purest Exige. Light, loud, and built for nothing but driving.

It weighs next to nothing and feels more like a race car than anything that ever wore plates here. Just enough power to stay thrilling, just enough grip to make you sweat, and none of the extra weight that came later. You sit inches off the ground, hear every stone ping the floor, and feel every ripple in the road.

This one’s been well cared for with long-term ownership, full specialist service history, and a fresh suspension overhaul. The Laser Blue paint shows some age and the air conditioning is on vacation, but that hardly matters. Only around six hundred of these were ever built. They were never sold here.

For anyone who loves raw driving, it’s the kind of car you look at and think what could have been if Lotus had brought it stateside. A tiny, elemental machine built before the brand softened even a little. We can’t have it, but it’s fun to dream.

Sometimes you stumble on a car that makes you wonder how far old money has fallen. This 1982 Bentley Mulsanne is one of those. White over deep red leather, 6.75 liters of quiet torque, and it’s sitting at just over five grand with no reserve.

It has a backstory too. After its long life in warm Texas and Arizona garages, the last owner passed away and the car surfaced at an estate sale earlier this year. The current seller scooped it up, fixed the electrical gremlins, recharged the A/C with modern refrigerant, replaced tires and fuses, freshened the leather, and got it driving properly again.

Yes, there are cracks in the wood, some paint flaws, and a windshield chip. But the presence is still there. Huge leather seats, thick carpets, a hood that stretches out forever. At its current bid this is dirt-cheap old-money luxury, it might end up the best buy of the day.

Every so often a car appears that feels like it drove straight out of the 90s and parked here untouched. This 1993 Volkswagen Passat GLX in Classic Green Metallic is that car. One family owned it from new until this summer and it shows just 83,000 miles. It is clean, original, and still rocking the buttery smooth VR6 that made Volkswagen a hero in that era.

The spec is pure early 90s German sedan. Black velour with patterned inserts, BBS wheels, power sunroof, fog lights, premium cassette stereo. It is a snapshot of a time when VW built roomy, solid sedans that still felt special to drive. The selling dealer went through the details too, replacing front wheel bearings, brake pads, rotors, and bushings so it is road ready.

VR6 Passats were once everywhere. Then they got modified, crashed, or just used up. Finding one this stock and well cared for is rare. It is the kind of survivor that triggers memories of long road trips, early driving lessons, and that deep VR6 growl every Volkswagen kid remembers.

At its current bid this is cheap nostalgia with a silky six under the hood.