The Daily Vroom

Good Morning Vroomers,

Open the latest Cars & Bids newsletter and right there at the top it says Presented by Hagerty. I’ll admit, I had to look at it twice.

Because as we all know, Hagerty doesn’t just insure cars anymore. They also sell them and an increasing number of them. Through Broad Arrow and their Marketplace business they’re doing real volume. ($119m last year) That puts them squarely in the same broader auction ecosystem as Cars & Bids. This isn’t some adjacent lifestyle sponsor. This is a company that competes for consignments and buyers.

Which is why, psychologically, it feels a little weird.

When you run an auction platform, your email list is the crown jewel. Those are your bidders. Your sellers. The people who open, click, and wire money. So placing a competitor’s name at the very top of that communication every week does something subtle. Even if readers instinctively think “insurance,” repetition matters. Brand familiarity builds quietly. The more you see a name inside a trusted environment, the more normal it becomes.

We’ve talked recently about Cars & Bids needing to grow revenue beyond transaction fees. That part makes sense. Auction volume isn’t guaranteed. Big cars don’t show up on command. Newsletter sponsorship is clean, high-margin revenue. From a pure business standpoint, monetizing attention is smart.

But adding Hagerty as the presenting sponsor wasn’t on my bingo card.

At the same time, you have to admit, it’s a clever move by Hagerty.

They know Cars & Bids has a large, highly engaged audience of modern enthusiasts who are actively transacting. Building that kind of audience from scratch takes years. Buying your way in front of it through sponsorship is far easier. Instead of competing purely through listings and consignments, they’re inserting themselves directly into the weekly rhythm of that community. It’s efficient. It’s targeted. And it keeps their brand in front of buyers who are already in transaction mode.

From Hagerty’s perspective, it’s smart distribution. From Cars & Bids’ perspective, it’s monetizing a valuable asset.

It just creates an interesting tension. Strong players usually guard their turf closely. Seeing a competitor’s name embedded into your primary communication channel isn’t something you’d normally expect. Maybe Cars & Bids is confident their audience won’t drift. Maybe they view Hagerty first and foremost as an insurance partner. Maybe the economics were simply too good to ignore. Maybe they were desperate for a new revenue stream?

Or maybe I’m over thinking this one? It just feels strategically unexpected. And when two serious players start sharing space like this, it’s usually a sign that the real competition isn’t just about listings anymore, it’s about distribution.

No Reserve Auctions To Keep An Eye On

Some early 911s are about preservation, others are about performance. This one is about experience.

This 1968 Porsche 911T was built and campaigned in La Carrera Panamericana in 2009 and, more importantly, it finished. That alone separates it from the usual modified early cars that borrow the look of competition without ever seeing a start line. Panamericana is not a Cars and Coffee parade. It is a brutal, high speed, high consequence event that demands preparation and durability. A car that survives that kind of punishment carries a different kind of credibility.

The build reflects that intent. Stripped interior, full roll cage, Sparco racing seats, fuel cell, external kill switch, front mounted oil cooler, telltale tach with shift light. The two liter flat six was rebuilt by Predator Motorsports ahead of the event and shows logged hours rather than speculative mileage. It is paired with the correct Type 901 five speed, keeping the mechanical feel period correct. Nothing about this car feels cosmetic. It feels purpose driven.

What makes this listing compelling is the tension it creates. Early 911 buyers tend to fall into two camps. The originality crowd wants matching numbers, factory panels, and untouched interiors. The modern outlaw crowd wants something reimagined, perfected, and usually priced accordingly. This car sits in neither lane. It is not pretending to be original and it is not trying to be a boutique reinterpretation. It is a vintage competition build with visible history and honest wear.

That middle ground is fascinating right now.

You can see it in the questions. Enthusiasts are debating wheelbase measurements and quarter panels, checking for steel with magnets, asking about torsion bars, brake setup, expired belts, and street legality. That kind of engagement tells you this is not being viewed as a novelty. It is being evaluated seriously as either a usable track car, a vintage rally entry, or a blank canvas for the next chapter.

The seller even leans into that idea, describing it as something you can prep for the next event or dial back for spirited road use. That is the appeal. This is a car you interact with. You do not stare at it under perfect lighting. You strap into it.

This 911T is not about perfection. It is about purpose. And in a market that often rewards polish over provenance, a race prepared short wheelbase car with real event history stands out for all the right reasons

This little Starlet has quietly turned into a rolling case study.

It sold on BaT last August for $6,100. It then “sold” again on Cars & Bids in December for $5,600, except that transaction never closed because of a non paying bidder. Now it’s back again with the same seller.

You obviously cannot declare a trend from one car bouncing between platforms, but it does make this a fascinating one to watch. Three of the biggest enthusiast auction sites. Same car. Same spec. Public comps sitting right there for everyone to see.

That transparency changes the psychology. There’s no guessing what it might be worth. Buyers know exactly where it landed before. The only question is whether someone decides it deserves more this time.

The car itself is classic early 90s JDM turbo hatch. EP82 platform. 4E-FTE. Lightweight, simple, genuinely fun. It shows low kilometers and presents cleanly, but it is automatic, which narrows the audience compared to a manual car. Nothing dramatic has changed since its previous outings, so this really becomes a pure market test rather than a story about condition.

At the time of writing it’s sitting at $2k with the clock ticking down today. That’s what makes it compelling. It should be fun to see where it goes.

This is one of those auctions that says more about buyer psychology than the car itself.

On paper, this 1992 BMW 535i checks the enthusiast boxes. Alpine White over black, 5-speed manual, the 3.4 liter M30 inline six, no digital clutter, no driving modes. Just a proper analog E34.

Then you look closer and realize someone actually built it the right way. A 284 cam. Upgraded rocker arms. Larger injectors. Mark D’Silva chip. M5 flywheel. Limited slip with a shorter 3.64 ratio. Billy Boat exhaust. M5 front anti roll bar. Reinforced bushings. Brake upgrades. This is not random modification. It reads like a focused, period correct evolution of what a 535i should feel like.

The hesitation point is obvious. 233k miles.

Personally, that would not scare me off here, and the reason is simple. This is exactly the kind of car that should have miles. An E34 535i was built to be driven. These were daily drivers, highway cars, long distance machines. A big inline six BMW sedan from this era doing over two hundred thousand miles is not a red flag by default. It is a sign it was used.

What matters more is what has been done to it. The engine was overhauled in 2018. The driveline was serviced. Seals replaced. Clutch components refreshed. Suspension and differential addressed. If I am choosing between a low mile car with unknown history and a high mile car with documented mechanical work, I will take the latter every time.

The market, however, often reacts to the odometer first and asks questions later. Once the mileage starts with a two, a lot of casual buyers mentally check out. Add modifications to the mix and the hesitation doubles.

That is where the opportunity lives. You are getting the E34 experience without paying M5 money. The same chassis balance. The same hydraulic steering feel. The same overbuilt era of BMW engineering. And in this case, you are getting a car that has already had the kind of work enthusiasts usually say they want.

Right now it is sitting quietly. That may change as the clock winds down. If it does not, it tells you that mileage still caps enthusiasm. If it wakes up late, it tells you buyers were simply waiting for value to reveal itself.