The Daily Vroom

Good morning Vroomers,

After a string of million-dollar sales like this Ford GT on Monday , yesterday was a breather. Fewer headline results, fewer fireworks. But today, we’re back in the mix.

Big eyes on the Carrera GT — always a market-mover — and a possible surprise from a platform we haven’t talked about in a while: SBX Cars.

They haven’t posted a sale since February 28th, but that could change today?

MARKET LEADERBOARD

💰 The figures shared below don’t count any other sales such as car seats, memorabilia etc… All online auction sites are analyzed to put this leaderboard together.

I only include websites that have sold 5+ vehicles in the chart below.

YESTERDAY’S TOP 5 SALES

Want to dive deeper into any of these listings? Just click on the car to take you directly to the listing.

Sale of the Day

I’ll always have a soft spot for proper project cars. The kind that come with grime, missing bolts, and big ambition. Not just because of the price point — but because of the stories buried underneath the dust.

This 1969 Porsche 911T is that story.

Same owner since 1979. He raced it. Wrenched on it. Stripped it down to build his version of an RSR. Then life, as it tends to do, got in the way. What’s left is a time capsule of half-completed vision: Turbo steel flares, fiberglass fenders, IROC tail, and the original 2.0L flat-six sitting out of the car with a seized Weber and a few broken studs.

But make no mistake — this was loved. And now, it’s someone else’s turn.

The winning bidder? A known face. “Mwrench” has a reputation on BaT for finishing what others start — and doing it right. He’s posted before about bringing rough projects back to life, and even commented mid-auction that this one was “pretty complete, just needs the effort.” That’s the kind of buyer this car needed.

Sold for $15,411. And for what it is — a mostly complete, mildly hacked-up, long-hood 911 with a VIN that still holds weight — that’s a deal. Not because it’s turnkey. But because it’s a blank canvas.

Cars like this are less about flipping and more about vision. You could go full outlaw. Strip it. Paint it Burgundy Red like the tag says. Or lean into the late-70s mod scene the seller started decades ago. None of those are wrong. That’s the beauty of a real project — the only rules are the ones you set.

For me, this is what makes online platforms great. Not every car has to be concours. Sometimes, it’s about giving someone the raw material to dream.

And now, after 45 years, this 911 finally gets its second chapter. Let’s hope it ends with a flat-six screaming down a backroad — not another 20 years in a garage.

Invisible Hands: The GT4 Auction Contrast

Two Porsche Cayman GT4s. Same day. Two different platforms. Two very different outcomes.

Let’s start with the headline: a 2016 GT4 in Racing Yellow with ~20k miles, ceramic brakes, and Sport Chrono sold on Cars & Bids for $86,000. Clean Carfax. Six-speed manual. Respectable spec. It wasn't top-of-market money, but it wasn't a bargain either. This sale sets the baseline: what a well-kept, modestly optioned GT4 trades for in a reserve auction where the result reflects actual bidder demand.

Now here's the twist, kind of.

Yesterday, another 2016 GT4 with under 9,000 miles, carbon buckets, PCCBs, and a $118K window sticker went up on Bring a Trailer. Bidding hit $101,000. It didn’t meet reserve. But it still sold!

The reason being that BaT stepped in and made up the difference (whatever that is).

This is something BaT has always had the ability to do — bridge a gap between high bid and reserve using the 5% buyer’s fee they collect. It’s not widely advertised, but it’s baked into their terms. In this case, the buyer paid $5,050. That money didn’t just go into BaT’s pocket — it helped close the deal. The seller got what they needed. The buyer didn’t pay more. BaT still made a deal happen, all seemingly good.

That also means the gap couldn’t have been massive. If BaT is using buyer fees to top up a sale and still coming out whole, it’s a strategic nudge — not a rescue.

But here’s the issue: we don’t know how this decision is made. Is it an automated system quietly bridging small gaps behind the scenes? Or a manual call by someone at BaT deciding which deals are worth saving?

Either way, that’s not the problem. The problem is the lack of transparency. There’s no flag, no badge, no footnote. Nothing tells us when a platform-assisted deal takes place. And for a company rightly praised for its transparency, that’s a loop worth closing.

Because right now, the $101K sale price tells one story. The real one, we’re left guessing.

And it matters. If you’re benchmarking value, appraising a collection, underwriting a loan, or just trying to understand where the market is — that kind of opacity muddles the data which many (like me) thrive on!

Over at Cars & Bids, post-auction deals happen too. We've all seen listings marked "sold after." Could C&B be adding sweeteners behind the scenes? Maybe. But again, there’s no sale price. No clarity. Just a binary result: sold or not.

Both platforms are doing what they can to keep cars moving. I respect that. But it’s time for some recognition. Assisted closings should be noted — not to shame the deal, but to sharpen the data.

Two GT4s. Same day. One reflects the market. The other reflects the machinery that keeps it running.

One shows the price. The other tells a story.

Depends what you’re here for.

And again — I like that BaT steps in. It’s smart. It keeps things fluid. It helps the right cars find new homes. But when the platform shapes the result, the least we can ask for is a small signal. Just show us the full picture. They already lead the space in transparency. This is the final box to tick.

What do you think?