The Daily Vroom

Good morning Vroomers,

Labor Day made last week a short one, but the market still cleared nearly $50 million in sales. Longtime readers know I never stop barking about the value of weekend auctions, and the data backed it up again. Forty percent of the top 10 sales landed on Saturday, including a 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS Weissach and a 2012 Lexus LFA. Maybe one day every platform will wise up and run weekends.

It is Monday, which means we are back to spotlighting the highest-upside no reserve listings, the ones that could turn into real deals.

Let’s get into it.

Why Context Is Key

At The Daily Vroom we have been banging on the context drum forever. Friday’s Cayenne auction proved why.

Last week we called it one to watch. Jet Green Metallic. Six-speed manual. Premium Plus package. But what really tipped us off was not just the spec. It was the early signs in the comments. Volume spiked right away. Unicorn got mentioned more than once. Owners and enthusiasts were circling. That combination of early chatter plus rarity is often the spark for something big.

And big is what we got. A base V6 Cayenne sold for $125,500. On the surface it makes no sense. These have been $30K to $40K SUVs. Even clean manuals have never sniffed six figures. Look at it without context and the number is absurd.

The context made it inevitable. Final-year manual. A seller who presented it right. A crowd already invested in the story before the bidding turned serious. By the time the auction exploded with nearly 600 comments, memes, and staff participation, two bidders were locked in and the rest of us were watching history.

Theories are flying. Manuals are extinct in this segment. Porsche people love rarity. Maybe two deep-pocketed buyers just refused to stop. All fair points. But the truth is simpler. The early flood of comments, the unicorn talk, and the energy around this listing told us it was not a normal auction. That is why we flagged it.

This will not reprice every Cayenne overnight. But it does shift psychology. Owners will test the waters. Buyers who thought they were safe at $40K just got a wake-up call. And Cars & Bids showed it can host an auction that becomes an event.

That is the lesson. Specs tell you what a car is. Context tells you what it can become. Friday’s context turned a V6 Cayenne into a $125K headline.

No Reserve Auctions To Keep An Eye On

At The Daily Vroom we spend plenty of time on analyzing vehicles from the well known platforms. That is where the biggest crowds are and where results like Friday’s Cayenne can turn into theater. But there is a flip side. When a serious car shows up on a smaller stage, the lack of hype can mean real opportunity.

Case in point: this 1977 Datsun 280Z. On BaT a vintage racer with HSR history, a stroked 2.8, a Motec EFI system, a Tremec close-ratio 5-speed, Wilwood brakes, and IMSA-style bodywork would have the comments section foaming. Here it is on a quieter site, which means fewer bidders and potentially less competition.

The car itself seems to be the real deal. Active in HSR and SVRA since the late 90s, with a class championship under its belt. A fully built L28 stroked with LD28 crank, forged internals, Motec management. Tilton twin-disc clutch, Quaife LSD, AZ Car suspension, Wilwood stoppers. Safety gear that is track legal today. It even comes with spares and three wheel sets. No guesswork here. It is a proven, sorted, championship-winning car.

And yet because it is listed on a niche platform this auction is not drawing the same noise you would see elsewhere. That is context buyers should pay attention to. The car is serious, the venue is quieter, and the timing could be right for someone to step in and grab a piece of Japanese racing history without fighting through 600 comments of memes and unicorn emojis.

The Cayenne sale showed how crowd energy can push a number into the stratosphere. This Z shows the other side. Right car, less spotlight, more chance for a sharp buyer to win it at the right price.

The last Saab flagship. A 2011 9-5 Aero XWD with the turbo 2.8 V6, all-wheel drive, and the factory Hirsch tune that bumps output to around 330 horsepower. Saab only built these for two short years before the lights went out, and the Hirsch Aeros sit at the top of the pile.

This one shows 121k miles with steady service and a clean Carfax. Brakes, tires, coils, and plugs have been done recently, and a Lemon Squad inspection is included. The weak A/C, light oil seep, and some cosmetic wear are the sort of things you expect at this mileage.

What stands out is how much car you get for the money. A 300-plus horsepower AWD sedan with head-up display, panoramic roof, Hirsch pedigree, and real rarity. If the sale price stays anywhere near the current bid of $6,300, it is a steal. Even at double that it is still a lot of car for the money compared with its German rivals.

This is exactly the type of listing that gets overlooked until the final minutes, which is today! A rare spec, plenty of kit, no reserve. If you have ever wanted to own the last real Saab, this is your chance.

Every now and then something truly oddball and special surfaces. This is one of those times. A first-gen SLK230 Kompressor that went straight from Mercedes-Benz of Princeton to RENNtech when new, receiving more than $40K in upgrades. According to Hartmut Feyhl, this was the only manual-transmission SLK they ever built.

The work was serious. A stroked 2.5L version of the supercharged M111, RENNtech suspension with Konis and H&R springs, Alcon brakes, a limited-slip diff, and authentic BBS RCs. Even the details are right: Supersprint exhaust, period body kit, and the full stack of receipts included.

The car shows 61k miles and has been mechanically refreshed with mounts, shocks, springs, fluids, and alignment. It is not a perfect museum piece, the driver seat shows some wear and there are light scratches outside, but it is complete & inspected.

The hook here is how much uniqueness you get for the money. This was a $40K car with another $40K spent at RENNtech, and it remains the only documented 5-speed manual build. Current bid is just $9K.

Bottom line: if you like cars that nobody else at Cars & Coffee can show up in, this is exactly that. One of one.

This is the kind of listing that can go overlooked and it’s one’s like this that are in a separate tab on my potential bargain spreadsheet! An Alpine White E46 Touring with a ZHP 3.0 swap, six speed, Bilsteins, and recent service. The swap was done by Kansas City Autosport, so the work carries weight.

It’s not a true unicorn since BMW never built a 330i ZHP Touring 6-speed, but it’s as close as you’ll get. The spec is right and the bones are there.

The wrinkle is the seller. You can tell he’s new to BaT, the title doesn’t highlight the ZHP, key details are buried in the comments, and the driving video still hasn’t surfaced. That kind of inexperience can put off some bidders. But that’s also where the opportunity is. When presentation isn’t polished, any sharp buyers out there have a shot at getting a serious car without paying a serious premium.