The Daily Vroom

Good morning, Vroomers.

BaT is on an absolute tear right now.

Yesterday they landed their biggest sale of the year — also the most expensive online auction of 2025 so far. That’s six $1M+ sales in April, with five days still on the clock. A few more big ones are in the wings, and if they hit, this could go down as one of BaT’s best months ever.

But sure… some folks still want to tell you the market’s cooling off.

Meanwhile, Hagerty is quietly stepping up. They’ve been running more no-reserve listings (credit where it’s due), and their results are starting to consistently show up on our daily market leaderboard. It’s a sign they’re taking online auctions more seriously — and if they stay consistent, they’ll keep showing up.

Let’s see where it goes.

MARKET LEADERBOARD

💰 Note: These numbers only include vehicle sales — no car seats, memorabilia, or other extras. Only platforms that sold 5+ vehicles yesterday are shown below.

Altogether, nearly $10 million in vehicles changed hands yesterday. Here’s a look at which platforms led the way:

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

This 15k-Mile 2005 Ford GT is the kind of result that reminds you auctions are as much about who’s in the room as what’s on the block.

Last time out, this GT had a bid of $425K — and got yanked when it turned out the stripes weren’t original. Credit to the seller: they made it right. Peeled the vinyl, cleaned up the PPF, and re-listed it exactly as it left the factory. One of just four yellow, stripe-delete ’05s. Real-deal rarity.

But yesterday, $391K. No last-minute flurry, no bidding war. Just one buyer, at the right number, and the hammer dropped.

Was it well bought? Absolutely.
Was it a market correction? Not really.
Just a reminder: not every big sale lands in front of the right crowd. Sometimes the stars align. Sometimes they don’t.

The seller’s response was pure professionalism:

That’s the reality. Auctions aren’t stock tickers — they’re moments. And this one, a $391K moment that someone will be bragging about for a long time.

Potential Bargains

I’ve said it before — when the right M3 shows up at no reserve, the radar should go off. Loudly.

This one's Interlagos Blue, ZCP, and loaded with all the right mods. SuperSprint headers. Eisenmann exhaust. KW V3s. CSL trunk and door sills. Big brake kit. And — the holy trinity — VANOS, rod bearings, and subframe - All done.

In short: the expensive stuff is handled. The fun stuff is dialed. The work’s been paid for, and right now, someone’s about to get the keys to a $35K build for…

Yeah, it’s an SMG car. But you’re one manual swap away from perfection — and at this price, you’d still be ahead.

And here’s the part I love: it’s not pretending to be a time capsule. 100K+ miles, paint flaws, a few codes on the dash, and a seller who actually used it. That’s honesty — and in 2025, that’s rare.

Would I drive it home from auction and bomb a backroad? Yes. Would I be tempted to throw on a square set of Apex ARC-8s and take it straight to HPDE? Also yes.

This is the kind of car that reminds you what the E46 was all about — raw sound, perfect proportions, and endless tuning potential.

And right now in the final few hours, it’s almost criminally cheap.

This 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG might be the best value-per-pound car in the country right now.

You've got a 6.0L twin-turbo V12 with a Kleemann tune cranking out nearly 700 hp and 850 lb-ft. That’s Bugatti torque for a used C-Class price.

Yes, it's got 85k miles. Yes, it's been around a bit (Minnesota, Florida, Colorado, California). But it’s clean, recently serviced, has 2024 tires, and just passed California emissions. That alone makes it turnkey.

Paintwork - some scratches and scuffs, but it’s had a pro correction and re-clear, which is way more than most at this price point.

Interior - loaded. Heated/cooled multicontour seats, Keyless-Go, upgraded steering wheel, BOSE audio — everything still sounds like 2005 money-no-object engineering.

What’s the upside?

Let’s look at recent comps:

• 69k mi – $24,505 (April 2025)

• 73k mi – $25,050 (April 2025)

• 61k mi $27,250 (Feb 2025)

This one, at $5,500 with six days left, it’s flying under the radar.

Even if it creeps to $18–20K, it’s still well below market for a rare, California-registered CL65 in solid shape with a tune and fresh rubber.