The Daily Vroom

Good morning Vroomers,

BaT are having quite the week to say the least.

Yesterday they recorded their third-highest sale ever with that Bugatti (more on that below). What’s always fascinating with these top-end auctions is how often the winning bidder appears out of nowhere. In this case, the buyer seemingly had no prior online auction purchases before casually dropping $4.4 million before lunch.

And honestly, if someone is comfortable spending $4.4 million online in a matter of minutes, they were probably willing to spend $5 million, $6 million, or even $7 million for the right car.

YESTERDAY’S TOP 3 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

Sale of the Day for me is this E61 wagon selling for just $5,688!

I’ve always had a soft spot for wagons, especially ones like this that were built before everything became oversized crossovers with giant screens and zero personality. Less than 100k miles, unmodified, sport package, panoramic roof, twin-turbo inline-six, AWD, and it even comes with the roof box. That feels like an absurd amount of car for the money.

What’s especially interesting here is how the comments almost perfectly capture the modern used German car market. Half the people are talking about how special these are and how comfortable they are on long drives. The other half are calculating injector indexes, evaporator failures, turbo seals, compressor issues, and mentally preparing for dashboard removal labor before placing a bid.

That’s kind of the entire E61 ownership experience summed up in one auction.

I also think the final price says something bigger about where the market is right now. A few years ago these felt like they were really starting to climb as enthusiasts realized this was one of the last genuinely practical enthusiast BMW wagons sold here. Now you can buy a clean, highly-optioned example for used Corolla money because people are terrified of maintenance.

And honestly? I kind of understand both sides.

But there’s still something incredibly cool about a car designed to quietly devour highway miles at 90mph all day long while carrying bikes, skis, luggage, dogs, kids, or whatever else life throws at you. BMW used to build these kinds of cars unbelievably well.

Auctions To Keep An Eye On

As much as I love the seven-figure auction headlines, these are the kinds of listings I actually spend the most time looking at.

A manual 958 Cayenne feels like something Porsche would never approve today. Three pedals, naturally aspirated V6, locking center differential, analog gauges, and enough practicality to be a genuine daily driver. Modern performance SUVs have become so fast and overcomplicated that they’ve almost forgotten how to feel engaging. This still feels mechanical.

And this one has exactly the right vibe. The slightly lowered OEM+ setup, the previous-gen Cayenne wheels, and the Pirelli Scorpions completely change the personality of the truck. It doesn’t look like a generic luxury SUV anymore. It looks like something built by an enthusiast who actually understands these cars.

I also appreciated the seller clarifying the “short shifter” in the comments instead of overselling it. Turns out it’s just a lower aftermarket shift knob, but that kind of honesty honestly goes a long way on auction platforms.

Funny enough, I didn’t even realize who the seller was until after I already liked the truck. Then I saw it was Bid Nerds. If you follow the auction world at all, their YouTube podcast is genuinely worth watching. The enthusiasm for enthusiast-spec oddballs like this definitely comes through in the listing.

Cars like this remind me why I still love browsing auctions late at night. Not because they’re investment-grade trophies, but because they represent combinations manufacturers simply don’t build anymore.

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This is one of those Ferraris where the story is almost more interesting than the car itself.

The 599 was already the end of an era: front-engine, naturally aspirated V12, hydraulic steering, and enough torque to completely overwhelm the rear tires whenever it wanted. But the Alonso Edition takes an already special car and locks Ferrari into a very specific moment in time.

Back in 2012, Ferrari was still heavily leaning into the connection between its Formula 1 program and its road cars. Fernando Alonso was the face of the brand, and Ferrari built just 40 of these “60F1” editions to celebrate the company’s Formula 1 success. The result is one of the more subtle and tasteful special-edition Ferraris they’ve done.

I also think it’s interesting how much certification culture now matters at the top end of the Ferrari market. Twenty years ago people mainly cared about mileage and color. Now you’ve got Ferrari Classiche Red Books, Cavallino awards, originality verification, concours history, and paint originality becoming part of the value equation itself.

This car basically checks every modern Ferrari collector box:
Low mileage
Rare special edition
Factory livery
Classiche certified
Award-winning
Original paint
Naturally aspirated V12

And underneath all the collectibility, it still represents Ferrari before hybridization and full digitalization really took over. The 599 still feels like old Ferrari in the best possible way.

Thinking about importing this one? We ran the numbers, see the full landed cost (assuming 200k Euro sale price) breakdown at the TDV Import Calculator

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I’m always fascinated by who actually ends up buying cars like this?

Does someone wake up one morning and specifically search “Dio Cars S-40 converted GMC Jimmy” on the internet? Or does the car just randomly find the exact right person at 1am while they’re deep into an auction rabbit hole?

Because realistically, this isn’t competing with normal collector cars. It’s competing for attention against every 911, Bronco, Defender, and square-body truck on the market. And somehow it still has this weird charm to it.

The backstory honestly makes it even cooler. According to the seller, this was the first Dio Cars kit built by the factory itself and used as a display vehicle at events. That immediately changes the way you look at it.

And the thing I actually appreciate most is that it doesn’t feel over-restored or over-serious. It still has the slightly strange proportions, the retro front clip, the American Racing wheels, the cassette stereo, the old GM interior, even the seller casually mentioning the tiny puff of smoke after sitting too long. That honesty weirdly makes it more likable.

Cars like this remind me that the auction world isn’t just about blue-chip collectibles and investment-grade Ferraris. Sometimes it’s just about stumbling across something so odd, specific, and period-correct that you can’t stop looking at it.