Sport-Off Road-Touring

Sport, Off-Road, Touring: Year 2 by the Numbers

Well, another year has come and gone of my selecting each week the perfect 3-car garage from Bring A Trailer. One is a dedicated sportscar, one off-road vehicle and a car that is suitable for road-tripping.

Last year I created a post that wrapped up the previous year’s cars and now I’m sort of obligated to do it again. Unlike last year when I had to look back at every week to collect data, this time I have kept the spreadsheet updated as I have gone along. This means it will get posted about a week sooner than the last one.

Like last year I once again picked 156 cars, which is three times fifty-two, but unlike last year I missed picking cars one week. We were on our second day of a two-week driving vacation and I forgot (I did remember for the second Monday though.) So how did I end up with the same number of cars? For something different on Christmas week, I decided to pick a dream garage of red & green. To get an even amount of each color I decided to go ahead and pick one of each color for each of the categories.

If I actually won all auctions of the cars I chose during the year I would have spent $9,695,567. Making it an average of $62,151 for each vehicle. This is down around $1.5 million and nine thousand respectively.

The most expensive car I picked was once again in the Sport category, a 1960 Ferrari 250 GT Pinin Farina Coupe at $491,000. The most expensive auto in the Off-Road category was, like last year, another Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG at $205,000. The highest priced auto in the Touring category was a 2021 Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 at $253,000. There were 18 vehicles that went for over six figures. Last year there were 23, with two of those over a half million and one went for $1.1 million.

The least expensive car I picked was yet again from Off-Road category, a VW Beetle based 1977 Fargo Dune Buggy at a measly $5,100. The least expensive Touring vehicle was a no reserve 1999 Chevrolet K1500 Suburban LT 4×4 that sold for $9,300. The least expensive Sports car was a 1973 Porsche 914 that sold for $12,000. There was a 1969 Datsun 2000 Roadster that I “bid” $8,000 on, but there was no sale as the reserve wasn’t met. These four cars were the only ones that went for under five figures.

The oldest car I chose was a 1931 Ford Model A Pickup Hot Rod that set me back $68,000. There were 2 more cars selected from the 30’s, four more from the 40’s, 20 from the 50’s and twenty more from the 60’s. There were two dozen vehicles selected from the 70’s, 17 came from the 80’s, sixteen were from the 90’s and the 2000’s was the most popular decade again with a total of 25. There were 18 picked from 2010-2019 and the 2020’s accounted for the last nine of the 156 total. The newest cars were from the year 2022, and 3 of the 4 were just because one Monday for kicks I picked brand new cars and priced them to MSRP. Taking all vehicles into account, the average model year car was 1985 compared to last year’s 1986.

The cars came from 43 separate manufacturers, two more than last year. The most popular make was a tie between Porsche & Chevy with 16. The runner-up was another tie, VW & Ford came in at fourteen. Jeep was third with 11. There were 20 manufacturers with one car chosen and 10 more with just 2 models. Last year I picked only one car from Mazda, a lonely Miata, but this year there were 8 from Mazda, including four Miatas.

The most chosen model name this year was Type 2, AKA VW Bus with 7, Land Cruiser & Wrangler were the runners-up with 6 and 3rd place were Bronco, Cayman & Corvette with five picks. A little less than half, 76, were one and done model names.

Now, using fuzzy logic, the most popular car of this year, if it existed, would have been a 1957 Porsche Type 2 that costs $22,500 and the most random car, if it existed, would be a 1978 Mercedes-Benz Patrol that costs $50,500.

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Here We Go Again Edition of SORT
As of Monday, August 8, 2022 at 6:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
2000 Honda S2000 2003 Land Rover Discovery II HSE 1977 Honda Accord
First thing I’d do would be to add two 8″ red stripes accented by 1″ black stripes on each side. 🙂 This vehicle is located in Flemington, NJ. Hmm, that sounds familiar. I’m sure someone will remind me. The first car Donna & I bought together was a 1978 model identical to this while we were on Guam.

Here is what last week’s cars sold for, or bid to (if the reserve was not met):
Sports: 1973 Porsche 914 2.0 Sold for $23,750 on 8/7/22
Off-Road: 2003 Lexus LX470 Sold for $20,000 on 8/3/22
Touring: 2003 Mercedes-Benz SL500 Sold for $36,000 on 8/7/22

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

No Reserve Edition of SORT
As of Monday, August 1, 2022 at 6:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1973 Porsche 914 2.0 2003 Lexus LX470 2003 Mercedes-Benz SL500
After last week’s Reserve Not Met discussion we of course had another, the Chevy Wagon. For this week, to guarantee all the vehicles will sell, the three I chose are all “No Reserve” auctions.

Here is what last week’s cars sold for, or bid to (if the reserve was not met):
Sports: 1993 Mazda RX-7 R1 Sold for $70,500 on 7/27/22
Off-Road: 1982 Jeep Cherokee Sold for $25,500 on 7/26/22
Touring: 1951 Chevrolet Wagon Bid to $26,250 on 7/28/22

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Has The Car Market Bubble Burst Edition of SORT
As of Monday, July 25, 2022 at 6:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1993 Mazda RX-7 R1 1982 Jeep Cherokee 1951 Chevrolet Wagon
I don’t know for sure, but it seems to me that the car pricing bubble has burst, at least on BAT. There were probably a bunch of folks taking advantage of the wacko car market to get top dollar for their vehicles by setting the reserves on their auctions higher they might have several months ago. I’m basing this on the fact that a lot aren’t meeting the reserve recently.

As you can see below, 2 of 3 cars I picked last week didn’t get sold. Because I keep track of what each car I choose for these posts just so I can do a yearly wrap up (this is last year’s) I can tell you how many cars did not sell. From August 2020 to August 2021 of the 156 cars I chose a mere 3 came back as Reserve Not Met. This year from August 2021 to today of the 150 cars picked 15 have not met their reserve.

Ten of those fifteen have come in the last 3 months…

Here is what last week’s cars sold for, or bid to (if the reserve was not met):
Sports: 1971 Alpine A110 Bid to $93,110 on 7/22/22
Off-Road: 1996 Land Rover Defender Bid to $37,500 on 7/20/22
Touring: 2001 BMW M3 Sold for $86,000 on 7/21/22

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Too Hot for Convertibles Edition of SORT
As of Monday, July 18, 2022 at 6:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1971 Alpine A110 1996 Land Rover Defender 2001 BMW M3
Old school European sports car. It is in Germany so the shipping will hurt. An old standby pick for this category, these things have so much character. Another old standby pick, but these usually appear in the sports category.

Here is what last week’s cars sold for, or bid to (if the reserve was not met):
Sports: 1972 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe Sold for $45,500 on 7/16/22
Off-Road: 1987 Chevrolet K5 Blazer Bid to $17,001 on 7/14/22
Touring: 1957 Chevrolet 210 4-Door Wagon Sold for $27,777 on 7/12/22

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Orange You Glad You Bought A Chevy Edition of SORT
As of Monday, July 11, 2022 at 6:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1972 Chevrolet
Corvette Coupe		 1987 Chevrolet
K5 Blazer		 1957 Chevrolet
210 4-Door Wagon
Didn’t you have a Corvette last week too? Yes I did, that one I’d own, this one just fit the theme. This is a real Blazer, unlike Chevy’s latest iteration which is good for blazing Starbuck’s drive thrus. Even though the auction text says this gold, it looks as orange as the K5 Blazer to the left.

Here is what last week’s cars sold for, or bid to (if the reserve was not met):
Sports: 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Split-Window Coupe Bid to $120,600 on 7/5/22
Off-Road: 1980 Jeep CJ-7 Sold for $22,500 on 7/11/22
Touring: 1940 Plymouth P10 Deluxe Touring Sedan Bid to $20,250 on 7/8/22

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Independence Day Edition of SORT
As of Monday, July 4, 2022 at 9:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1963 Chevrolet Corvette Split-Window Coupe 1980 Jeep CJ-7 1940 Plymouth P10 Deluxe Touring Sedan
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Here is what last week’s cars sold for, or bid to (if the reserve was not met):
Sports: 1960 Ferrari 250 GT Pinin Farina Coupe Sold for $491,000 on 6/29/22
Off-Road: 1982 Jeep CJ-7 4-Speed Sold for $38,500 on 6/28/22
Touring: 1963 Volkswagen Type 2 Panel Van Sold for $55,000 on 6/30/22