Success Stories

This Success Story comes to us from BaT member Canoethrasher, who won this 2007 Honda Element SC from The_Dude_Abides in an April 2025 BaT auction:
It was a typical Monday. I was doing patient rounds at the hospital when my phone rang. Thinking it was the traditional spam call at 1:00 PM, I silenced the call, expecting to see a local area code and no voicemail left. But to my surprise, an East Coast number left a detailed voice message. “Congrats on the win!” I thought these scammers were really getting creative, until I remembered that I had placed a bid on a gorgeous Root Beer metallic Honda Element SC an hour ago. No way—I had won. Every car I’d previously hunted on BaT escaped my grasp during the final two minutes. I was usually meticulous in my browsing and bidding, scrutinizing every photo and comment. But after several recent losses in bidding wars, I admit that I basically saw Root Beer metallic and placed a bid.

This Success Story comes to us from BaT member northstrand, who won this 2001 BMW Z8 from NHD4OSU in an August 2025 BaT auction:
I had owned two silver Z8s before, and I wasn’t looking to buy another one. I had been spending my time searching for Italian and British cars with American drivetrains. I currently own a ’64 Apollo 5000 GT convertible, a ’67 Ghia 450SS, and a Maserati Mistral with a Z28 Camaro engine. But I also own a ’73 Jensen Interceptor convertible, a Panoz Esperante, and a Sunbeam Tiger. I even bought an XKE with a 350ci Chevy V8 on BaT a few years ago. 

BaT member williamglenn95 wrapped up a fly-and-drive adventure with the 1967 Morgan 4/4 GT that he won from 97mar in an August 2025 BaT auction. He affectionately named it Marj, and wrote in to tell us how the name came to be:
As a kid, I had a hardwired fascination for all types of beautiful and unique vehicles. This was inspired by my older cousins, who owned everything from motorcycles to a 1960s VW sand rail and a 1965 Sting Ray. My brother and I would play a game every time we rode in the third row of our family’s Chevy Astro van, trying to accurately state the make, model, and year of every car we passed, even at night (I can still read headlight and taillight signatures with surprising accuracy). We also collected hundreds of Hot Wheels cars and spent countless hours talking about our future rides. I inherited both of my current vehicles and started a separate savings account for my dream car.

BaT member Pdigwig took his family on a camping trip on the way home from picking up the EuroVan Winnebago Camper that he won from ovdays in an August 2025 BaT auction, and he wrote in to tell us about it:
After winning the auction on August 4, I contacted the owner, Richard, and asked if he could store the EuroVan Camper until I could fly from Detroit to Tucson to pick it up. He kindly agreed and moved the van to a storage area, where he kept it until October, when I finally had time off. It had been sitting for two months when my wife, our oldest daughter, and I flew into Phoenix to begin our journey home in Marshmallow, the EuroVan Winnebago Camper. We landed, rented a car, and drove down to the storage area near Tucson.

BaT member NIACC is back with another Success Story, this time on a 2006 BMW Z4 M Roadster that he won from an October 2025 BaT auction:
This Z4 M saved my marriage. That might be a huge exaggeration given that we’ve made it 57 years, but after sharing one car while in Florida last winter, neither one of us was looking forward to repeating that experience.

BaT member mlc brings us this Success Story about the 1993 Rover Mini Cooper 1.3i that he won from Classicspotted in a January 2025 BaT auction; he took delivery of the car in Greece, and used it to run the 2025 Tour de Peloponnese rally before shipping it home:
My wife Jenne and our son Sam won a hard-fought BaT auction for this 1993 Mini Cooper back in January 2025, while I was at work. I’m a car enthusiast and had been looking for a fun classic car for the whole family that wouldn’t break the bank. We all agreed that this car was perfect, except for the fact that it was in Greece…

BaT member cksretrogarage won two low-mileage, heavyweight BMWs—an E30 M3 offered by TheSandman in a September 2025 BaT auction and a Z8 sold by tony19 in November 2025. He recently wrote in with an update on both:
Some cars leave an impression on you the moment you see them, and these two BMWs did exactly that in very different ways.

This Success Story comes to us from mak62, who won a 1979 BMW 320i from kcm125 in a September 2025 BaT auction:
I’m thrilled to share my remarkable experience with you all. One evening, while browsing BaT, I stumbled upon a familiar face—this 1979 BMW 320i that I previously owned, but had sold off over three years ago. I first attempted to win this BMW back in March 2020, but it didn’t work out. However, after a few months I was introduced to the owner, and I eventually bought the car.

This Success Story comes to us from stevec1456, who completed a fly-and-drive adventure with the 2000 Lexus LS400 Platinum Series that he won from Lroling in an October 2025 BaT auction:
We paid a little more than what I thought was the going rate for a reasonably low-mileage Lexus LS400. But it appeared to be a well-maintained car capable of driving cross-country, which was exactly what we had in mind. We flew from California to Florida and picked it up, then started our 3,000-mile, 12-day adventure.