Alex and Zac discuss bicoastal living, rust and joy for a first-time visitor to the Midwest, a novel way to avoid tolls, and the stellar time we had at the Road America vintage races in July before wrapping up with some recent items from their BaT watchlists.
Our colleagues at Car and Driver and many other outlets are reporting that Ercole Spada, the brilliant designer behind the Aston Martin DB4 Zagato and many other models on the list of all-time greats, passed away on August 3 at age 88. Though he may not have enjoyed the international name recognition of a Gandini or Giugiaro, Spada certainly deserves his spot in the pantheon of great automobile designers.
Back in January 2025, BaT member black71gp won this ’58 DeSoto Firesweep Four-Door Shopper wagon from ObsoleteAutomotive. He and two friends drove it six hundred miles home, and he recently wrote in to tell us about the trip:
Here’s a quick note about my story about buying this car on BaT. I won the car from a seller located in North Carolina, even though I live just north of Detroit, Michigan. After a quick conversation with the seller, I decided to grab some friends, catch a flight to Charlotte, and attempt to drive it home.
8/7/25 Event Coverage Update:
The BaT team made its first trek out to Clear Lake, Iowa, for this year’s Clear Lake Auto Social Society (CLASS) Car Show & Summer Dance Cruise this past weekend. With nearly 800 cars for Friday night’s cruise around the lake and 500 for the next day’s car show downtown, fans of all things automotive had plenty to see over the course of the two-day event.
You, good reader, have made it to the end of yet another week. In August, no less! Now the time has come to enjoy your reward—a carefully curated list of strange and wonderful vehicular goodness from among the ~1,200 auctions posted here in the last seven days. As always, we must note that this list is by no means comprehensive; there’s lots more to enjoy on our live auctions page.
Riding Shotgun is a new series from sludgo featuring interviews with notable members of the BaT community. Last month we published his first interview with Cobrahandler, and this week he has talked to ValiantJim, winner of the 2024 Cognoscenti Award and prominent member of the BaT MOPAR mob. He had a lot to say, only some of it about Valiants!
sludgo can take it from here:
WINNER’S ANNOUNCEMENT:
Happy Monday! We’re back to announce the winner for our Question of the Week, where our victor will accept a $25 credit for a hat or T-shirt from the BaT Gear Store and the acclaim of their peers.
Our question was: Which car features your all-time favorite seat upholstery design?
The 115+ comment thread had a postmodern feel this week, and we can dig it! The iconic Pasha pattern from Porsche received the most mentions of all, and two-time QotW winner @Ben was the first to mention it this week. His second win comes right on the heels of his earlier triumph, so this week we’re handing the prize to the runner-up, @RitchieR!
“Pasha FTW!”
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RitchieR commented on Question of the Week: Which Car Features your All-Time Favorite Seat Upholstery Design?—WINNER’S UPDATE
BaT contributor @kobus took the trip of a lifetime to this year’s Le Mans Classic, and came back with a bunch of new friends and a massive collection of wonderful images to share. He managed to secure a coveted red press vest for the event, and certainly made the most of it! We are happy to live vicariously through his adventures, and we’re sure you will be too. Take it away, kobus!
Circuit de la Sarthe—Le Mans, France, July 4-6, 2025
This Success Story comes to us from BaT member mustangman7, who won this 2007 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 fire rescue truck from testdummypilot in a March 2025 BaT auction:
I would like to tell everyone about my very first BaT interaction and purchase. I saw this Suburban on the site and instantly fell in love. I restore and show off old emergency vehicles, and this truck perfectly fits the bill as my first fire-related vehicle.
BaT Member phoreigncars fittingly traveled by air and by land to bring home the 2010 Saab 9-3 Aero that he won from its original owner—MRichards7—in a May 2025 BaT auction, and he recently wrote in to tell us about his travels:
After winning this 2010 Saab 9-3 Aero a few states away on BaT, I decided a fly-and-drive trip would be the best way to get it home. And since I became a private pilot about a year ago, I knew this would be a great opportunity to demonstrate the practicality of general aviation.