A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high net worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. Bring a Trailer, the online classic car marketplace, sold a record $1.5 billion worth of cars last year despite a continued slump in classic car prices, according to its CEO. The company held 45,000 auctions in 2024 split between cars, trucks, motorcycles, memorabilia and parts, and had more than 1.3 million bidders. “With the stock market up and money flowing around, we had good velocity,” said Randy Nonnenberg, co-founder and president of Bring a Trailer, which is part of Hearst Autos. The strong results for BaT defied the broader slowdown in the classic car market. Higher interest rates have made classic cars less attractive as investments, since collectors can now make 4% or 5% in risk-free cash equivalents. Total sales at live classic car auctions last year fell 11%, to $2.18 billion, according to Hagerty, the classic car insurance and auction company. At the same time, baby boomers, who powered the collector market for decades, are now aging out. Many are selling their collections, leaving an oversupply of 1950s and 1960s vehicles that are less appealing to the new generation of collectors. The boom in older trucks and off-roaders has also fizzled, Nonnenberg said. “A lot of that was seen as a Covid bubble, and that’s cooled,” he said. The new generation of collectors likes modern supercars and sports cars, especially models that are 2005 or later, according to classic car experts. Nonnenbe …
