Welcome to the ‘gist.

Anthony from Garagist here with another edition of the ‘gist, keeping you informed with happenings in our universe and the car world at large. Last month we milked the last of the nice weather here in the Northeast by taking a drive down to New York state and Connecticut to check out some amazing car shows. Here’s what we found…

Bring-A-Trailer Alumni Gathering

As colder temperatures were on the horizon here in Montreal, it seemed timely to take advantage of the typically glorious October end-of-season weather and head south.

My wife & I made the stunning 400-mile journey down to Bedford, NY in our Lotus Elise (not recommended) for the Bring-A-Trailer (BaT) Alumni Gathering at Coker Farm. After a pitstop at Dia Beacon and Storm King (recommended), the rest of the weekend’s program consisted of back-to-back events with BaT on Saturday and the Concours-like Caffeine & Carburetors in nearby New Canaan on Sunday.

Saturday’s BaT event turned out to be an incredible day with over 500 cars nestled in the scenic landscape of Coker Farm. You certainly see where BaT are putting their investment when throwing an event like this— it was truly one of the best car events I’ve ever been to and a rallying cry for their community. BaT Co-Founder Randy Nonnenberg was joined on a panel with noted sellers 1600veloce and Dean_Laumbach, along with Coker Farm’s Philipp Richter and BaT podcast host Alex Porter, of which you can listen back to here.

Here are some of my key observations from the weekend as well as takeaways from their panel discussion:

• Community is everything — I would label the following that BaT has nurtured as “discipleship”. Seven years before BaT ever held an online auction, they cultivated a mass of followers that were hooked on what they were all about. When the auction taps turned on, it was met with incredulous cries that it would never work, but the community ultimately bolstered the platform to reach the heights that it has today.

• Diversity is key to a healthy car culture — The weekend’s events were a stark contrast to the feel of Concours-types gatherings, but were no less impressive in representation as a result. From $5,000 vehicles to $10M ones, there was a myriad of cars on display across all strata. Being a car enthusiast is the great equalizer in this context, making accessibility to the hobby & approachability with anyone sharing the love, truly possible. To a point Randy made on the panel, the interpersonal side of car culture is what is so magical about it. We agree.

• “The easier you make things, the more people can engage with the hobby” — The auction model, both digital and physical, aren’t going to go away anytime soon, but what features bolt onto it are going to help guide things moving forward. We also agree with Randy here, and believe that even beyond the auction format, more tools will emerge that will promote increasingly seamless experiences between buyers & sellers. It seems the next decade of progress in the collector car industry will focus on narrowing the gap in the way people are able to more easily engage with each other.

• It’s ALL about color — It’s perhaps no surprise to anyone that color can make or break a car (and its value). The surge in popularity for programs like Porsche’s Paint-to-Sample and Lamborghini’s Ad Personam services are telling that buyers want to stand out and be unique. Sometimes even a bit too unique, but personalization is a subjective feat. Having my wife along for the weekend - someone who’s not a car person but who’s artistic practice focuses on color - provided an interesting litmus test of what a hue can really do to transform a vehicle’s aura. In a sea of grayscale 911s, it was a a Tangerine 2.7RS and an Amethyst Metallic 964 that really struck a chord.

Lastly, our favorite picks from the weekend:

Jaguar C-Type Recreation – Is this quite possibly the most beautiful car ever made? It certainly has the sexiest front hood of any car, replete with leather straps, voluptuous bulges, and a front-hinged clamshell revealing all underneath. Jaguar is in a strange moment as a company right now, but their decision to produce these official recreations for certain well-heeled customers shows there is still a healthy dose of British anachronism at the helm.

Pagani Zonda C12S 7.3 Roadster – Because who doesn’t love a $10M+ supercar worthy of boyhood fantasy? The Zonda will always be a crown jewel in the history of the sporting motorcar, and even when surrounded by so much other incredible machinery, its UFO-like presence has the unending ability to lure crowds in. We’ll take our Zonda in this ‘S’ spec with the A-pillar mounted mirrors & classic bi-plane rear wing, please.

Abarth-Simca 1300 GT – This impossibly beautiful and petite sports-racer was the David to Porsche & Ferrari’s Goliath. Taking to its 904 and 250 GTO rivals with various guises of its snortling 1300cc four-banger, these cars gained a reputation for dominating Italian hill climbs and helped put Carlo Abarth on the map. Abarth’s story is fascinating and his unrelenting pursuit for small, lightweight race cars makes him, at least to my eyes, Italy’s answer to a certain Mr. Chapman over in Hethel. Unfortunate for many of us however, is that nobody over 5’8” has a chance to fit in this car– but at least it’s still enjoyable from afar.

Alpina B7/1 Turbo – In the hierarchy of special autos laden with BMW’s famed kidney grille, some of the most esteemed examples are the ones that hail from Alpina’s skunkworks in Buchloe, not Munich. This Agate Green Metallic B7/1 Turbo with period-correct gold decals and striped Recaros was especially jaw-dropping in the fall sun. The E28 M5 revolutionized the modern day performance sedan, but this turned the wick up a few more notches to something completely obscene for 1985.

Moment of Zen

Meanwhile while I was taking in the Alumni gathering, Co-Founder Amit was racing down in Wisconsin. He and his teammates finished 3rd overall, 2nd in-class at the ChampCar 8+7 Hour Enduro at Road America.

Until next!