According to its CEO, despite the continued decline in classic car prices, the online classic car market has brought an online classic car market, which sold $1.5 billion worth of it last year.

The company held 45,000 auctions between cars, trucks, motorcycles, souvenirs and parts in 2024, and has more than 1.3 million bidders.

“With the stock market rising and currency flows, we’re at a good pace,” said Randy Nonnenberg, co-founder and president of Bring Trailer, part of Hearst Autos.

The strong results of the bats defied a larger slowdown in the classic car market. With investments, higher interest rates make the classic cars less attractive, as collectors can now earn 4% or 5% of risk-free cash equivalents. Total sales at live Classic Auto Auction fell 11% to $2.18 billion last year, according to data from classic car insurance and auction company Hagerty.

Meanwhile, the baby boomers who powered the collector market for decades are now aging. Many are selling their collections, leaving behind vehicles from the 1950s and 1960s that are less attractive to a new generation of collectors.

The boom of older trucks and off-road vehicles is also putting people in trouble, Nonnenberg said.

“A lot of them are seen as bubbles, which is cool,” he said.

According to classic car experts, a new generation of collectors love modern supercars and sports cars, especially models from 2005 or later.

Today’s young collectors, including Xers, Millennials and Gen Z members, “like cars they can use, they can turn the keys and drive it. They aren’t too fond of them.”

The highest point of the market (cars with seven or eight digits) is still weak. Collectors are more interested in the cheaper cars that can be driven and enjoyed today than buying museum-quality artifacts nestled in the display of precious garages.

“For high-end sports cars, the market is very strong in the market between $200,000 and $500,000,” Nonenberg said. “It’s difficult for cars to have more than $2 million.”

Last year, the most expensive car was the 2022 Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport, which costs $4.1 million. The 2018 Bugatti Chiron and the 2022 Lamborghini LPI 800-4 were also sold for $3.1 million, with a price of $2.5 million.

The most popular auction, which attracted the biggest bidders, comments and opinions, was the sale of the 1991 BMW 850i 6-speed, a new purchase that was once owned by Michael Jordan. Sales price: $109,000.

Nonenberg said he has seen a significant increase in bidding and demand after the election, which are usually December and January, usually slow months.

“We’ve seen people buy $250,000 Porsches on Election Day,” he said. “We’ve even seen something great sold on Christmas Eve.”