Bring a Trailer Podcast

Alex and Randy, fresh off our recent gathering and film screening of  the forthcoming documentary series Route 66: The Main Street of America in Flagstaff, Arizona, discuss Randy's father-daughter trip from Riverside to Flagstaff in his red Chrysler 300B; learning the Chuck Berry version of Get Your Kicks on Route 66 backward and forward; swimming against the stream on the notoriously east-to-west road; the first post-prohibition liquor license in Chicago; the captivating documentary and the great, historic Orpheum Theater in which we got to see it; giving cars a reason to live; the temptation of the vintage motel and gas station business; love for the desert Googie diner; a brief "stroad" explainer; teaching kids patience and flexibility on the road; and that most elusive and necessary part of any good road trip: time.
They move on to a game of picking their top five ideal cars to do the whole route in, along the way discussing aesthetic over speed; candidates from a stakebed farm truck to a Duesenberg; if one could make the drive appropriately in a non-American car; whether a convertible is really a good idea; a Swiss tourist who had Randy pegged within seconds; and specific instances in which roll-up windows prove important.
What are your top five rides for the Mother Road?
Follow along! Links for the listings discussed in this episode:
12:55 Route 66 BaT Gathering at the Orpheum Theater in Flagstaff, Arizona
35:05  347-Powered 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 4-Speed
35:42  Lot 1: 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302
38:25 Ford F-Series 1953-1956 model page
41:26  1926 Duesenberg Model A Opera Coupe
45:53  Volkswagen Beetle (1958-1979) model page
47:53  1957 Chevrolet Nomads on BaT
48:46  1957 Chevrolet 150 2-Door Sedan Fuelie 3-Speed
50:29  1950 Buick Super Estate Wagon
53:32  Supercharged 1956 Ford Country Squire Wagon
54:18 239 Flathead-Powered ’31 Ford 5-Window Coupe 4-Speed
1:00:06  54-Years-Owned 1939 Ford Deluxe Coupe
1:01:31  1963.5 Ford Galaxie 500XL Hardtop Fastback R-Code 4-Speed
1:05:58  1961 Chrysler New Yorkers on BaT

This week, we have something a bit different for you: a guest episode from our esteemed partners and pals over at The Intercooler Magazine in the UK. Episode 334 of The Intercooler Podcast was recorded this past Sunday at the final Bicester Scramble of 2026, during which BaT took over the massive Hangar 113 with the help of our Local Partners Sports Purpose and Chase Classics. Alex Porter, your regular BaT podcast host, joined Andrew Frankel and Gez Medinger in front of a live audience to talk about what made Alex happy this week (spoiler: it's his recent mastery of the British roundabout), play a Porsche-themed version of their popular Buy, Borrow, Burn segment, and reveal the Bring a Trailer Car of the Week.
The latter leads into a discussion about the context for and reception of the first-generation Boxster, one of the unsung (at least less-sung) heroes of the modern Porsche era. They then cover the early history of BaT, which is less familiar to our friends in the UK than to our US community; the similarities between US and UK car culture; and a frank overview of not only how, but why BaT works as well as it does.

Alex, Tyler and Beck welcome first-timer Christian, the head of our Customer Service team and one of the people at BaT who is most observant of the human personality (even if he can't ever remember the customer service number, which is 415-787-0961 for anyone looking). Christian gives a quick description of the Customer Service landscape before the crew get down to a couple vintage Questions of the Week, covering phantom old car sounds; a seized Alfa V6; the automotive form of ignorance=bliss; a sudden nosedive in a '90s Honda; why they tell you to check your torque settings after 500 miles; stuck-open throttles; cars that left big impressions; and what model year they'd choose to get stuck with forever.
The group then moves on to the somewhat more intense subject of where modern internet freakout culture and confirmation bias collide with conspicuous wealth and discomfort with change, most commonly exemplified by something along the lines of "There's no way that [insert an auction result you don't like or understand here] is real!" Our wise and experienced staffers, who are closer to the realities of the car auction market than anyone, offer up the reasons that yes—it is real.
Follow along! Links for the listings discussed in this episode:
20:43  Question of the Week archive
34:05  758-Mile 2004 Honda Element EX 4WD Sold for USD $42,750 on 3/06/2025
39:49  One-Owner, 23k-Mile 1999 Acura NSX Zanardi Edition #22 Sold for USD $628,000 on 9/23/2026
40:11  @speedman9000 Member since February 2024
44:23  1952 Jaguar XK120 Roadster Sold for USD $64,507 on 9/18/2026
45:32  8-Mile, One-Owner 2006 Ford GT Heritage Edition Sold for USD $2,101,000 on 8/04/2026
47:56 Acura NSX NA2 Auction Results and Ferrari F430 Auction Results
48:11  Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Auction Results
51:55  251-Mile 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Sold for USD $775,000 on 7/8/2026
55:03  1973 Fiat 850 Sport Spider Sold for USD $4,058 on 9/17/2026

Randy interviews none other than Bruce Trenery, founder of the famed collector car dealership Fantasy Junction in Emeryville, California. They talk about growing up in the Berkeley hills, littered with the discarded but interesting cars of avid travelers; opening the first version of the shop with a partner in Berkeley before taking it solo in 1978; buying an all-star collection in 1982 and just about breaking even; how the fickle Euro impacts the company's overseas business; Bruce's appreciation for Bring a Trailer and specifically the expert commentary; Aurelias growing on trees; and how his son Spencer, a big name in his own right, grew up at the dealership and only occasionally torpedoed sales as a toddler.
In his trademark quiet and humble way, Bruce drops bombs about driving a vintage Bentley across Europe with no preparation during the Chernobyl disaster, running the Mille Miglia in six spectacular cars, buying a Horch from Robin Hood, and purchasing a Delahaye from a Texas palm reader with good advice about airplanes. He talks about the infamous FJ photo wall, gives sage words about honesty in the car business and how nice a car it truly makes sense to own, makes a tongue-in-cheek (or is it?) prediction regarding the '34 Packard, and describes a harrowing attempt at La Carrera Panamericana in a Hudson.
Follow along! Links for the listings discussed in this episode:
0:52  FantasyJunction BaT seller page
14:52 Lancia Aurelia model page
27:14  32-Years-Owned 1931 Chrysler CD-8 Sport Roadster
28:52  Bristol make page
30:30 1987 Porsche 962 IMSA GTP

Randy, Alex, and Beck attempt to talk about British cars. Instead, they cover vigilante gardening; the new Grand Tour; getting to know The Intercooler; an oddly aggressive door handle issue; a very hard-working girlfriend; terrifying death traps; and R. Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion three-wheeler at the  National Automobile Museum.
But there's room for the Brits yet! The trio go on to discuss Allard vs. Healey Silverstone; BaT's overall favorite Bugeye; which carmakers are actually still British; love for '90s Land Rovers; sailing an M100 Elan into a cow pasture; what car traits and accomplishments are the most quintessentially British; the best car to stick a Buick/Rover V8 into; a philosophical question about the TR7 and TR8; an uninformed question about the Lotus Esprit V8; our upcoming appearance in Hangar 113 at the Bicester Scramble on October 4; and their favorite Brit car listings ever on BaT.
Follow along! Links for the listings discussed in this episode:
7:58 The new Grand Tour hosts on replacing Clarkson, Hammond & May The Intercooler Podcast
8:35 The light fantastic The Intercooler  Volkswagen XL1 article
14:36  Vortec-Powered 1962 Land Rover 109 Series IIA
20:13  Dymaxion Car at the National Automobile Museum
24:17  1950 Healey Silverstone
26:52  1951 Aston Martin DB2 Vantage and 1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 Saloon 5-Speed
28:53  1960 Austin-Healey Bugeye Sprite 5-Speed
32:52  Morgan Plus 4
33:11  1,275cc-Powered 1959 Austin-Healey Bugeye Sprite
37:11  46k-Mile 1999 Lotus Elise
42:04 35k-Mile 2006 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Coupe 6-Speed
49:56  Small-Block-Powered 1964 Jaguar Mk II
57:04  59-Years-Owned 1950 Allard J2
57:49  46-Years-Family-Owned 1961 Aston Martin DB4
57:56  1960 Jaguar XK150 FHC 3.8L w/ Overdrive
59:59 1969 Lola T70 Mk.3B Coupe
1:00:50  Ex–Mario Andretti 1985 Lola-Cosworth T900