Every enthusiast knows Bring a Trailer. The auction Goliath didn’t just upend the collector car auction industry, it turned the entire process into a spectator sport. With that comes scrutiny, and sometimes, questions of how or why exactly a car sold for such an insane amount of money.
On the latest episode of The Drivecast, Howard Swig, who is now the President of Bring a Trailer, told The Drive, “If some people think it’s money laundering, well, that seems extreme. I don’t think that’s accurate, but people have all sorts of crazy opinions, man,” when asked if crazy auction results are just money laundering.
Listen below from the moment Swig addresses the claims of money laundering.
There are outliers, record-breaking and eye-popping auction results, and even what some might call the Bring a Trailer (BaT) tax, but then there’s something different. The former might be considered BMW E30 M3s now, but when a 1992 VW GTI sells for $87,000 people start to ask questions. Questions like, is this just money laundering?
Swig’s reaction to the question of money laundering was simple. “I think Bring a Trailer is one of these places where there’s this amazing voyeurism for people spending money. And when people see that, and elsewhere too, people have all sorts of opinions,” Swig said.
But BaT’s community, and those outside the Bring a Trailer community that watch auctions, sometimes even question bid increments. Swig said, “Even getting down to the bid increment. Well, why would that guy bid a $4,000 increment when he could have bid a $1,000 increment? Well, you know what? How someone chooses to spend their cash or the way in which they do it, Bring a Trailer is an amazing public place where that plays out in real time and people can have all sorts of opinions on what they’re doing.”
Swig equated some of this to someone that collects wine. “If someone has a wine cellar with 10,000 expensive bottles but never drinks it, well, if they enjoy owning it, they can do whatever they want with their wine cellar.”
As for money laundering and claims of it happening on Bring a Trailer, Swig said, “So if some people think it’s money laundering, well, that seems extreme. I don’t think that’s accurate, but people have all sorts of crazy opinions, man. I’m sure you guys see it in media and opinions to articles you write. I don’t know. But no, I don’t think it’s a case of that sort of activity.”
Though, if you are laundering money via BaT on crazy-expensive VW GTIs, Swig had a message for you: “If you’re a money launderer and you are spending 90,000 on a whatever Mark three Golf GTI [Howard meant Mk2 GTI], would love to meet you. I don’t know. That doesn’t seem like a wise way to do that.”
In the case of that legendary, or maybe infamous, 1992 VW GTI, it turns out the auction, and result, were legit.
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