When eBay Motors first appeared in 2000, no one could have predicted that online automobile sales would transform the hobby, but by the time that the innovative platform sold its 2 millionth vehicle in 2006, people began to take notice. The following year, Randy Nonnenberg launched Bring a Trailer, a website dedicated to talking about the most interesting cars offered for sale on various sites around the world. The company launched its own auction site in 2014 and has since built an enthusiastic community of more than 700,000 individuals who support the sale of almost $1 billion worth of vehicles each year. Spawning a host of imitators, online auctions are now an established part of the collector car marketplace, threatening to change the manner that cars are bought and sold forever. Our panel will look back at the growth of this phenomenon, assess current challenges and offer predictions for what the future will bring. 

Moderator- John Nikas            

Randy Nonnenberg, Philip Richter, Mark Hyman, Terry Shea, Steve Serio

Randy Nonnenberg

Randy Nonnenberg is co-founder and CEO of BringaTrailer.com, a community-based auction marketplace for collectible vehicles that are available for sale from around the world. Before launching BaT in 2007, Randy worked in Germany for BMW and Audi. He is a native Californian with a BS degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford and an MBA from UC Berkeley. In 2019, Bring a Trailer sold $829 million in cars in 2021 and has over 700,000 registered users, 11,000 listings in 2 million monthly visitors. It currently has 300 listings per week. Bring a Trailer started as a hobby for Randy and has grown to be an existential threat to traditional car auctions with over fifty employees.

Philip Richter

Philip is the President of Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC, a New York based private wealth management firm that oversees over $1 billion in client assets. Philip periodically writes articles for Sports Car Market and maintains Turtle Garage, a weekly online collector vehicle journal. Philip’s collection includes pre-war American classics, modern German classics, and pre-war German motorcycles. He is the founder and Chairman of the Turtle Invitational, a biennial collector vehicle event hosted in Bedford New York. 

Mark Hyman

Mark Hyman, founder of Hyman Ltd. Classic Cars, is a true ‘car nut’ in every way. He restored his first car at age 16 and has always loved tinkering with old cars. While attending college for International Finance, he stumbled upon a Facel-Vega which he bought and sold for a profit. Mark started sourcing cars for clients in Europe and discovered how much fun he was having doing it. “I never made a conscious decision to enter the car business, but by the time I graduated I was well on my way.”
Mark has an affinity for English, German and Italian sports cars, pre- and post-war classics, custom-bodied Packards, Duesenbergs and European one-off coachbuilts, as well as 1950s-era American collectibles. When you visit, you will also see Mark’s personal collection which includes the Dodge he restored as a teenager and a DKW motorcycle; one of his earliest finds.
Cars, travel, business, making deals and meeting people combine to keep the business fresh. “Business is fun when you’re doing something you love.”

Terry Shea

Following 10 years with The Sporting News in St. Louis, Missouri, Terry embarked on a path that allowed him to pursue his true passion as an automotive journalist. Creating stories about the cars, personalities and engineering and design feats that have defined the automotive age, Terry leveraged his skills as a writer and photographer for dozens of publications before joining Hemmings Motor News in 2011 as an editor where he contributed to all of the company’s magazines and digital outlets. While continuing to share his experiences in the hobby via his monthly column in HMN, Terry has been an integral part of the Hemmings Auctions team since its start in 2019 and today serves as its Director of Operations, leading a team of dedicated professionals serving the collector car community.

Steve Serio

Stephen Serio owns and operates the Bond Group. He started his car business in November of 1987. At that time he was a full-time professional photographer and needed a way to supplement his passion for cars. He ran his own advertising photo studio and also worked in the broadcast television business, however cars remained his passion. In 1990 he pivoted to a full time automotive business specializing in exporting Aston Martins to the UK. He acquired a Lotus franchise in 1991 and an Aston Martin franchise in 1996. Stephen has written for Sports Car Market magazine for over 20 years, and he’s helped Hagerty Insurance and SCM with their price guides. Today he buys and sells all marques of classics from Astons to Ferrari, Porsches and more.

John Nikas

John Nikas is an automotive writer who specializes in weaving social, cultural and economic factors into his compelling narratives about automotive history. Raised in an Anglophile household, John first fell in love with British sports cars, but his interests also include prewar and postwar performance and luxury cars, endurance racing and the future of the automobile in the 21st Century. 
A noted vintage racing driver, Nikas has campaigned a broad array of classic racers in a number of different series, where he has collected multiple class championships and received special recognition for his on and off track accomplishments. John is frequently asked to speak at various automotive events around the world discussing a wide range of motoring topics. He currently serves as the Co-Executive Director of the Madison Avenue Sports Car Driving and Chowder Society and Automotive Engagement Ambassador for Hemmings, in addition to writing monthly columns for several magazines on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Again this year we are not charging for our Forums! This is due to the continuing uncertainties of their attendance due to COVID. We anticipate that we will resume charging for some of our Forums in 2023. Please only  RSVP if you are certain you can attend, and allow seats for others.