Revving up the Classic Car market, Rudy Samsel’s innovative vision for Guys With Rides

The automotive industry has always been an exciting space, filled with enthusiasts passionate about their vehicles and eager for opportunities to buy, sell, and discuss their cherished rides. Rudy Samsel, MBA, Co-Founder of Guys With Rides Exchange, saw a unique gap in the market, leading to the creation of GuysWithRides.com. His journey began in the fall of 2018 after an experience bidding on a 1999 Porsche 911 4S Tiptronic on another auction site. Despite being able to inspect the car in person and identify several issues not disclosed in the listing, Samsel faced challenges typical in the online auction world: dealer competition, time-consuming bidding processes, and other frustrations. These experiences motivated him to build a platform that addressed these pain points.

GuysWithRides.com distinguishes itself with several key features designed to enhance the user experience and ensure fairness. Samsel highlights a dealer-free marketplace, allowing private-party enthusiasts to engage without the pressure of competing against professionals. The platform also offers rapid turnaround times, ensuring that cars are posted, auctioned, and sold faster than on many competing sites. Moreover, the platform provides “white glove” service, emphasizing personal communication via phone and not relying solely on email.

A standout feature of GuysWithRides is its automatic proxy bidding system, which eliminates the stressful, time-sensitive nature of traditional auction extensions. This system, akin to eBay’s proxy bidding, allows users to set their maximum bid and let the system handle the rest. Additionally, GuysWithRides provides free photography and pre-purchase inspections, enhancing buyer confidence by offering high-quality visuals and objective third-party reports. Unlike some competitors, GuysWithRides supports reserve auctions, giving sellers more control and reducing the risk associated with no-reserve listings.

The platform has already seen significant success, particularly in helping those less knowledgeable about classic cars, like women selling family heirlooms. For example, Samsel recounts assisting a woman in selling a 1963 Lincoln Continental, ensuring it found a new home with a buyer who valued its originality.

In such a competitive market, Samsel leverages social media, blogging, and a YouTube channel to attract and retain buyers and sellers. His adeptness in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) also helps potential customers discover GuysWithRides. The platform has featured unique vehicles, like a rare 1976 Cadillac Mirage pickup, demonstrating its ability to attract rare and sought-after listings.

Looking ahead, Samsel envisions the future of online auctions evolving with generational shifts. He notes that younger buyers are interested in different types of vehicles, often favoring cars from the 1980s to the 2000s, and even “analog” cars from the 1960s, as modern cars become more complex and expensive to maintain. His advice to first-time classic car buyers is to research thoroughly, understand common issues, and not hesitate to ask for additional information or inspections.

The positive reception from the car enthusiast community has been encouraging, with feedback helping to shape and refine GuysWithRides. Samsel’s dedication to honesty and trustworthiness has fostered a loyal and growing user base, positioning GuysWithRides as a significant player in the online classic and collector car auction market, follows the Automotive Industries interview.

Automotive Industries: Hi Rudy, how did the idea for Guys with Rides come about, and what gap in the market did you see that needed to be filled?

Samsel: I had the idea for creating GuysWithRides.com in the fall of 2018 after bidding on a 1999 Porsche 911 4S Tiptronic listed on Bring a Trailer.  I had the opportunity to see the car in person during the middle of its auction, and I mentioned several issues (a valve cover leak and a cracked windshield) that were not described in the car’s listing.  Additionally, not only did I discover that a dealer bid against me on the car I lost out on (who subsequently sold it several months later at retail), but the two-minute, end-of-auction time extension and the ability to enter only one bid at a time meant I had to put my life on hold while I waited for the auction to end.

All of these learnings motivated me to create a better mousetrap that became GuysWithRides.com

Automotive Industries: What distinguishes Guys with Rides from other classic and collector car auction platforms?

Samsel: I believe GuysWithRides offers several key advantages from all other online and traditional classic and collector car auctions:

A dealer-free marketplace—I’m not against dealers; they have their place. I just felt the hobby needed a place that excluded them, leveling the playing field for knowledgeable private-party enthusiasts.

Faster Turn-Around – by staying small, we can post, auction, and sell cars before our competition can even list it.

“White Glove” Service For All For Less – Buyers and sellers can call me anytime using innovative technology I like to call “a phone number.” Many of our competitors rely on email.

Automatic Proxy Bidding – GuysWithRides does not rely on end-of-auction time extensions that play on bidders’ emotions (Fear of Missing Out, or “FOMO.”) Our system mimics eBays Proxy bidding, where a bidder can enter the maximum amount they are willing to spend, and our system will increase bids on their behalf. I call it “Set it and forget it” bidding. Seriously, who has time to enter one bid at a time?

Free Photography and Pre–Purchase Inspections – When trying to convince buyers to purchase a classic or collector car sight-unseen online, it’s imperative to provide the best photography possible and an objective third-party report to give bidders confidence.

Reserve Auctions Preferred – Unlike certain other websites, we do not pressure sellers into “No Reserve” auctions. They are too risky, especially now that the classic and collector car market continues to show signs of stabilizing after the growth of the past several years.

Automotive Industries: Can you share a recent success story from one of your online auctions that exemplifies what Guys with Rides stands for?

I love listing cars for people who are more interested in finding a good home for their classic at a fair price than maximizing profit.

My greatest successes to date have been helping women who are not knowledgeable about classic cars navigate the process of selling something they or a family member owns.

The most recent example was last summer when I helped a woman in California sell her family’s 51K-mile survivor-quality Black-Plate 1963 Lincoln Continental hardtop.  While the high bid at the end of the car’s auction did not meet the $19,900 reserve price, one day later, another buyer offered $18,500, which the seller accepted because the new buyer planned to keep the car original.

Automotive Industries: How do you ensure the quality and authenticity of the cars listed on your platform?

First, we ask sellers for a photo ID and a copy of the title to ensure they are the vehicle’s rightful owner or have legal Power of Attorney to conduct a sale on behalf of the seller.  If I cannot personally inspect and photograph the vehicle, I rely on professional pictures and a third-party pre-purchase inspection to ensure the car is what the seller claims it to be.

Unfortunately, I’ve had to walk away from several rides after that process (investing several hundred dollars) rather than offer it on the site. I’d rather lose that initial investment than have a buyer come back and say the car was not marketed honestly.

Automotive Industries: What strategies do you use to attract and retain both buyers and sellers in such a competitive market?

As the “David” in a “Goliath” industry, to date, I rely heavily on social media and my YouTube channel to help spread the word about GuysWithRides.  I hope to attract more media attention to help spread the word as well.

Six days each week, I blog about cars I find on Craigslist based on my daily themes as a way to garner interest in my website.

I’ve become pretty adept at Search Engine Optimization (“SEO”), so that tends to attract people not aware of GuysWithRides who search for a specific vehicle I’ve either blogged about or offered in an auction.

Automotive Industries: Can you discuss any particularly unique or rare cars that have been auctioned on Guys with Rides?

One of the rarest cars I ever offered was this 27K-Mile 1976 Cadillac Mirage pickup, one of only two hundred ever produced.  The car resided in south Florida with the seller, however the high bidder was a gentleman out of Bern, Switzerland who had been searching for one to add to his collection for several years.  That’s also the best example of my ability to leverage SEO for buyers to find a specific car they are looking for.

Automotive Industries: How do you see the future of online auctions for classic and collector cars evolving?

Enthusiasts tend to gravitate to the cars they fell in love in their youth as they aspired to own one someday.

I often disagree when I hear an older enthusiast complain that “younger people are not into cars.”  I point out to them that many young people are, in fact, into cars (look at all of the YouTube and social media channels dedicated to them). They are just not into the same cars.

We already see that with the Greatest Generation, prices for all but the finest and rarest pre-WWII classics are declining (the most notable example being the first-generation Lincoln Continental).

I watch the trends of Gen-Xers as they start to enter their peak earning years.  Not only are they more open to buying cars online sight unseen, but their tastes gravitate towards cars of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

One interesting exception in its early stages is younger people’s interest in “Analog” cars as modern vehicles become too complex and expensive to keep running. I think we’ll see this grow, particularly with 1960s muscle cars.

Automotive Industries: What advice would you give to someone looking to buy their first classic car through an online auction?

My advice to anyone is pick two or three cars they might be interested in and then do heavy research to learn everything they can about them. That way, they know what pitfalls to look for (every car tends to have an Achilles Heel and common areas for rust to develop) and what to pay for it based on condition. Don’t be afraid to ask for more pictures and a video. If they can’t see a car in person, hire someone to perform a pre-purchase inspection. If a seller is unwilling to have someone inspect their car, then walk away from the deal.

Automotive Industries: How has the reception been from the car enthusiast community towards Guys with Rides, and what feedback have you received that has helped shape your business?

Once people find out GuysWithRides exists, the reception has been overwhelmingly positive. Most recently, my growing YouTube Channel has been a source of growth as potential buyers and sellers find me honest and trustworthy in the content I post.