This new company wants to be the tech startup of the classic car auction world
Bradley Farrell, founder of the new, internet-age-friendly auction house The Finest Automobile Auctions, can certainly prove his classic-car chops.
A collector specializing in pre-war Bugatti's, he will show one of his cars at the Pebble Beach Concours de'Elegance, one of the classic car world's elite events this summer.
"The sound of a Bugatti, the visceral experience of a Bugatti. The engineering is in my opinion unsurpassed," Farrell told Business Insider.
"It's unique in so many ways and it's hard to not fall in love with one."
Farrell also has a passion for taking pictures of his pet goats atop his Ferrari 430.
The first auction for his new marquee will take place this Saturday at the Elegance at Hershey, in Hershey, Pennsylvania and just up the road from the home of the ubiquitous chocolate brand.
Farrell's brand has partnered with the online bidding facilitator Proxibid, which will allow technologically-inclined customers to purchase a $500,000 Bugatti via their iPhone, if they so choose.
"Look, the internet has broken everything, it's broken medical, it's broken music, many things. I think for the auction world it has yet to break through," Farrell said.
The Facebook-era has created a new generation of young, wealthy potential enthusiasts, and Farrell believes the well established auction houses have yet to find them.
While the auction at Hershey will favor cars of interest to Farrell personally - the sale features several examples from his personal collection - the company plans to adapt to different settings.
"The auction we're planning in Aspen will be very different," Farrell said.
"Most of the cars that I love, the French pre-war cars, those are the cars I collect, aren't of the right demographic for Aspen - it's more of a sports car auction or utility vehicles."
Farrell also expressed an interest in finding prospective clients cars that they can enjoy not just as investments, but as experiences.
"If a car speaks to them, then they should buy it, because the enjoyment that they will get out of the car will surpass any value that you can extract from it," Farrell said.
"I don't want people to look at cars as investments. I know that's strange to hear from an auction house, but that's the passionate side of me."