Seller Destroys a 1998 Acura Integra Type R Hours After Selling on Bring a Trailer for $51,000
Car crashes happen. As long as no one is injured, most people move on about their lives, and insurance does the rest. This is perfectly fine for a normal car like a Nissan Altima or Honda Civic. However, when the crashed car is an enthusiast icon like a 1998 Acura Integra Type R, the crash stings enthusiasts everywhere. It’s even worse when the 1998 Integra Type R is already sold on Bring a Trailer for $51,000 and then gets wrecked.
Acura Integra Type R meets a sorrowful ending
According to CarScoops, Bring a Trailer user swind74 recently bought a 1998 Acura Integra Type R after placing a winning bid of $51,000. The buyer was so stoked on the new ride that they commented after winning the auction that the Type R was their “first car in high school,” and they “can’t wait to drive [one] again.”
However, tragedy soon struck everyone involved in the sale. Only hours after the auction ended, the seller took the Type R out for one last spin. The seller commented on the listing, “took the car out and wrecked it tonight, so it looks like no one is getting it.” Buzzkill.
Bring a Trailer had to step in
After reporting the incident to Bring a Trailer, BaT investigated the situation and confirmed that the seller did wreck the car after the listing ended. It would be fair to suspect some sort of scam or something, but that was deemed to be not the case here. Bring a Trailer commented, “We have confirmed with the seller that the car was damaged following the end of the auction.”
Of course, the most important thing is that no one was hurt in the crash. After that confirmation, Bring a Trailer also made sure not to charge the buyer for any purchasing fees.
Vistecimports posted a photo to their Instagram of a rather banged-up Type R, insinuating that the car had been wrecked. The photo shows the ugly remains of a crumbled up Integra Type R on the side of the road at night. The crash was later further confirmed by a CarFax report that described a crash that damaged both the front and rear ends. The report even states that the airbags were deployed and that overall the car received moderate damage.
What makes the Acura Integra Type R so desirable?
Hagerty says the average cost of a 1998 Acura Integra Type R is $52,700. So, why is a late 90s Acura so valuable? Collectability is a strange thing. It often comes from wanting something as a young person who couldn’t afford the item. Once a generation of people grow up and have their own money to spend, the things they wanted as kids become more expensive as demand for that nostalgic item also goes up.
The Hagerty valuation analyst Adam Wilcox says, “The Integra Type R market has been getting hotter over the last year, and auctions on BaT are known for having outrageous results.” So, the Integra Type R is not only nostalgic; it’s fast.
According to Hagerty, The front-wheel-drive Acura Integra Type R has a 1.8-liter, four-cylinder VTEC engine that produces nearly 200 hp paired with a close-ratio five-speed manual transmission. It can do 0–60 mph in 6.6 seconds, with a top speed of 143 mph. Those figures paired with a bit of high school nostalgia make for quite the package.
Nostalgia is a hell of a drug
Over the past few years, the collector market has gone bananas. Normal cars and trucks, barely 20 years old, with low miles, have been going for Ferrari money. However, the pull to experience the stuff we remember from our youth is a strong force, and the money spent on these cars proves it.
