About
A guide, not a marketplace.
Rare Machines exists to connect serious collectors to the rarest cars and motorcycles for sale right now — with history, provenance, and price context written here. Worth knowing before it’s gone.
What this is
We publish machine dossiers. Each one is written from scratch: why the type matters, what to check on a specific example, how rare it actually is, and how to read the price. Then we link you to the auction house or dealer.
We cover cars and motorcycles side by side. A GP motorcycle with ten surviving examples deserves the same attention as a collector car.
What this is not
- Not an auction house. We take no bids and host no lots.
- Not an aggregator of Bring a Trailer, Cars & Bids, or any other marketplace.
- Not a Classic.com-style database of every transaction we can find.
- Not a copy of other sites. We do not republish listing text, seller descriptions, or auction photography.
How we work
We pick machines that are actually for sale. Each dossier is written from the published history of the type, then from whatever provenance can be documented for that particular example. Images on this site are our own original illustrations or public-domain assets — never copied auction photos. Every dossier names the auction house or dealer and links to the listing. We never show another site’s listing inside ours.
How we score rarity
The score is our judgment, not a formula. We weigh survival, historical significance, how often the type comes up for sale, and, when we know it, how complete the example is. Condition is described in each dossier; it is not part of the score. We rarely feature anything that scores below 70.
70–79
Scarce
Few remain in public circulation; the type still appears, but not often.
80–89
Rare
Serious collectors wait years. Survival is thin, or most examples are locked away.
90–94
Once a decade
A public sale is an event. Museums and long-term collections hold most of the register.
95–100
Historically immovable
A handful left, or a type that almost never changes hands. Treat every rumor with care.
Our words, their photos
We do not copy listing text or auction photos. If a machine is on Rare Machines, a person chose it and wrote about it. The seller’s description and photos stay on the seller’s site; follow the link on each dossier to see them.