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Vintage Wheels: One-stop online shopping for collectible cars

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The attributes of that perfect collector car - the rare model, in exceptional condition - can also make it all but impossible to find, especially at the right price.

So a group of Etsy.com refugees has launched Vintage Wheels, a massive aggregation of the best in vintage automobile ads, from around the globe, curated into one easy-to-navigate website.

Searchable by make, model, year and price, the site already features more than 100,000 vehicles. Find a car, click on a link, and be redirected to the seller to make your transaction.

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“I’m passionate about data and passionate about cars,” said the site’s co-founder, Jason Davis. “The car market is quite fragmented, so we wanted to find a way to bring every vintage car on the web into a single place.”

The site relies on a series of algorithms that analyze auto ads and their descriptions, titles, prices and images, finished off with human curation.

Davis said the combination is designed to isolate the best in classic cars that are in good shape and in driveable condition -- broken into categories like “Muscle Classics,” “Sporty Classics,” “Hipster Classics” and “Pre-War American Cars.” There’s even a small motorcycle section.

But the site should be as much fun for shopping as it is for browsing, Davis said -- an element he said was inspired by his experience working for the crafts-oriented website Etsy.

But Davis said he’s a Vintage Wheels user too. He recently bought a 1980 Porsche 911SC, which he found while helping found the new website.

“New cars today are boring,” Davis said. “You can get an average Honda Civic for $20,000. But I only paid $23,000 for my 911.”

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Follow me on Twitter: @misterfleming

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