Aussie Driver Search race cars for auction

An online auction with more than a dozen race cars from Aussie Driver Search (ADS) is set to end this week, after the business went into voluntary liquidation.

To help settle remaining debts, the cars owned by ADS, including the Audi R8 GT3 prepared by Matt Stone Racing for the 2019 Bathurst 12 Hour.

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The R8 currently has no bids, with its starting point of $250k yet to be met.

ADS’ Supercars Support series vehicles are also up for grabs, with two Commodore V8 utes, a sedan, and two V8 Falcon utes included in the auction. All of these vehicles are relatively cheap with current bidding ranging from $5500 to $12,100.

Four Toyota 86 race series cars are also part of the auction (bidding is around $11,000 each for the four), as well as two BMW 130i hatch racers (current bids at $5755 and $5200), and a Ford Ranger support vehicle ($21,600).

There’s even a race-spec Nissan N14 Pulsar with a 2.0-litre SR20 under the hood, with a bid of $3500.

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Also up for grabs are a few of the support assets which ADS owned, like the transporter trucks and trailers which the company had relatively recently invested in.

Two road-going Ford Falcon XR6 Turbos are also up for grabs, though MOTOR is currently investigating their backstory.

The voluntary liquidation comes after financial difficulty encountered by ADS, which founder Kyle Austin appears to be quite open and apologetic about.

Austin released an audio statement, accompanied by a brief written outline of what happened to ADS and how the liquidation process will go forward.

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“Looking back now, I can see that I underestimated the resources required to grow a business, particularly a business in motorsport due to the huge expenses required to maintain race cars and specialised team members,” said Austin.

Also included in the statement is an assurance that ADS has done what it can to pay its staff and creditors, with additional information for racers who have paid money to ADS.

“Our competitors will be most impacted as they have paid money for events which will now not be fulfilled. I apologise to each and every one of these people and understand the magnitude of this.

“We have sent an email to all competitors outlining the steps they should take to try and recover their money. I am also very upset that I am no longer able to fulfil the remaining prizes for our winners and am deeply sorry to them.

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“All of our wages are up to date and our permanent staff will be receiving any owed annual leave, redundancy and any other entitlements. Our event crew are also fully paid with nothing owed.

“Majority of our accounts with any other businesses are also fully paid and the liquidators will sell off all of our assets and distribute any remaining funds as appropriate.

“I want to also make it very clear that I did not make this decision for personal gain and have come away with nothing.

“I am a personal guarantor on all our loans and leases, and it is likely that I will have to become bankrupt due to this.”

The auction ends on Thursday July 18 at 7pm AEST. You can view the listings at the Slattery Auctions website.