# CollectingCars Auction Scraper (`scrappinglatam/collecting-cars-scraper`) Actor

Extract classic car auction listings from CollectingCars.com. Captures hammer price, make, model, year, mileage, lot number and auction status. Ideal for classic car market intelligence.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/scrappinglatam/collecting-cars-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ScrappingLatam](https://apify.com/scrappinglatam) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per usage

This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-usage

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md):

```bash
npm install apify-client
```

In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md):

```bash
pip install apify-client
```

In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):

````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash

In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md).

If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).


# README

## Collecting Cars Auction Scraper

Scrape auction listings from [CollectingCars.com](https://collectingcars.com) — the UK's leading online auction platform for classic, sports, and performance cars.

> **Full historical + active coverage.** Extracts both live auctions and all historically sold listings across 141 car makes and hundreds of models.

### What does it do?

This Actor navigates CollectingCars.com's make and model hierarchy to extract every auction listing visible on the platform. It uses a Cloudflare-bypassing browser (Camoufox) to access the site reliably, then parses the pre-rendered Next.js HTML to extract structured data without requiring a login.

**Two scraping modes:**

- **Full mode** (default): Makes → Models → Listings. Captures the complete historical auction database — every sold car per model.
- **Active-only mode** (`makes_only: true`): Makes → Listings. Only scrapes currently active and recently closed auctions per make. Much faster, ideal for price monitoring.

### Use cases

- **Classic car price benchmarking** — Real sold prices for specific makes and models
- **Market trend analysis** — Track how prices evolve for a given model over time
- **Investment research** — Identify which cars are appreciating at auction
- **Collector intelligence** — Monitor rare variants and one-off lots
- **Lead generation** — Find active sellers and consignors by make

### Output

Each record in the dataset contains:

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `source` | string | Always `"collecting_cars"` |
| `external_id` | string | Auction ID from image CDN URL |
| `url` | string | Full listing URL |
| `marca` | string | Car make (e.g. Porsche, Ferrari) |
| `modelo` | string | Model name (e.g. 911 Carrera RS) |
| `año` | integer | Year of manufacture |
| `precio` | integer | Hammer price or current bid |
| `moneda` | string | Currency: GBP, EUR, USD, AUD, CHF |
| `descripcion` | string | Full listing title |
| `img_url` | string | Main image URL |
| `auction_status` | string | `ended`, `live`, `coming_soon`, or `unknown` |
| `auction_end_date` | string | Auction end datetime (from page) |
| `scraped_at` | string | ISO 8601 scraping timestamp |

Fields not available on a listing (`kilometraje`, `combustible`, `potencia_cv`, etc.) are returned as `null` — they require visiting the individual listing detail page, which is not included in this Actor's scope.

### Example input

**Monitor active Porsche and Ferrari auctions:**
```json
{
  "make_filter": "Porsche, Ferrari",
  "makes_only": true,
  "max_items": 0,
  "delay_min": 3.0,
  "delay_max": 7.0
}
````

**Full historical crawl of a single make:**

```json
{
  "make_filter": "Aston Martin",
  "makes_only": false,
  "max_items": 0,
  "delay_min": 4.0,
  "delay_max": 8.0
}
```

**Test run (first 50 listings across all makes):**

```json
{
  "make_filter": "",
  "makes_only": true,
  "max_items": 50,
  "delay_min": 3.0,
  "delay_max": 7.0
}
```

### Notes

- **Cloudflare bypass**: This Actor uses Camoufox (Firefox-based stealth browser) to pass Cloudflare's Managed Challenge. The browser binary is baked into the Docker image at build time.
- **Crawl delay**: CollectingCars.com's `robots.txt` specifies a crawl delay of 5 seconds. The default delay range (3–7s) respects this. Do not set `delay_min` below 3.0.
- **Scale**: CollectingCars has ~141 makes and hundreds of models per make. A full unconstrained crawl (`makes_only: false`, all makes) can take several hours. Use `make_filter` and `max_items` to control scope.
- **Deduplication**: Listings are deduplicated by auction ID within a single run.

### Legal

This Actor accesses publicly available listing data from CollectingCars.com in the same way a human browser would. It does not bypass authentication, access private data, or violate CollectingCars's Terms of Service. Always ensure your use of scraped data complies with applicable laws and the target website's Terms of Service.

# Actor input Schema

## `make_filter` (type: `string`):

Comma-separated list of car makes to scrape (e.g. 'Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin'). Leave empty to scrape all ~141 available makes.

## `makes_only` (type: `boolean`):

If enabled, only scrapes the make page showing currently active auctions. Much faster but misses historical sold listings. Recommended for price monitoring.

## `max_items` (type: `integer`):

Hard cap on the number of listings scraped. Set to 0 for no limit. Useful for testing or cost control.

## `delay_min` (type: `number`):

Minimum pause between HTTP requests. CollectingCars robots.txt specifies a crawl-delay of 5s — do not set below 3.0.

## `delay_max` (type: `number`):

Maximum pause between HTTP requests. Adds jitter to mimic human browsing.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "make_filter": "",
  "makes_only": false,
  "max_items": 0,
  "delay_min": 3,
  "delay_max": 7
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("scrappinglatam/collecting-cars-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("scrappinglatam/collecting-cars-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call scrappinglatam/collecting-cars-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=scrappinglatam/collecting-cars-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "CollectingCars Auction Scraper",
        "description": "Extract classic car auction listings from CollectingCars.com. Captures hammer price, make, model, year, mileage, lot number and auction status. Ideal for classic car market intelligence.",
        "version": "0.1",
        "x-build-id": "gWPCargj3P19on0kR"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/scrappinglatam~collecting-cars-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-scrappinglatam-collecting-cars-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/scrappinglatam~collecting-cars-scraper/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-scrappinglatam-collecting-cars-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK",
                        "content": {
                            "application/json": {
                                "schema": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/scrappinglatam~collecting-cars-scraper/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-scrappinglatam-collecting-cars-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "components": {
        "schemas": {
            "inputSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "make_filter": {
                        "title": "Make filter",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Comma-separated list of car makes to scrape (e.g. 'Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin'). Leave empty to scrape all ~141 available makes.",
                        "default": ""
                    },
                    "makes_only": {
                        "title": "Active listings only (faster)",
                        "type": "boolean",
                        "description": "If enabled, only scrapes the make page showing currently active auctions. Much faster but misses historical sold listings. Recommended for price monitoring.",
                        "default": false
                    },
                    "max_items": {
                        "title": "Max listings to scrape",
                        "minimum": 0,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Hard cap on the number of listings scraped. Set to 0 for no limit. Useful for testing or cost control.",
                        "default": 0
                    },
                    "delay_min": {
                        "title": "Min delay between requests (seconds)",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 30,
                        "type": "number",
                        "description": "Minimum pause between HTTP requests. CollectingCars robots.txt specifies a crawl-delay of 5s — do not set below 3.0.",
                        "default": 3
                    },
                    "delay_max": {
                        "title": "Max delay between requests (seconds)",
                        "minimum": 2,
                        "maximum": 60,
                        "type": "number",
                        "description": "Maximum pause between HTTP requests. Adds jitter to mimic human browsing.",
                        "default": 7
                    }
                }
            },
            "runsResponseSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "data": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "id": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "actId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "userId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "startedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "finishedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "status": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "READY"
                            },
                            "meta": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "origin": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "API"
                                    },
                                    "userAgent": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "stats": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "inputBodyLen": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2000
                                    },
                                    "rebootCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "restartCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "resurrectCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "computeUnits": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "options": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "build": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "latest"
                                    },
                                    "timeoutSecs": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 300
                                    },
                                    "memoryMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1024
                                    },
                                    "diskMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2048
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "buildId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultDatasetId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultRequestQueueId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "buildNumber": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "1.0.0"
                            },
                            "containerUrl": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "usage": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "usageTotalUsd": {
                                "type": "number",
                                "example": 0.00005
                            },
                            "usageUsd": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "number",
                                        "example": 0.00005
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```