After five years in business online only car retailer Autoquake was placed in administration on 17th March 2011.

The website has won numerous awards for it's unique approach and hassle free consumer experience.

Administrators commented: ‘Autoquake was in investment mode as a business and required scale to become profitable; despite significant strides in the development of the business model it was unable to secure the funding required to build it to critical mass'.

The excellent e-commerce platform has now been put up for sale and could provide an excellent opportunity for the right purchaser.

Just because Autoquake couldn't make any money doesn't mean the concept wasn't right.

Autoquake dispelled many myths about retailing cars on the web and proved that consumers crave a very different experience. At it's peak the website had over 5.5m visits and generated around 800 car sales per month - all fulfilled and transacted online.

It's a shame Autoquake is no more, will Tesco be the ones who succeed? One thing is certain, someone will make it work and carry on the legacy the pioneers at Autoquake left behind.