AUBURN – One of the most noticeable recent changes at the auction park near Interstate 69 also was the most symbolic.
For a couple of weeks this summer, the giant marquee sign stretching across the entry was missing five red letters – K-R-U-S-E – their faded outlines still visible against the white background.
Now the shadowed letters have been eclipsed, the word “Auburn” – in the distinctive art deco typeface of the defunct automobile company – substituted for “Kruse”: “Welcome to the Auburn Auction Park.”
Auctions America by RM has systematically worked to erase the Kruse name from the park, an intention it made clear when parent company RM Auctions bought the 235-acre property from Dean Kruse in July. Kruse has no financial connection to Auctions America, and anyway, good business sense demanded it after his company’s public collapse.
But his name will still be in the background of the event he and his family created 40 years ago and grew to be an international attraction.
No days off
Late last week, Auctions America by RM announced that more than 1,000 automobiles have been consigned to the auction, enough to keep two simultaneous auction rings busy both Friday and Saturday.
The number of consignments – cars sent to the auctioneer to sell – is similar to the total Kruse International reported for last year’s auction.
The 39th annual Kruse auction last Labor Day left sellers frustrated as bidding fell short and many cars didn’t meet the reserve – the minimum the seller will accept. Kruse already was facing multiple lawsuits in several states over unpaid consigners and had recently been temporarily barred from selling in Arizona, where he had conducted an auction similar to Auburn’s for years.
By the time the Indiana Auctioneer Commission yanked Dean Kruse’s and his company’s licenses this spring, saying the 70 complaints filed against him with the state’s attorney general were inexcusable, spirits in Auburn were low, or at least uncertain.
Classic-car experts in July called the sale of the auction park to RM Auctions the best of all possible solutions, and so far, it appears RM’s good reputation is working in its favor.
The 1,000-and-counting consignments are within the range Chairman and CEO Rob Myers had hoped for when he visited Auburn in July to announce the purchase at a news conference attended by leaders of the newly formed subsidiary, Auctions America by RM.
The reporters, photographers and TV cameras left, and the crew immediately changed into its work boots, headed to the auction park and got to work, RM Auctions spokeswoman Kerrey Kerr-Enskat said.
“The folks that are on-site at the auction park have not had a day off since July 1,” she said. “They’ve been working every single day.”
Most of the changes are subtle: A uniform coat of sky-blue paint on buildings that had been brown. Spruced-up grounds and fresh asphalt on the parking lot. Others, such as new interior lighting, wiring and staging, aren’t visible to passers-by but will make a difference to auction-goers and consigners.
Popular elements from Kruse’s auction have been carried over, including a swap meet, car corral and food vendors, which Auctions America said are near capacity. The swap meet has 700 reserved spaces; the car corral, more than 250 vehicles; and more than 60 food vendors will hawk wares.
Kerr-Enskat said the company went into this auction with realistic expectations, given the short amount of time it had to throw everything together, and she hopes guests who attend a free preview Wednesday will be impressed. Auctions America knows not everything will be perfect, she said, but it’s pleased at the number of cars it’s been able to consign.
“You don’t just snap your fingers and make it happen,” she said.
Another Kruse
AAA Chicago, in its annual Labor Day travel forecast, said holiday travel this weekend is expected to be up about 10 percent over last year, with nearly 34.4 million travelers taking a trip at least 50 miles away from home.
That brighter economic news, as well as the new life being breathed into the auction park at Interstate 69, has the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum’s leadership optimistic.
More people than ever are signed up for the museum’s high-dollar Thursday-evening benefit, which Executive Director Laura Brinkman views as a bellwether for enthusiasm.
“There’s just a lot of excitement in the air this year,” she said.
Kruse has historically attended many events related to the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival, and Brinkman said he plans to attend Thursday’s kickoff luncheon and the evening fundraiser. Kruse did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Now the Kruse with the power in Auburn over Labor Day will be his nephew John, who began a high-end Labor Day auction south of his uncle’s auction park in 2008.
John Kruse has said his Worldwide Auctioneers wasn’t meant as competition for his uncle, but this Labor Day, it will hold an expanded event that will compete with RM’s auction up the road and a third auction near Waterloo offered by a startup company, Classical Event Auctions.
At a media event last week, John Kruse reiterated that whatever can be done to shore up Auburn’s reputation as a classic-car destination should be done.
He referred back to Auburn’s automotive golden era – now nearly 90 years ago – when E.L. Cord took over a struggling automotive company and began producing cars that remain among the world’s most collectible.
“If you wanted to buy an Auburn, Cord or Duesenberg, you had to come here,” Kruse said. “All of us, as auction companies, our goal is to build upon that and perpetuate that.”
