AUBURN (IN) — Just minutes before Dan St. John’s pride and joy hit the auction stage at the Kruse International Spring Motorfair on June 2, things in Auburn, IN, were falling into place nicely. His car was polished up to a high standard and attracted a number of last minute onlookers as man and machine waited their turn just outside the main pavilion. In spite of his due diligence however, the most important detail of the afternoon remained unresolved. It didn’t matter that St. John’s car was the lone example of rolling stock on the 480-acre plantation of auction paradise worth driving into a lake. Would Dan and his swimming partner take a bath, or would he cash in on endless riches from a timely bidding war? “I have no idea what it’s going to go for today. I’m kind of rolling the dice on it without a reserve, so we’ll see what happens,” he said. Lacking a reserve on the bright red 1964 Amphicar, someone else was indeed waiting to take the odd German creation home.
The Spring Motorfair is filled with similar stories of buyers and sellers searching for the holy grail and it’s arguably the best place in the world to find it. While the rest of the cars up for bid kept the fun on the pavement, the automotive intrigue never tailed off.
It’s hard to miss a Kruse auction anywhere in the country, but nearly impossible when events are held at their headquarters. Just off the highway is a matrix sign larger than most outlet malls and the vast real estate occupied by such an event is almost unimaginable, yet the spring show is just a dress rehearsal for the 5,000-car draw in early September that attracts over 200,000 visitors to rural Auburn. What the annual June event lacks in volume it makes up for in quality survivors, restorations, and Hollywood provenance.
Perhaps the unassuming location for such a large event is somewhat fitting. From the hay and corn fields of northeast Indiana spawned the Auburn Car Company – no stranger to everything over-the-top. Today, Auburns are among the most expensive collector cars out there, alongside vintage Cords and Duesenbergs. So it should come as no surprise that Kruse auctions off more of these classics than the rest of the country combined. Automobiles like these are within the means of a select few, but there is enough diversity at the Kruse Spring Auction to keep all walks of life happy.
What sets Kruse apart from other auction empires is the casual, family feel only a rural midwestern town can play host to. Bidders shed Armanis for blue jeans even when prices approach seven figures. Russell Kruse auctioned his first real estate in 1952 and later parlayed those skills into the world’s first annual consignment collector car auction in 1971. Over 250 world record setting prices later, the Kruse family remains involved in all aspects of the business, managing auctions around the country. While the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, AZ, has a slick but somewhat artificially contrived appeal helped in part by week-long coverage on Speedvision, those in the know suggest Kruse’s hometown turf is the official car collector capital of the world.
In just two hours of watching the three auction stages running simultaneous bids, a 1970 Plymouth Road Runner Superbird reached $190,000 just moments after a 1971 Ford Ranger pickup stalled at $4,000. The high ticket item of the day was the kite-winged fantasy car from the 1968 children’s film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang starring Dick Van Dyke. Kruse appraised the vehicle for just under $1 million a few years ago and it sold for a bargain price of $505,000. We’re still kicking ourselves.
Not every car at Kruse must go to auction. Outside the pavilion is a for-sale area where several hundred owners shine and polish all afternoon to impress potential buyers. Things are even more casual here and it’s where some of the best deals are often struck. A modest look around uncovered quite a few gems capable of fetching top dollar inside the pavilion, including a rare 1956 Ford Park Lane wagon packing a period-correct McCullough supercharger. There were too many vintage Mustangs, Camaros, and Hemis to count — and it’s not often you’ll run across two identical Ford Mustang Indianapolis Pace Car tributes.
If the automobiles weren’t enough, the event attracts car culture of every flavor. Vendors peddling carburetors, stoplights, oil paintings, yesteryear signage and gas pumps, and headlight assemblies for a 1949 Ford all awaited interested buyers. Dave Bostwick paid for prime real estate inside the pavilion to showcase nearly 50 of his life-size creature creations including Willie Nelson, the Blues Brothers, and a pair of elderly butlers. “We’re going coast to coast with it following the car shows like Kruse and Barrett-Jackson and so on. We go to 40 or 45 events a year,” he said. When asked if he made a living at it, he replied “and a pretty good one too.”
As St. John’s Amphicar reached the stage, bidding started relatively slow. Just 4,000 Amphicars were built, making it a rare find on those merits alone. It’s a car that doesn’t appeal to everyone however and needs the right crowd to reach a strong price. Moments before show time, Dan told us $50,000 would make him happy. Amphicar prices are all over the map, from the mid 30s to over $100,000. As bidding stopped and he drove it off the stage, the highest taker sat at $48,500 and things were quiet. But like good book of fiction, someone beat the gavel with hardly a moment to spare and the auctioneer held the car at the end of the ramp as interest resumed. Sitting in the car with a life preserver around his neck as a sign of Amphicar pride, Dan couldn’t help but watch the bidding in his rear-view mirror as casual onlookers encircled the car. He spun the twin propellers at the stern like a true showman as apprehension faded into the surrounding auction currents. It took another three minutes but the hammer dropped at a price of $53,500. With the most important question mark now answered, Dan had everything he needed. Except a ride home.
