Things got really funky back in the last days of Kruse. Searching for a sale, cars crossed the block multiple times in the same auction, but with different lot numbers. When they didn’t sell, if the car belonged to Kruse – and they owned many – it was often transported to the next sale, and the next. This all makes for a confusing history with some entries, especially when they stopped releasing sale results, and later deleted all their listings.
A few cars, at least, were so distinctive that they can be identified, if not easily tracked, and one of those has emerged. Worldwide has started to preview some of the early consignments for their new Atlantic City auction, and a familiar face jumped out at me, a 1932 Auburn that I believe made the rounds with Kruse a couple of years ago.
It’s not to be confused with a very similar 12-160 boattail, sold by Gooding in 2007 and subsequently DriverSource in 2008; that Stone barn-restored car brought in $440,000 at Pebble Beach and is currently in the collection of the late John O’Quinn (who had at least one other boattail 1932). Instead, the car in question was formerly in the Kruse museum in Auburn, and crossed the block both at Auburn and Hershey near the end of Kruse’s game. Now, I don’t have confirmation that they’re actually the same car, but details like the Woodlites, yellow front, even the identical strapping on the spare sure are convincing. The only glaring difference is the mascot.
I never heard how it did at either sale; presumably, it didn’t sell at Auburn, and almost nothing moved at the final Kruse effort at Hershey. Perhaps after almost three years of trying, it will finally find a new owner.
Speaking of Kruse, it occurred to me to wonder what ever happened to their boatload of Shelby Mustang 350 GT-Hs. In 2008, I believe, Kruse purchased a huge lot of them from the Southwest, more than 50, and started offering them at almost every sale. At first, some would sell, but, as you’d think, the market soon became saturated and, with reserves usually in the $30,000 range, fewer and fewer sold. I recall that at their final Hershey sale, they brought 10 and ran them all multiple times, but could only find a buyer for a single one. Where did they (and many other unsold Kruse cars) end up? Were they quietly sold to private parties, or is there still a warehouse in Indiana, waiting for Dean Kruse’s two-year auctioneering license suspension to expire? If anyone has an idea, let me know.