The Better Business Bureau of Northern Indiana wants a meeting – and some explanations – from Kruse International, the classic-car auction company based in Auburn. Because Kruse has failed to respond to more than a dozen complaints from consumers, the BBB gives its lowest rating – F – to the company. This is due to the fact that Kruse International is known as the auction company for good old car guys, and most of the customers have been doing business with the company for over 30 years. Since these car guys are falling on hard times and over 5,000 cars dealerships will go out of business this year they are having a hard time paying Kruse which takes away from Kruseâs cash flow and makes paying customers difficult at times. read more

More than 800 car collectors spent $14 million at an auction in California, snapping up Duesenberg and Mercedes-Benz models and passing on a 1939 Auto Union racer that was estimated to fetch as much as $10 million. The Auto Union racing car had been expected to make the most for any single-seat Grand Prix racer. The auction house said the Auto Union had top finishes in the 1939 Grand Prix season and was driven by Rudolf Hasse and Hans Stuck, two well-known German drivers. Simon Kidston, a Geneva-based classic car adviser, said in an interview when the sale was announced in March that he could not remember a single-seat racing car fetching more than $5 million. read more

Highlights of the sale include a 1913 Buick Model 4 pickup, a 1935 Packard 1201 convertible victoria, a 1957 Oldsmobile Super 88 convertible, and a 1965 Mexican-manufactured Ford Mustang. Other highlights of the sale are a rare 1935 Packard Eight Model 1201 Dietrich bodied convertible victoria and a 1957 Oldsmobile Super 88 convertible with the rare factory J2 option (three 2-barrel carburetors on a 371ci V8). Other iconic and rare classic vehicles to be featured at the 2009 Ohio Summer Classic Car Auction include a 1937 Lincoln K Judkins 5 passenger Berline, a 1957 Chevrolet 3100 pickup, a 1953 Packard Caribbean convertible, a 1934 Rolls-Royce 20/25 Torpedo Tourer, a 1969 Pontiac GTO Judge, a 1953 Canadian-built Meteor Crestliner Sunliner convertible, and a 1938 Studebaker President. This auction will boast more than 150 classic vehicles, ranging from Model Ts to the cars of the 1970s. Additionally, the auction will offer a large assortment of automobilia to open the sale each day, including tin signs, toys, petroliana, antique gas pumps and the like. read more