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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1973-02-08, Page 13ne f d the rbe keep in o Le 0 I as Frye obttittj SIGNAL -STAR 11r i"J i► Owner Earl Clark looks a little concerned as he is driven out of the ring with'" his newly acquired car which cost him 9153,000. He plans,to, use the vehicle as a tourist attrac- tion, at his Dutch ,Wonderland. Recreation Park in Lan- caster Pa. 3aec td T s 1912 Oldsmobile Limited towered above every other entry at the sale. With'its 43'inch heels, huge bras"i headlamps; and 11 foot tall appearance, it's one of the truly dynamic ntique cars. This is the same car pictured...in the famous painting of the "Iron Horse" New ork Railroad race with the automobile. . rELY P.M o local ' men, "Sonny" holm and Ken McGee were ng a 'crowd of about 3,000 watched auction history g made at Scottsdale ona on January 6 as over 10,000 .worth. of antique, is and vintage cars went he auction block!' e sale was held at the ri . Resort Hotel and was ucted - by the 'K -ruse hers of Auburn Indianna specialize in Antique and sic cars. A large tent was up as a showroom for the e majority of the cars at ale, the largestof it's kind he world, were offered by Barrett - and Russell on.- the n."•the time associate auc- er Mike Walton was ready rn the microphone over to n Kruse for the first car, ex- ent in the tent was run - at a fever pitch. e Kruses conduct auctions a. flair and :xhis,was_to,be. exception. Flowered the flanked the auction ium and manicured rative hedges lined the ion area. Bright spotlights ed each car as it received, ctioneers were dressed in formal white dinner ets and black trousers. For uses of confirming bids, the e auction was tape recor- e general public was ired to pay a fee of $2.00 to the cars. Anyone wishing id had to pay .a fee of $5.00 themselves._ Bid' had to also state 'the at 'of credit they could carry- towards purchasing cars. As each"car came in to be auc- tioned, an antique car expert gave his views.pn the condition and desirability of the vehicle. After about a dozen cars were auctioned off, the crowd was becoming restless so the stars Of the show, two Mercedes owned by dictator Adolph Hitler were . brought forth. As they were started and warmed up, the banshee scream -Of 'their supercharged engines ripped through the tent and a ripple of expectation flowed through the crowd. The first Mercedes' arrival was accompanied by' an in- troduction by Dean Kruse who called Hitler the "greatest criminal in,history". He went on to say the pur- pose of the auction was to sell the cars and not to glorify Hitler and if anyone in the audience was offended that the cars' had received so much publicity : they were apologizing for' this in alevance.- One bidder, Lpuis Beltrami -of Hazelton, Pa., said he" was prepared to pay $80,000 for the parade car in , order to blow -it up. The bidding began very rapidly and opened at $40,000. Within one minute, it had reached $80,000 and climbed until it came down to two slow deliberate bidders; Earl Clark and Richard Randall. Clark coolly raised his bid to $153,000 and won the car.`" When asked what he was prepared to pay for the car as a torte to buy this cat'. Fine quiet 'running and authintique, this 1919 Pierce -Arrow touring brought $21,000 but the bid was refused. 0' This 1928 Rolls-Royce Dual Cowl with a right hand drive brought 916,000. The infamous parade car was then shipped to his 54 acre Dutch Wonderland Recreation Park in Lancaster, Pa. where it will be placed on display in it's own special building. Along with the car Clark also received many photos, flags, and other items of memorobilia connected with the car during the time it was in Germany. The other Hitler car was cap- tured by the 101st Airborne in 1945. Bidding again was very brisk and it finally came down to Billy C. Tanner and Charles Wood, the man who bought Greta Garbo's Duesenburg in September. Mr. Tanner, who was showing signs of great pressure and anxiety bid the v winning $93,000. Tanner said he had no plans for the car. Both of Hitler's cars were. custom built for him at a cost of about $2,000,000 spent on engineering and research. -The parade car, a 1940 Mercedes 770K tourint was specially built with a .,right -front seat which would fold up and •a Hydraulic platform would raise making Hitler took taller in parades. - Other features include an in- strument panel of 40, a ' com- plete self-lubricating system, five speed transmission, a supercharged ' 8 cylinder 467 cubic inch engine and two inch thick bullet proof glass . all around. The body of the car was all armoured plated and weighed about 11,000 pounds or five and one half tons.. It had a 153 inch wheelbase 'as compared to 130 for a new Cadillac to -day. During the bidding on the parade car, sirens on the car would sound every time- a new level was reached. One gen- tleman bid $100 if he could cut the wires on the siren but his bid was refused. Many other fine well 'known cars were also auctioned off at the sale. Famous Driver Bar- ney Oldfield's 1908 Benz Grand Prix Racer capable of speeds of up to 100 miles an hour was sold to, an English - Man for $50,000. A 1915 Brewster open town car Once owned by the late F.W. Woolworth was sold for •$10,500. The 1912 Oldsmobile that raced the "Iron Horse" New York Railroad train .from which the famous painting was made and reproduced millions of times was not sold when the bid of $51,000 was refused. The car has a 43 inch wheelbase and stands 11 feet high. . Two Ford Model A cars brought a total of $19,200 in the sale. They were the only cars of their kind in the sale. Ken and Sonny described. their experie-rice as one they' wouldn't have missed for anything: .just -the --experience-- of seeing and touching the famous Hitler cars made it all worth it. Ken describes -the Hitler parade car as menacing and it certainly moves .you emotionally knowing the cir- cumstances surrounding it. There were two transport . .companies at the sale with. trucks and trailers ready to haul cars home anywhere in the United States at 17 cents a mile. It appears history treats automobiles better than it treats despots and rightfully so. 1 9 �1 9c 9 9c 9 1 This second car owned by Hitler sold for t163,000 and went dollars was spent by Hitler on the Engineering and reeearch to Silty C. Tanner of Hartselle Alabatna. A total of 2 million that -went Into bending thesetwo cars.