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Kruse International is one of the world's leading auction firms. It was founded in Auburn, Indiana in 1952 by Russell Kruse after his graduation from the Reppert School of Auctioneering. The company began as a local auction company selling real estate, farms and personal property. Russell Kruse, along with his son's Dean Kruse, Dennis Kruse and Daniel Kruse held their first collector car auction on Labor Day in 1971. Kruse is now the world's largest collector car sales organization, selling more collectible vehicles than all other companies combined.
Kruse International auctions more than 13,000 cars in more than 30 events and dozens of real estate properties each year. In addition to collector cars, the company has auctioned distinctive real estate, vintage aircraft, collectible tractors, mobile homes, collectibles, rare oil paintings, factories, islands, zoos, railroads and three entire towns. The Kruses were the first to sell a car for a documented $1 million in cash -- a 1934 Duesenberg SJ La Grande long wheelbase dual-cowl phaeton. The Duesenberg was sold to Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino's Pizza and then owner of the Detroit Tigers.
The Kruse family is also noted for conducting the $41 million sellout of the famous William F. Harrah automotive collection. The sale of this 1,000-car collection was dispersed over three auction sessions. The Kruse family is also renowned for selling Homer Fitterling's 40-year collection for more than $13 million to car collector Ed Weaver, owner of Diamond Carpet Mills in Dalton, Georgia. In October 1990, the Kruses sold the collections of Gene Ponder and the late Sam Vaughan for $10.6 million. They then proceeded to sell out the Ed Weaver car collection in 1995 that featured 22 Duesenbergs and nearly 200 other great collector cars - all at No Reserve! More recently, the Kruse's have sold the multi-million dollar collections of Andy Granatelli, Roy Warshauwsky, Herbie Livingston, Mark Martin (NASCAR) and many others.
Kruse International's Auburn Auction, held each Labor Day weekend, is the world's largest event of its kind and annually draws 5,000 collectible vehicles for sale. More than 150,000 people annually attend the auction and the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Festival. It is the fourth largest spectator event in Indiana, behind only by the Indianapolis 500, the Brickyard 400 and the Indiana State Fair.
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