Action by Auction

Hammer in hand, Tennessee's Governor Frank Clement stepped up to a microphone in Nashville's War Memorial Square one morning last week, and loosed a brisk spiel about the merits of a 1951 Buick sedan. No man to shun the public eye or ear, youthful (32) Governor Clement--who is considered likely to run against Estes Kefauver for the senatorial nomination next year--was lending his oratorical flair to the auction of 44 state-owned automobiles. Reason: during his campaign for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination last summer, Lawyer Clement had pointed a shaming finger at the well-wheeled Gordon Browning administration and promised: "In my administration, no state commissioner will ride in a car above the level of a Ford, Chevrolet or Plymouth."

For last week's sale (the first of four scheduled), the cars were washed and polished by convicts from the state penitentiary. Clement, who had gone on TV to advertise the sale, auctioned off the first and last cars and two others. Among the other salesmen: ex-Governor James McCord, an auctioneer by profession. Because the carnival spirit of the sale made for free spending, Clement and his friends knocked the cars down at bids well above local retail prices for comparable used cars. Average for the 44 cars, one to seven years old: $1,065. After the sale an out-of-town dealer, who had gone to Nashville expecting to pick up bargains, grumbled: "I didn't make a single bid. Bidding started off at prices I would consider tops."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.