FORT WAYNE, Ind. -

As general manager and original owner Carl Miskotten takes over leadership of the Fort Wayne Auto Truck Auction once again, the auction industry veteran looked back on the history of the location and gave Auto Remarketing some insight into his journey with this business and more.

The former Manheim Fort Wayne Auction facility located at 3600 E Washington Blvd in  Fort Wayne, Ind.,  was recently sold to its original builder, Miskotten, this past March.

Miskotten built the facility primarily as a heavy  truck auction back in 1984 and added cars shortly after opening.

The auction has been sold several times over the years, but Miskotten recently repurchased the auction from its most recent owner, Joe Barron, and is in the process of remodeling the car and truck auction facility.

An Idea is Born

When Miskotten and business partner Chuck Frauhiger started Fort Wayne Auto Truck Auction in April of 1984, the business first debuted as a heavy truck auction.

Miskotten had just recently sold his wholesale company, Capital Motors, where he was a broker for major lease companies in the U.S., and it was time for the next step.

After buyers of the wholesale business had him sign a non-compete on the cars but “had no interest” in the truck side of the business, an idea was born.

“There were no stationary big truck sales, and instead of brokering the trucks, I thought it made more sense to build an auction with the trucks being center stage,” Miskotten told Auto Remarketing.

“And by January of 1985, I bought out the non-compete from the company I had sold and started auctioning cars the first Tuesday of January 1985,” he continued.

When asked why he decided to get into the auction business, Miskotten had this to say: “It started as a suggestion from a very good friend, and with a lot of prayer, it seemed like God opened all the doors.

“After wholesaling 4,000 cars and 800 trucks a year as Capitol Motors, it sort of seemed like a natural progression,” he continued.

But when partner Frauhiger needed more time with his young family, the pair decided to sell. “After selling to ADT Auctions, I had a five year work agreement with them,” Miskotten added.

The Next Chapter

When Miskotten was asked to think about owning and running the Fort Wayne location again, he  noted,  “We started to brain storm and knowing that Fort Wayne has the largest population within a 200 mile radius of any other city in the USA, it seemed right.”

In the interim, after selling the Fort Wayne business the first time around, Miskotten had recently started working on a new auction down the road from “scratch,” but when given the option to repurchase,  he jumped at the chance.

“Since it was in completed condition, it was financially more feasible to re-purchase than to complete the location we had started,” Miskotten explained.

Now that one of the original owners is back with the business, he has been rounding up and connecting with previous staff members, creating a “family reunion” of sorts for the starting team.

“We connected with several of our old staff members. It was exciting to see the enthusiasm of everybody and we all wanted to work together again, so here we are!” Miskotten noted.

What can Customers Expect?

“Our consigners and customers can expect a newly remodeled, open, clean concept with service from a servant’s heart,” Miskotten shared.

And what changes can customers expect from the new owner? Miskotten noted that they are focusing on creating an “open concept” for the auction style and layout.

“The auction business continues to evolve and become more of an open concept where one department needs to respond to all the departments,” he explained.

“We have been working on the open concept for several years, and it creates a refreshing new look that is very customer friendly,” he added.

Lastly, Miskotten gave some insight into why he contends the auction is still the “best way to remarket.”

“ The auction is still the best way to remarket. It creates a sense of urgency which is unequaled by any other remarketing tool you can use,” he noted.

“Other remarketing tools will not evaporate because some people will prefer convenience to the effort of a vehicle bringing the best money. We will bet on the client and customer to continue to choose the premium auction concept,” Miskotten concluded.

For more information on the auction, as well as sale days and times, see here.