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Enron going into used car business at next auction

HOUSTON, Nov 25 (Reuters) - It might prompt a snide remark or two, but Enron Corp. is jumping into the used car business next week.

The fallen energy giant, whose name has become synonymous with corporate dishonesty, is selling off 18 cars from its fleet next week at its third post-bankruptcy auction.

A 1999 black Lincoln Navigator sports utility vehicle and a 2000 Cadillac Deville, both of which served as transport for Enron's top executives, are the high-end offerings. A fleet of 16 vehicles, including Dodge and Ford pickups and a Chevrolet Cavalier, are also being sold.

Besides the automotive offerings, a total of six Enron "crooked E" logo signs are on the block. That includes a rotating sign dotted with red, green and blue colored lights that some have dubbed "the Disco E."

The spinning sign, which swirled in Enron's lobby, and two other stainless steel signs from in front of its Houston headquarters, have appeared in thousands of television newscasts about the energy giant's collapse.

Many of the signs were taken down earlier this month in preparation for the Dec. 3-5 auction, rendering the Enron building virtually anonymous from the exterior.

Interim Chief Executive Stephen Cooper told employees in a Nov. 8 voice mail message that there had been "a fair amount of market interest in the big E's" and that the time was right to sell them.

One sign from a Houston office tower that housed Enron employees and the offices of a secretive partnership run by former Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow garnered $44,000 at a Sept. 25 auction. A sign from Enron's London office last year fetched $15,000.

Besides the big-ticket items, a pile of random equipment is among the thousands of items up for bid. Computers, power tools including band saws and air compressors, televisions and lots of Enron-branded trinkets are for sale as well.

The auction, designed to raise money for creditors owed billions in Enron's Chapter 11 bankruptcy, will be held at a Houston hotel and online simultaneously.