Either way, the back seat gets a workout

The Internet has made it undeniably cool to host auctions, which stand as the most efficient way to establish true prices for, say, a princess Diana gown or a Babe Ruth autographed baseball. Here's an unusual twist to the used car auction. A group of Middle Eastern entrepreneurs regularly visits U.S. sheriff's auctions, buying up fully depreciated patrol cars with 150,000-miles-plus on their odometers for a grand or two. The old cruisers are then shipped back home, where cars remain precious commodities and where they fetch two to three times the auction price. Something tells us the passengers are more willing to ride in the back seat of those vehicles after the auction than before.