Bridgeport’s plan to sell five aging luxury cars on Saturday failed to get off the starting block after potential bidders refused to make offers.

After looking over the Rolls Royce and four Mercedes Benz’s on the auction block, the dozen or so potential bidders said the city’s base bid of $15,000 was too high considering the age and condition of the cars.

The Rolls Royce is a 1979, while one of the Mercedes is a 1981. The other Mercedes are 1997, 1972 and 1981 models. City officials running the auction didn’t even have keys to prove the vehicles run.

“We can’t even start them. You can’t tell if they run,” said Rick Tavella of Norwalk, who had planned to bid.

The cars were acquired by the city last year after the owner was evicted from his mansion near St. Mary’s-by-the-Sea.

In response to the lack of bids, Russell Liskov, a city attorney, announced a new auction will be held Oct. 10, and bidders will only be required to post a $2,500 deposit. After that, bidding will be open, with no base bid requirement.

Posted: 10|1|06 at 12:36 pm. Filed under: US News.