Ceausescu `end of season' sale

Bucharest - Romania will clear out the cupboards of its dark past next week when hundreds of items which belonged to the late Communist dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, and his wife go under the hammer. One television commentator described the week-long auction, which starts on Monday, as an "end of season" sale. It has already attracted hordes of foreign bargain-hunters and collectors who have been touring a pre-auction exhibition in the luxurious Primaveri Villa. In the villa's driveway is the lot attracting most interest: a black Buick that was a gift from President Nixon in 1976.