HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY (Bay News 9) -- After almost 40 years in business, a Bay area auto dealer is closing.

Ernie Haire Ford has been under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since last November.

Officials with the dealership plan to sell off everything at an auction on Monday.

The company's new and used car dealerships on north Florida Avenue in Tampa likely will be bought and taken over by new owners.

Ernie Haire Jr., who bought the dealership on Florida Avenue in 1970, was a race horse owner, helicopter pilot and all-around colorful automotive tycoon.

After 12 years at the helm of the company, he was shot to death with a .357-caliber Magnum by his wife, Mary Katherine Haire.

Source- Bay News 9