Pope's auto auctioned for $250,000

Old banger

By Tim Richardson • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 6th May 2005 12:55 GMT

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The Pope's old motor has been snapped up for $250,000 after being auctioned off on eBay.

The 1999 Volkswagen Golf was once owned by Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, before he was elected head of the Catholic Church last month and renamed Pope Benedict XVI.

The car was bought by Benjamin Halbe, 21, earlier this year, although at the time he was unaware of the identity of the previous owner. Once that became clear, he rushed to sell it on eBay.

Not surprisingly, it's been bought by those media-hungry bods at GoldenPalace.com who aim to use the car to house their growing collection of holy items, including the mystifying image of the Virgin Mary on a grilled cheese sandwich, a chicken breast resembling the late Pope John Paul II, the charred image of Jesus Christ on the bottom of a frying pan and a pretzel shaped like the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus.

"We have amassed a collection of what many consider to be holy artefacts," said GoldenPalace.com CEO Richard Rowe. "It seems only natural to get a blessed vehicle to carry these items.

"We are planning to showcase our acquisitions by bringing them on tour and allowing people to enjoy the experience of sitting in the divine car, in an effort to raise as much money for charity as possible," he said. ®