Pope's VW breaks eBay records (over 4m page views)

News 24 (South Africa) / AFP ^ | May 2, 2005 | Adrienne Taylor

[Stoat]

Pope's VW breaks eBay records

May 02 2005 06:35:09:267PM

	VW eyes building 'Pope-mobile' Old pope sells more than new Vatican running in the red Cashing in on pope's image

Berlin - Interest in Pope Benedict XVI's old Volkswagen, currently on offer on eBay Germany, has smashed all records for the Internet auction site with nearly four million hits, the company said on Monday.

"It was viewed more often than any other item we have ever had on eBay Germany," the Berlin headquarters said.

The bidding for the metallic gray 1999 Golf IV in mint condition started at €9 999 (about $12 800), and by Monday, with more than 136 registered offers, had reached €62 595.

Because the auction is not due to end until Thursday (Ascension Day), eBay expects the price to continue to rise.

The Golf is being offered by Benjamin Halbe, 21, who bought it in January from a used car dealer having no idea that its previous owner, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, would become pope.

"It's a heavenly ride," Halbe said.

Ratzinger's private secretary bought it for him in 1999 in southern Germany. It was then taken to Ratzinger in Rome.

The company said that it had taken measures to guard against fraudulent offers by requiring bidders to provide their eBay user name, a phone number and a copy of their German identification card.

Coincidentally Volkswagen, Europe's leading automaker, said last month it is interested in building a new "Pope-mobile", a car especially designed and built for the pope.

Edited by Adrienne Taylor

[Stoat]

eBay-Artikel 4545301886 (Endet 05.05.05 193000 MESZ ) - PAPST GOLF !!! KULTAUTO !!! ( Ratzinger , Benedikt )

PAPST GOLF !!! KULTAUTO !!! ( Ratzinger , Benedikt ) Golf IV von Josef Kardinal Ratzinger	Artikelnummer: 4545301886

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Aktuelles Gebot:	EUR 62.695,00 (Mindestpreis erreicht)
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Artikelmerkmale - Automobile
	Hersteller:	VW			Artikelzustand:	Gebraucht
	Modellbezeichnung:	Golf			Anzahl der Vorbesitzer:	1
	Typ:	Limousine			Hubraum:	2.000 cc
	Anzahl der Türen:	5			Leistung:	85 KW
	Kilometerstand (km):	75000			Garantie:	--
	Datum der Erstzulassung:	30. 03. 1999			Unabhängiges Fahrzeuggutachten (z.B. eBay-Car-Check von A.T.U):	--
	Farbe:	Grau			HU / AU (Ablaufdatum):	01. 2007
	Metallic-Lackierung:	Ja			Kraftstoff:	Benzin
	Antrieb:	Manuelle Schaltung			EU-Fahrzeug:	--
	Ausstattungsmerkmale:	Alarmanlage, Elektrische Fensterheber, Höhenverstellbares Lenkrad, Katalysator, Klimaanlage, Klimaautomatik, Leichtmetallfelgen, Radio / Kassette, Zentralverriegelung			Sicherheitsmerkmale:	ABS, Airbag Beifahrer, Airbag Fahrerseite, Rücksitz-Sicherheitsgurte, Seiten-Airbags, Sicherheitsgurtspanner, Wegfahrsperre
	Rechtssteuerung/Linkssteuerung:	Linkssteuerung

 

 

 

 

[Stoat]

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[Little Pig]

I hope that pic is of the actual car. If so, it is nice to see that the (now-)pope is a manly-man who can drive a stick.

[MeanWestTexan]

Very sporty. A stick shift, too, I believe.

I guess you can take the pope out of germany, but you can't take the german out of the pope.

[antiRepublicrat]

After reading that bit of the registration, it looks legit. Lucky guy!

[antiRepublicrat]

If so, it is nice to see that the (now-)pope is a manly-man who can drive a stick.

Most Germans drive stick shifts. I was disgusted when I moved back to the U.S. and tried to find a minivan for my family with a stick. They have them over there, but they just don't exist over here.

[Guillermo]

I think most cars in Europe are sticks...

[Guillermo]

Why would anyone choose a stick in the first place?

I can understand if it's a sports car, but a minivan?

Sticks are fun for about a day.

[Mears]

And I'm a womanly-woman who drives a stick----so there!

[Killborn]

Man, that's such a sweet ride! :P

droooooooolllll..........

[mwyounce]

Heh heh heh.... ;-)

[LizardQueen]

And I'm a womanly-woman who drives a stick----so there!

Me too! I have to, or else I get bored while driving then start bird watching....
I also ride a motorcycle (NOT a scooter with an automatic!).

LQ

[antiRepublicrat]

Why would anyone choose a stick in the first place?

It's all about control. I can't stand when a car thinks it knows the best time to shift. It doesn't, I do. Maybe I'm going around a corner and don't want a downshift right at that moment to unsettle the suspension (yes, in a minivan). I find with automatics I learn when and how hard to hit the gas to make it shift when I want to anyway, never letting it shift on its own. The only automatic I'll buy is what Mercedes is coming out with, with F1-like paddle shifters so that it acts like a sequential.

[antiRepublicrat]

And I'm a womanly-woman who drives a stick----so there!

My wife abhors automatics more than I do.

[johnb838]

With a good automatic you never notice it shift. That's how mine is on my Nissan Frontier. I believe in a hilly enviro you gotta have a stick because that's where the auto gets in trouble. In a flat city, it's just a pain in the butt, and it's a huge hassle in a traffic jam. Not once in a while, but if you're having to deal with traffic regularly you get sick of it and one day you find yourself looking for a new car and you think, I'm getting an automatic. I'm crossing over to the dark side.

[johnb838]

Because the auction is not due to end until Thursday (Ascension Day), eBay expects the price to continue to rise.

Did anyone else notice the irony inherent in this statement?

[CitizenM]

German Pope's VW Still Heavenly To Drive

29 April 2005

OLPE - A six-year-old Volkswagen once owned by Pope Benedict XVI that "was only driven to church on Sundays" was put up for auction on Thursday on the eBay Internet auction house website.

"It's still heavenly to drive," said Benjamin Halbe, who bought the VW Golf in January from a second-hand car dealer who claimed that the previous owner had been a senior Roman Catholic church official who drove it to Mass.

"The guy told me that the car had been blessed by a cardinal," said 21-year-old Halbe.

However, Ratzinger didn't actually drive the car. Read this published two days ago when the news of the auction appeared on FOX and around the world:

"I thought it was a salesman's yarn until I looked at the registration papers and saw that it had indeed belonged to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger," he said.

The car dealer, Kurt Schneider in the city of Siegen, pointed out that he had never actually said the previous owner had been the man who is now pontiff. But he acknowledged that Ratzinger had been a customer of long-standing.

"We didn't want to make a big deal out of it," Schneider said. "After all, we're in the business of dealing with customers and we don't want to abuse their trust."

Ratzinger's private secretary, who comes from Siegen, purchased cars from the dealership in the cardinal's name.

"His holiness has bought his cars here for some time and he comes to Siegen a couple of times a year and stops in," said Schneider.

However it is unclear who actually drove the car when Ratzinger owned it.

"We assume somebody else drove it for his holiness," said Schneider, who pointed out that Ratzinger has no driver's licence.

[Guillermo]

To each his own, brother.

[MeanWestTexan]

Ah, he's a German.

He drove.

He probably just confessed after each trip. LOL.

[LizardQueen]

.... it's a huge hassle in a traffic jam

Gotta agree with you there. If I lived in a high-density traffic area I'd probably ditch the stick. On trips to LI where my parents live my left leg aches from the clutch by the time I finally get to their house.

But in rural VT the stick is great, particularly in the snow. Lots more control....

LQ