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Pope's Old Car Doesn't Find Buyer in Web Auction
Saturday, April 14, 2007
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AP
Pope Benedict XVI
SAN FRANCISCO — A 1999 metallic gray Volkswagen Golf believed to once belong to the pope went up for sale on eBay, but the auction ended without a winner.
For the second time in two years, eBay hosted an auction for a car said to be Pope Benedict XVI's old hatchback. Though bids surpassed $204,000, a reserve price was not met by the end of the auction Saturday.
The car's owner, a Texas-based online casino, GoldenPalace.com, bought the car in 2005 on eBay from a German man. The casino had posted two German automobile registration documents that list "Josef Kardinal Ratzinger" as the vehicle's previous owner.
A spokeswoman for eBay, Catherine Fisher, said she did not know what the seller's minimum price was. A message left with GoldenPalace.com was not immediately returned Saturday evening.
The online auction site said it had verified the car was owned by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before he ascended to the papacy.
The company said that 40 percent of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to Habitat for Humanity Great Britain. The car is in England; the online casino said it would pay for shipping to the United States.
Since the car's last sale, its appearance has changed. The Golf now has "Pope Benedict Mobile" and advertising stickers plastered on its body.
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