An eBay bidder from Austin, Texas paid 188,938 euros ($244,800) for a Volkswagen Golf once owned by Pope Benedict.
The bidder, registered as “Golden Palace Casino,” is well known for purchasing strange products from the online auction site. In the past, the bidder purchased an implant from a famous former stripper and a half-eaten grilled cheese sandwich that bore the likeness of the Virgin Mary.
The auction created a bidding frenzy in its final hours. The price doubled within the last 24 hours of the 10-day auction, which drew 8.4 million hits to eBay’s Web site during the auction.
Benjamin Halbe, 21, purchased the vehicle for 10,000 euros from a car dealer in Olpe, a town in West Germany. The car dealer did not tell Halbe who the previous owner of the vehicle was. However, he implied that the car was a “heavenly ride.”
In 1999, Joseph Ratzinger, a little-known Cardinal from Germany, purchased the vehicle, although it wasn’t clear whether or not he had a driver’s license.
In January, Ratzinger’s private secretary sold the vehicle to the dealer who sold the car to Halbe.
