VW Golf for sale: One Papal owner
2005-05-01 18:17
"It drives divinely," explained Benjamin Halbe, from Olpe in western Germany, who bought the 1999 grey VW Golf in January.
The 21-year-old said the car dealer had hinted at the credentials of the previous owner when he said the car had always been driven with a "divine blessing".
Halbe only learnt later the name of the former owner from the registration papers, "then I understood what the dealer meant".
The VW dealer, Kurt Schneider, said the car was bought in 1999 in Siegen by Georg Gaenswein, the secretary of the bishop, Josef Clement, who sent it to Italy where the car was registered in the name of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
"But we don't know if he actually drove it," said Schneider, as Pope Benedict XVI is not believed to have a driving license, according to church sources.
The auction of the pope's former vehicle on eBay Germany had reached €41 564 on Saturday and continues until May 5. The starting and purchase price of the car was €9 999.