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

[Youngblood]

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.

Almost everyone in Europe drives stick-shift. Automatics are rare. I still occasionally find myself "searching" for the clutch with my left foot when I drive in the US.

[Youngblood]

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.

Faster take-off. Very handy at traffic lights and for overtaking.

[antiRepublicrat]

With a good automatic you never notice it shift.

I do, especially when powering out of corners. I want to be in a certain gear at exactly one specific moment with a certain amount of gas applied. With an auto there will be a lag between me pressing the pedal and it shifting into a gear of its choice. As I said, I compensate by learning that transmission's shifting points, but why bother -- just get a manual or a sequential (the latter being what Mercedes mimics with its new paddle shifters).

I'll deal with the rare traffic jam moments and keep my control.

[2Jedismom]

VW ping!

[wizr]

Thanx for the ping.

[Born Conservative]

The hoehenverstellbares steering wheel alone makes it worth the price...

[festus]

By that snapshot of the auction the high bidder is a "0" feedback rating. Dunno about the foreign ebay but usually on a high ticket item that means a deadbeat bidder stateside.

[Stoat]

By that snapshot of the auction the high bidder is a "0" feedback rating. Dunno about the foreign ebay but usually on a high ticket item that means a deadbeat bidder stateside.

You've got the buyer and seller reversed in this case....it's the seller that has the zero rating; the current bidder has a rating of 41.  Furthermore, eBay is going to extraordinary lengths to ensure a legal auction in this case, as is evidenced by this point made in the original article:

"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. "

Sellers also have the option of rejecting bids from buyers they deem to be untrustworthy.

[Accygirl]

I still get an SNL vibe every time that I hear about the E-bay auction... Father Guido Sarducci anyone??

[Stoat]

I still get an SNL vibe every time that I hear about the E-bay auction... Father Guido Sarducci anyone??

But would Father Guido drive a VW?  He seems like more of an Alfa kind of guy to me

[Bostton1]

Why does the registration show Kardinal as his middle name? It would be like saying "Josef Mister Ratzinger" if he was a normal person. Is this how they use titles in Germany?

[Stoat]

Why does the registration show Kardinal as his middle name? It would be like saying "Josef Mister Ratzinger" if he was a normal person. Is this how they use titles in Germany?

Without spending a few minutes Googling with keyword phrases such as "Germanic naming conventions" "Germanic titles grammar" "Formal Germanic titles grammar" "German automobile documentation" etc. etc. I am GUESSING that this is a naming convention that, in essence, replaces the parenthesis, as in this example:

George (President) Bush

Bill (Rapist, Scumbag, Liar, National Embarrassment) Clinton

etc.  (sorry about the second one, I couldn't resist).   By doing things this way, the Deutsche equivalent of our Department of Motor Vehicles would be able to alphabetize everyone by name, yet retain evidence of a special title that is important to their identification.  "Miss" , "Mister", etc. would not be the same sort of title as an honorary, elected or clerical title which would serve as a very specific identifier for a famous person.  It would provide an additional means by which they could differentiate the then-Cardinal Josef Ratzinger from the ten thousand (or more) other Josef Ratzingers in Germany.

Again, this is just a guess and German Freepers, Freeper Linguists with a Specialty in Germanic Languages, and Freepers Who Simply Know More Than The Stoat are of course welcome to add to this explanation or to debunk it entirely if that's appropriate   :-)

I hope that this might be of some help.

[Bostton1]

Thanks, that was a good explanation.

[goldstategop]

The VW Golf is Europe's best-selling hatchback... and now its a heavenly car!

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[goldstategop]

$80,000? A retail 1999 Golf should sell for $9,000! Maybe a little more with auto transmission and an options package. My Golf-based 1999 Silver New Beetle GLS cost me $11,000 when I bought it! I guess if the little car once belonged to the Holy Father, it should command a premium. You're buying a piece of history here, something that once belonged to someone who is now famous.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[Stoat]

UPDATE TO ALL:

Just over eight hours to go on this auction, and the bidding stands at OVER ONE HUNDRED FORTY-TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS!

xe.com  Universal Currency Converter ® Results
Live mid-market rates as of 2005.05.05 08:33:16 UTC.
110.04900 EUR Euro	=	142.82066 USD United States Dollars
1 EUR = 1.29779 USD		1 USD = 0.770540 EUR

 

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 110.049,00 (Mindestpreis erreicht)
Restzeit:	8 Stunden 59 Minuten 10-Tage-Angebot, Angebot endet 05.05.05 19:30:00 MESZ
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Übersicht:	196 Gebote   (EUR 9.999,00 Startpreis)
Höchstbietender:	hebro1 ( 3003)
Artikelstandort:	Sauerland (NRW) Deutschland

 

[Stoat]

Over SIX MILLION page views too!

[Stoat]

Are you in need of another car? :-)

[antiRepublicrat]

Is this how they use titles in Germany?

Not normally. I think it may be a Catholic Church thing in Germany to legally change the names of cardinals to have the title in the middle (a Fahrzeugbrief has your legal name on it). A professor with a doctorate (which is what Ratzinger was) would be referred to as "Prof. Dr. Josef Ratzinger" (and don't you dare leave the title out when referring to a Prof. Dr.), but I think his Fahrzeugbrief would likely just state "Josef Ratzinger." I've never seen a Fahrzeugbrief for a doctor, so I'm not too sure on that last bit. I could call one I know and ask, but calls to Germany are expensive on my phone plan.

[Mears]

It's a church thing. Bernard Cardinal Law was used in Boston and it has been this way during my long lifetime.