Ace Rimmer
10-30-2005, 05:37 PM
Late pope's Ford Escort sells at auction
CHICAGO (Reuters) - The only car the late Pope John Paul II ever owned sold at auction for $680,000 (383,445 pounds) on Saturday to a Houston attorney and car collector.
The car, which fetched much less than previous estimates of $2 million to $5 million, attracted four or five bids before being purchased by John O'Quinn, said a spokeswoman for the Kruse International auction house.
The 1975 powder-blue Ford Escort went on the auction block in Las Vegas after a father-son ownership spat was resolved earlier this month.
The humble four-door sedan was purchased through the same auction house a decade ago by Illinois restaurateur Jim Rich for $102,000. He put the vehicle on display under glass in his suburban Chicago restaurant, but the establishment was forced to close a year ago.
Rich, who is in bankruptcy, got into a court battle earlier this year with his father, Jerome Rich, over a $1.7 million debt the father said the son owed, delaying the car's auction. A federal judge ordered the car given to Jerome Rich for safekeeping.
Father and son have settled their differences, and proceeds of the sale will be distributed by Jim Rich's bankruptcy trustee.
Pope John Paul, who died in April, drove the car himself and put 60,000 miles (96,560 km) on it before giving it in 1996 to Kruse International, an Indiana rare automobile museum and auction house, to sell with the proceeds going to charity.
Reuters (http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2005-10-29T233007Z_01_SCH984527_RTRIDST_0_OUKOE-UK-POPE-CAR.XML)
CHICAGO (Reuters) - The only car the late Pope John Paul II ever owned sold at auction for $680,000 (383,445 pounds) on Saturday to a Houston attorney and car collector.
The car, which fetched much less than previous estimates of $2 million to $5 million, attracted four or five bids before being purchased by John O'Quinn, said a spokeswoman for the Kruse International auction house.
The 1975 powder-blue Ford Escort went on the auction block in Las Vegas after a father-son ownership spat was resolved earlier this month.
The humble four-door sedan was purchased through the same auction house a decade ago by Illinois restaurateur Jim Rich for $102,000. He put the vehicle on display under glass in his suburban Chicago restaurant, but the establishment was forced to close a year ago.
Rich, who is in bankruptcy, got into a court battle earlier this year with his father, Jerome Rich, over a $1.7 million debt the father said the son owed, delaying the car's auction. A federal judge ordered the car given to Jerome Rich for safekeeping.
Father and son have settled their differences, and proceeds of the sale will be distributed by Jim Rich's bankruptcy trustee.
Pope John Paul, who died in April, drove the car himself and put 60,000 miles (96,560 km) on it before giving it in 1996 to Kruse International, an Indiana rare automobile museum and auction house, to sell with the proceeds going to charity.
Reuters (http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2005-10-29T233007Z_01_SCH984527_RTRIDST_0_OUKOE-UK-POPE-CAR.XML)