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US president's former car receives no bids on eBay
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(
06/02/2012 ) |
The car Barack Obama drove before becoming US president has failed to sell during auction on eBay. The 2005 Chrysler 300C, which the president used during his time as a US senator, failed to register a single bid for its minimum asking price of $1 million (£632,271).
The vehicle, which had 19,000 miles on the clock, was priced between $14,500 (£9,167) to $17,000 (£10,748) over the usual cost of a vehicle of that type would usually fetch its current condition.
However other cars have been sold for much more after being owned by a world leader, with their prestige adding value more than an ordinary motorist and car insurance policy holder.
Pope John Paul II's Ford sold for $690,000 (£440,000) in 2005, while Adolf Hitler's 20 foot-long Mercedes limousine was bought for $1,600,000 (£1 million). A 1977 Peugeot once owned by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sold at auction for $2.5 million (£1.6 million).
The US president leased the car until 2007, when he traded it in for a Ford Escape Hybrid, a vehicle that would reinforce a politician's green credentials.
Lisa Czibor, the eBay seller carrying out the auction on behalf of the Chrysler's current owner Tim O'Boyle told ABCNews : "The guy who bought it found out it was Obama's car. He put 1,600 miles on it and once Barack was elected president, he stopped driving it."
Ms Czibor says her client wants to relist the car again closer to the upcoming presidential election.
"We're trying to talk him into rerunning it now and making some changes to (the listing)," she said.
"Lowering the price, and contacting Obama to find out if there's a charity he'd like us to donate some of the profits to."
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