Merkel's first Golf sells for €10,000 on Ebay
A man from North Rhine-Westphalia bought Chancellor Angela Merkel’s first “west car” for slightly more than €10,000, after an initial auction produced too many ridiculous bids and was cancelled, the Bild newspaper reported Monday.
The buyer purchased the run-down vehicle, a Volkswagen Golf II, via an Ebay auction, according to Ebay spokesperson Sabrina Winter.
It was roughly in line with what the seller expected, though much more than other comparable vehicles from less famous owners could expect to fetch. The Golf is 22 years old and has roughly 190,000 kilometres on the clock.
“We’re pleased that someone who has a serious interest in the vehicle is getting it,” Winter told the paper.
Ebay had previously held an auction for the Golf in mid-April, but it was canceled due to too many offers, many of which were deemed to be not serious. At that time the highest offer was €130,000.
Interest in the car was significantly lower the second time around, the company said, with 14 bidders making 28 offers. The sales price is far from the €190,000 that the former car of Pope Benedict XVI sold for in 2005.
The Golf was purchased new by Merkel in 1990 when she was the assistant speaker for the last East German coalition government. She reportedly drove it until 1995, when her husband, Joachim Sauer, started driving the car.
The car’s seller, whose name was not revealed, reportedly purchased the vehicle for its scrap metal value, when he found the registration papers from its prominent owner.
Merkel previously said she had ordered an East German Trabant car before the Berlin Wall fell, but the regime collapsed before she got it, so she bought a Golf instead.
The Local/mw
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The buyer purchased the run-down vehicle, a Volkswagen Golf II, via an Ebay auction, according to Ebay spokesperson Sabrina Winter.
It was roughly in line with what the seller expected, though much more than other comparable vehicles from less famous owners could expect to fetch. The Golf is 22 years old and has roughly 190,000 kilometres on the clock.
“We’re pleased that someone who has a serious interest in the vehicle is getting it,” Winter told the paper.
Ebay had previously held an auction for the Golf in mid-April, but it was canceled due to too many offers, many of which were deemed to be not serious. At that time the highest offer was €130,000.
Interest in the car was significantly lower the second time around, the company said, with 14 bidders making 28 offers. The sales price is far from the €190,000 that the former car of Pope Benedict XVI sold for in 2005.
The Golf was purchased new by Merkel in 1990 when she was the assistant speaker for the last East German coalition government. She reportedly drove it until 1995, when her husband, Joachim Sauer, started driving the car.
The car’s seller, whose name was not revealed, reportedly purchased the vehicle for its scrap metal value, when he found the registration papers from its prominent owner.
Merkel previously said she had ordered an East German Trabant car before the Berlin Wall fell, but the regime collapsed before she got it, so she bought a Golf instead.
The Local/mw
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