John Paul's '75 Escort is going up for auction

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), May 10, 2005 by Associated Press

AUBURN, Ind. -- The only car Pope John Paul II was believed to have owned is up for auction again, and this time the seller expects it to fetch $1.5 million to $5 million.

The light blue 1975 Ford Escort GL was bought at auction in Auburn in 1996 for $102,000 by Illinois businessman Jim Rich, who is selling the vehicle.

Dean Kruse, president and owner of auction firm Kruse International in Auburn, 20 miles north of Fort Wayne, said the car could bring a much higher price when it is put on the block June 3- 4 at the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas.

Rich said he remembers the day in 1998 when he took possession of the car.

In the company of a translator, Rich handed Pope John Paul II a check for $102,000, and the pope handed Rich the car keys.

Not much was said between the two, and Rich says he was nervous.

"I handed him a check, and he handed me his keys, and I said, 'Can I take a picture of you with the keys?' and he laughed."

Rich said he wishes he didn't have to part with the car, but he needs to resolve serious financial problems involving his restaurant, bar and entertainment complex in Sugar Grove, Ill.

He said the car comes with its original 60,000 or so papal miles, plus a couple of miles he put on it. He's debating whether to include the rosary beads that came with the car.

Pope John Paul II's former car isn't much to look at, Kruse said, and without papal provenance it would be worth $1,200 at best. But he said the pontiff did use it -- before and after he became pope.

Kruse said a Vatican official told him the pope "loved to sneak out dressed in commoner clothes and take hikes and slip away in this car."