It’s not quite the Popemobile, but a 1976 Ford Escort 1100GL once owned by Pope Saint John Paul II will roll onto an auction block later this year.
In a news release, RM Auctions said the car would be part of its annual Auburn Fall event held during the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival from August 31 to September 2 at the Auburn Auction Park in northeastern Indiana.
“The papal Ford Escort represents a rare collecting opportunity and the ultimate conversation piece,” Gord Duff, global head of auctions for RM Sotheby’s Group, said in the release.
The Escort was the last car John Paul II -– who was born Karol Jozef Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland –- drove before he was elected to the Papacy in 1978. It was first sold to support Vatican charities in the mid-1990s and has been in storage since.
This time around, the all-original car is being sold without reserve and was expected to fetch between $150,000 and $300,000. All proceeds will be donated to the John M. O’Quinn Foundation, an organization that focuses on conservation, education, health and other programs that benefit underprivileged youth in the Houston, Texas, area.