Detroit Making Automobile Headlines With A Piece Of Obama's Past!
|
|||||||||||||||||
| Printer Friendly Story View |
Barack Obama's 2005 Chrysler 300C is seen in this image courtesy eBay.
Finally, a hot car featured from "Auto-city" Detroit!
A luxury Chrysler 300C, HEMI engine sedan that U.S. president-elect Barack Obama drove before winning the White House is on the auction block on eBay. The starting bid is $100,000.
The car comes "loaded" with a navigation system, a sunroof and leather interior, the eBay listing says. The sedan reportedly has just over 20,000 miles on it and is still under warranty.
Its Blue Book value is around $13,500. It is estimated on eBay that Obama bought the car for about $38,000.
The top bid as of this morning on eBay Motors: $101,100.
President-elect Obama sold it early in his presidential campaign and bought a hybrid. Possibly because Obama had been accused of hypocrisy by lecturing Detroit to make more environmentally friendly cars while he cruised around in his muscular, gas-burning Chrysler?
The Escape burns anywhere from 29 to 31 miles per gallon on local roads and 27-31 MPG on the highway. The 300C (HEMI) gets about 15 MPG on city streets, and 20-25 on the highway, I know this because I own the same exact vehicle!
Tim O'Boyle, the general manager of a restaurant in Hillside, Ill., west of Chicago, is selling Obama's steel-blue 2005 Chrysler 300C Hemi on eBay, hoping to cash in on a piece of Presidential history!
The INTERNET auction mogul lists the "Buy It Now" option price as a cool $1 million! Quite a price for a vehicle that was estimated to be an approximate original sale to Obama for roughly $38,000!
According to The Canadian Press, Obama leased the car in 2004 at Park Plaza Dodge in Forest Park, Ill., and swapped it for a Ford Escape Hybrid in 2007. The vehicle was transferred back to the dealership, where O'Boyle bought it used last February.
"One of the guys over at the car dealership said", "You better hold onto that thing, it used to belong to Obama" said O'Boyle, an Obama supporter.
Gary Hall, finance director for Park Plaza Dodge, confirmed Obama had leased the car from the dealership and O'Boyle later bought the vehicle.
O'Boyle tried to sell it on eBay in December but stopped the bidding process when his accountant instructed him to wait until he had owned it for a year for tax reasons.
O'Boyle reported to The Canadian Press that the top bid on eBay was $125,100 and a second person topped that, offering $150,000.
"The vehicle is immaculate! Hopefully, he takes as good care of the country as he did the car," stated O'Boyle.
Cars of other leaders have fetched high prices. Pope Benedict XVI's 1999 Volkswagen Golf recently sold for $244,591. And a 1962 Lincoln Continental "bubble top" used by former President John F. Kennedy - not the one in which he was assassinated - was auctioned for $632,500.
O'Boyle plans on giving some of the proceeds to charity and will donate to the Italian American Executives of Transportation, a Chicago-area charity.
I suppose anything related to Obama at this point in time is selling like hotcakes - or should I say "waffles". It has been reported that someone on eBay claimed to be selling half of a waffle munched by President-elect Barack Obama. The asking price: $20,000!!!!
For more information on this vehicle, visit President-elect Obama's Chrysler 300C! Bidding ends on Inauguration Day!
| Printer Friendly Story View |
"The BUZZ" - Read Feedback From Readers! |
|
ObamaLover says:
On January 15, 2009
at 06:58 PM
Great column Marlo! Maybe we could get together and have an auction of our own, "how much do you want to bet" he will be riding, not driving, in a bullet proof vehicle very soon?
|
|
Daddyo says:
On January 15, 2009
at 07:02 PM
I heard this on my AM radio station this morning, you know me and "Listen to the Mrs." channels. Never expected to land on MyBayCity and see it here. Good job hun. How much ya wanna bet, as perfect as this car may be, it's been smoked in?
|
|
HoJo says:
On January 16, 2009
at 07:27 AM
Saginaw's Howard Johnson Hotel across from Dow Event Center is listed on eBay now...
|
|
Million Dollar Man says:
On January 16, 2009
at 07:40 AM
Marlo, be sure to follow and let us know what this goes for. I am curious. Bet it get's a million.
|
|
AuthorMarlo says:
On January 16, 2009
at 09:09 AM
UPDATE:
You will notice the link in this article has now been disabled. Why? I guess the nationwide exposure this guy got yesterday, not to mention bids that exceeded $576,000 for the vehicle overnight prompted him to disable the site. At the time I posted this article, the vehicle was listed on eBay with a "Buy it Now" option of $1 million dollars. That option is no longer available. The vehicle has now been RE-LISTED for $99,999,999.00. Guess he figured he should hang on to it for a while??? Good God! Wish I had bought THAT Chrysler300C instead of the one I purchased. Some people have all the luck ... smile! |
|
Anonymous Says:
On January 16, 2009
at 09:15 AM
REVISED: Due to erratic bidding in the previous auction, a new auction has been created with pre-approved bidding. All bidders will be individually pre-approved before their bids are official. For now, when a bidder is pre-approved, they will be added to a list which will then from there allow them to bid.
|
|
|
MyBayCity Staff |
|
|
|
Printer-Friendly Story View
0200 Nd: 02-20-2025 d 4 cpr 0
12/31/2020 P3v3-0200-Ad.cfm
SPONSORED LINKS
12/31/2020 drop ads P3v3-0200-Ad.cfm