Pope Francis auctions his Lamborghini Huracan for close to $1 million, all proceeds go to charity
Pope Francis was gifted a two-seater Huracan by Lamborghini in November last year, with a one-off design made just for him. Now, the 198mph beast has been sold for almost four times its original asking price, the proceeds of which would be going directly to charitable causes. Typically, the supercar would be worth around $210,000.
However, even if the pope felt like donning aviators and burning some rubber with the machine, he wouldn't be able to do it in the Vatican City, where the speed limit is a mere 9mph. Thus, he decided to sell it, but only after signing his autograph onto the bonnet and blessing its V10 engine in a special ceremony.
This weekend, the car ended up garnering a staggering $970,000 in the RM Sotheby’s Monte Carlo sale, according to Jalopnik.com.
Fortunately, all that money is being put to good use, thanks to the good old pope. About $583,000 would be going to the devastated city of Nineveh in Iraq, which was plundered by Islamic State terrorists.
The remaining $250,000 would be divided equally among three other charities — an organisation helping abused and trafficked women, and two groups helping women and children in central Africa.
The Lamborghini has been described as being in mint condition as it has remained unused since it was built last year, according to RM Sotheby's.
Keeping in mind the colors of the flag of Vatican City, the magnificent beast dons a "Bianco Monocerus white paint with contrasting gold Giallo Tiberino stripes."
Featuring a 5.2-litre V10 engine which generates a whopping 570bhp, the car has been fitted with massive 20-inch alloy wheels and boasts fine leather seats.
It clocks as astounding 3.4 seconds to accelerate 0-62 mph and reaches top speeds of around 198 mph.
The auction manager for RM Sotheby’s Europe, Augustin Sabatié-Garat, said, "We are honored to have hosted such a hotly contested bidding war for this unique Lamborghini Huracan."
"We give thanks to His Holiness Pope Francis for donating the sale fee to charity, and for Automobili Lamborghini for gifting the car, as we are pleased to have played a part in sourcing money for good causes."
"The fact that this car sold for nearly three times’ worth its estimate, and much higher than the model’s standard retail price, is telling of how much interest it attracted."
When RM Sotheby's was chosen to auction the Italian beast for charity, Sabatié-Garat said the following in a statement after the car was unveiled:
“We at RM Sotheby’s are truly honored to have been chosen to present this unique Huracán at auction."
"The Huracán is a hugely desirable model in its own right, and His Holiness Pope Francis’ blessing and signing of this one-off example will surely add immeasurably to the importance of the event when it crosses the auction podium in Monaco."
"We are thrilled to be working with both Lamborghini and the Vatican on such a significant charitable project that will provide assistance to those in need.”
As the Huracan went up for sale over the weekend in Monaco, the auction house's website said it witnessed a "frantic bidding war" among a "large number of bidders." That being said, all the contestants were definitely more concerned with the charity associated with the sale than the car, all things considered.
RM Sotheby's further added, "Benefitting a quartet of deserving charities all near and dear to Pope Francis' heart, the sale of this Huracán represents a unique opportunity to acquire a wholly unique Lamborghini while giving back to worthy causes in the name of His Holiness."
The sale of the pope's Huracan almost made it to the list of the ten most expensive sales from the weekend. The 10th place was secured by a 1999 Lamborghini Diablo GT which sold for $976,000 at current exchange rates.
Alanis King of Jalopnik.com jokes that the top-ten list was probably sent to the Judgement Day administrative offices and filed under “Selfish Use of Personal Funds: May 12, 2018.” However, the buyers would argue when they reach the heavenly gates that funds from that fancy Lamborghini went to charitable causes.
King contemplates that the file will then be re-stamped “It was for a good cause” and stacked on a pile with all of the overpaid charity executives in order.
Having said that, the pope's day to day commute is way humbler than it would seem, especially after boasting such a coveted garage.
Ranging from a Jeep Wrangler to a Hyundai Santa Fe that the pontiff uses on foreign tours, the pope also received an electric car from Opel called the Opel Ampera-e for domestic use within his kingdom, the Vatican City. He has also used a 1984 Renault 4 once as his personal vehicle.
However, this is hardly the first time one of the pontiff's cars has gone up for auction. Back in 2016, he auctioned off a Fiat 500L that he used during a visit to Philadelphia. It went for a relatively small sum of $82,000, albeit the list price of the vehicle in the United States is four times lesser.