$5m price tag on late Pope's Ford Escort

The car, worth a mere 600 or so were it not for its provenance, is up for sale in the United States, with auctioneers touting it as "the most extraordinary 1975 Ford Escort GL ever to be available to the public".

"It is nearly impossible to determine the value of this legendary Pope’s personal car," they enthuse, suggesting, however, that interested parties may like to think in the region of up to $5 million (2.6 million).

The light blue Escort was bought by Jim Rich, an Illinois businessman, for $102,000 in 1996, after the Vatican put it up for sale to raise cash for good causes, allegedly disclosing to the auction house owner, Dean Kruse, that the Pope "loved to sneak out dressed in commoner clothes and take hikes and slip away in this car," during his more sprightly years.

After submitting the winning bid, Mr Rich hopped on a flight to Rome to meet the vendor. "I handed him a cheque and he handed me his keys, and I said, ‘Can I take a picture of you with the keys?’ and he laughed," Mr Rich said.

There was no set of fluffy dice dangling from the rear-view mirror, but the Pope threw in a string of rosary beads, and Mr Rich, 40, is now considering including them as part of the auction package - an extra that could add substantially to the sale price.

Pope John Paul II used the proceeds of the sale to fund expansion projects at the Polish Pilgrim Home in Rome and the Catholic University in Lublin, Poland.

Mr Rich, meanwhile, put the car on display at his Chicago restaurant, along with his other vehicular collectors’ items, including a bullet-proof Rolls Royce formerly reserved for use by Princess Diana during her trips to the US and the original car built for the 1968 film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

But the restaurant is now closed, having run into financial trouble, and Mr Rich believes that selling the late Pope’s car, albeit reluctantly, is his best hope of getting his business back on track.

"It seems like a good solution, I’ll put it that way," he said. "Life is not perfect, and you gotta do what you gotta do."

Mr Rich added that he was planning to donate some of the proceeds to the Polish Children’s Orphanage in Chicago.

The sale will take place next month at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, a far cry from the Vatican. Kruse International, the auction house handling the sale, says that officials in Rome have agreed that the recent death of John Paul II gives the vehicle added interest.

"Not only is this car a piece of history, but it is rare; rare not because of the make and model, but because of the incredible legacy of the original owner and the fact that he sold this vehicle while in the Vatican as Pope," it gushes in its sales pitch. "The automobile for sale is a humble mode of transportation; humble like his character."

Previous lots offered for sale by Kruse have been altogether less holy - they included cars formerly owned by the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, the gangster Al Capone and the cult leader David Koresh, plus Adolf Hitler’s Mercedes and the bullet-riddled 1934 Ford in which Bonnie and Clyde were killed.

John Paul II, who once rode in a Ferrari during a visit to the Italian car-maker’s plant in 1998 and who invited the Formula One ace Michael Schumacher to an audience in the Vatican, latterly made public appearances in a bullet-proof "Popemobile" built for him by Mercedes-Benz.

The new Pope, Benedict XVI, is having a new one built for him by Volkswagen, and it will make its debut in August when he visits the World Youth Day congress in his German homeland.

Like his predecessor, he has already proved that his name can be a money-spinner when it comes to second-hand car sales; last week, a Volkswagen Golf once owned by him was sold for $244,800 on eBay, the internet auction site.

The six-year-old vehicle, in metallic grey, had been sold to a German dealer in January by a private secretary to Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, as he was known before his election as head of the Catholic church.

It was later bought for €10,000 (6,800) by Benjamin Halbe, 21, of Olpe, Germany, who knew nothing of its papal connections until he checked the ownership records and saw Josef Ratzinger’s name, with his address shown simply as "Vatican City".

"The cardinal certainly never had an accident in this car, and neither did I," said Halbe - an observation that was perhaps all the more remarkable for the fact that Ratzinger never had a driving licence. "It must be blessed."

The Golf may not enjoy the most dignified of retirements, however. It was bought on eBay by GoldenPalace.com, an online casino company based in the Caribbean, which plans to use it to transport various "holy artefacts" around the US for public show.

The "artefacts" include a ten-year-old, half-eaten grilled cheese sandwich that bears the image of the Virgin Mary, which the firm bought from a Florida woman last year for $28,000, along with the pan in which it was cooked. Other relics include a Doritos nacho chip said to resemble a Pope’s mitre, which the firm snapped up for $1,209, and a $10,600 pretzel perceived to be shaped like the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus.

Richard Rowe, the company’s chief executive, said he was proud to have acquired the new Pope’s former car.

"GoldenPalace.com is delighted to own this holy vehicle," he said. "It seems only natural to get a blessed vehicle to carry these items. We are planning to showcase our acquisitions by bringing them on tour and allowing people to enjoy the experience of sitting in the divine car, in an effort to raise as much money for charity as possible."

Why a white choice is the wrong move in the search for a new car

WHITE cars offer motorists the poorest long-term value, according to a new report.

Experts claim that they depreciate more than any other colour over just one year.

Motorists looking to limit the falling price of their cars should choose metallic black, which can add 200 to the value of a 12-month-old vehicle.

According to the motoring industry’s price bible, Glass’s Guide, paint colour has always had a major influence over the residual value of used cars.

However, the publication says this has never been more true than when buying a prestigious vehicle, like a Mercedes, BMW or Audi. The guide claims white cars were the least wisest choice when buying a new upper-medium prestige car.

A white Mercedes, BMW or Audi could be worth 2,500 less than a silver or grey metallic one and 2,700 less than the black metallic.

Richard Crosthwaite, the prestige car editor at Glass’s, said: "The average one-year-old metallic black upper-medium prestige car is now worth around 200 more than silver.

"At the other end of the spectrum, a car in white typically has a value up to 2,500 less than a car of the same specification in silver."

The impact of colour choice on residual values can be even greater in some prestige car sectors, with depreciation values among the BMW 5 Series, Mercedes E-Class and Audi A6 about 20 per cent greater.