A pricey Obama memento on wheels

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If you are swept up in the presidential moment and have a lot of spare cash lying around, you could soon be the proud owner of a car once owned by Barack Obama. A 2005 Chrysler 300C that gets a whopping 18 mpg is the last car Obama drove before running for president. The eBay listing is for preapproved bidders only and at the time of this blog post is at $210,300. The bidding ends Tuesday at 11:15 (and 50-seconds) p.m., Pacific Standard Time, just after the inauguration festivities wrap up.

So, at a time when car sales are at an all-time low, what would compel a person to pay more than $200,000 for a car that is currently worth $16,985 (according to the Kelley Blue Book Used Car Guide)? “In the mind of a collector, it’s all about timing,” says Phil Skinner, the collector car guide editor for Kelley Blue Book. “Many times, wealthy celebrities or car collectors who see investment potential will jump on a vehicle because of who owned it -– but only when the timing is right.”

The timing seems right, with Obama’s inauguration corresponding to the closing of the eBay auction. Obama fervor could not be at a higher intensity. “In this type of auction, the popularity around the owner must be at the iconic level,” Skinner said. “An old Cadillac can gain hundreds of thousands of dollars if it can be proven that it was owned by Elvis because the collector thinks, ‘It’s an Elvis car.’ ” There seems to be a limit to the celebrity status of collector cars, however. “There was a Ferrari floating around that was said to have been owned by Rod Stewart. The car got what any other Ferrari like it was worth,” Skinner said.

According to Associated Press, Obama leased the car from Park Plaza Dodge in Lake Forest, Ill., in 2004 and kept it until 2007, when his campaign advisors suggested he swap it for a more fuel-efficient vehicle. He traded in the leased Chrysler for a Ford Escape Hybrid. Perhaps not realizing the potential value of the car, the dealership resold the car to the eBay seller, Tim O’Boyle, a restaurant manager in Hillside, Ill. His original eBay sale was set up for open bidding (no pre-approvals needed) with a “Buy it Now” price of $1,000,000. He has since closed the buying to pre-approved bidders with no ceiling. O’Boyle told AP that he’s willing to walk away from the deal if he doesn’t get the amount he wants. ‘I’ve got a number in my head, and I’m not going to tell you what it is.’

What price will he get when all is said and done remains to be seen. Skinner says that the seller was wise to do a worldwide auction on eBay. However, he did just miss an opportunity to sell the car at one of the largest auto auctions in the U.S. –- Barrett Jackson’s yearly event in Arizona. “I think that if he would have taken the car to Barrett Jackson last week, people would have traveled there just to see the car. My guess is that he would have gotten perhaps $250,000 to $300,000 since it was timed just before the inauguration.”

-- Joni Gray