The armour-plated popemobile used by the late pope John Paul 2 during his 1982 visit to Britain was sold at an auction for £37 000 (R513 000) on Saturday.
The pope used the 24 000 kilogram converted truck when he toured Scotland to conduct a mass for more than 300 000 people.
The six-wheeled, bulletproof popemobile, which has about 18 000km on the clock, was sold in Dumfries, southwest Scotland.
A spokesperson for Thomson Roddick auction house said it was bought by a man from Ireland who had a representative at the sale. The vehicle was expected to fetch between £15 000 and £20 000.
"There were lots of bidders and it was a good result. The buyer is happy to have bought it for his collection," said the spokesperson.
The 1982 trip was the first by a reigning pope to Britain and was controversial at the time because John Paul 2 spoke out against the Falklands War, which was raging between Britain and Argentina. - Sapa-AFP