Pope Francis' Philly FIAT Auctioned to Highest Bidder

PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) Pope Francis' Philly FIAT was auctioned to highest bidder at the Philadelphia Auto Show Black Tie Tailgate Friday.

Provided by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the World Meeting of Families - Philadelphia 2015, a FIAT 500L which was used by Pope Francis during his historic visit to Philadelphia last September was auctioned to the public at the Philadelphia Auto Show Black Tie Tailgate at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

In a competitive in-person and remote auction, "Pope Francis' Philly FIAT" was secured by Michael Chapman of Chapman Ford and a former Chairman of the Philadelphia Auto Show with a winning bid of $82,000

Conducted by Max Spann Real Estate & Auction Co., the auction featured more than 19 bidders from across the United States and lasted just 11 minutes, according to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

While the Black Tie Tailgate supports The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) through the Auto Dealers CARing for Kids Foundation as its annual tradition, the proceeds from the auction of "Pope Francis' Philly FIAT" will benefit four missions of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, including 50 percent of the proceeds benefitting Catholic Charities Appeal, and the remaining 50 percent will be broken evenly amongst Mercy Hospice, Casa Del Carmen, and Schools of Special Education.

The Philadelphia Auto Show runs January 30th-February 7th.