The armour-plated popemobile used by the late pope John Paul II during his 1982 visit to Britain has sold at auction for £37,000.

The pope used the 24-tonne converted truck when he toured Scotland, travelling to Bellahouston Park in Glasgow and Murrayfield in Edinburgh, conducting a mass for more than 300,000 people.

The six-wheeled, bomb-proof and bullet-proof vehicle, which has travelled about 18,000 km on the clock, was sold in Dumfries, south-west Scotland.

A spokesman 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 £15,000 to £20,000.

“There were lots of bidders and it was a good result - better than expected,” the spokesman said.

“The buyer is very happy with the purchase,” he said. “He is very happy to have bought it for his own collection.”

The vehicle’s previous owner was a transport enthusiast who bought it in 1998 and died recently.

Posted: 09|3|06 at 8:50 am. Filed under: UK News.