A car once owned by the new Pope has been sold on eBay for over £125,000.

The car was bought last year by German student Benjamin Halbe who only became aware of the illustrious former owner when he got the registration papers.

Cardinal Ratzinger bought the car six years ago but sold it last year. The 1999 metallic grey Volkswagen Golf has 70,000km on the clock and was snapped up on eBay by GoldenPalace.com, an online casino based in Austin, Texas.

"GoldenPalace.com is delighted to own this holy vehicle," said chief executive Richard Rowe.

"We have amassed a collection of what many consider to be holy artefacts. It seems only natural to get a blessed vehicle to carry these items."

Over 8.4 million people visited the auction site over the last 10 days of the sale, and the winning bid doubled in the last 24 hours during the Christian holiday of Ascension.

But it seems that Pope Benedict XVI never actually drove the car himself. He does not have a driving licence and is chauffeured by a secretary.

GoldenPalace.com recently won the bidding to have a new monkey species named after it, and in February shelled out $75,100 for a McDonald's chip.