Holy provenance on rent

The recently concluded RM Sotheby's prestigious Monaco spring sale showcased some of the world's finest supercars, rarest classics and historic race cars, worth an estimated £41million.

Headlining the auction was a 1957 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Competizione 'Tour de France' by Scaglietti. It dominated motorsport in the late 50s and just 72 were ever built making this example a prize among collectors.

There was also 1992 the F1 car raced by Michael Schumacher - the first to ever link the German legend and design ace Ross Brawn together.

But very interestingly, one of the rarest Lamborghini's was on sale, too. The 2018 Lamborghini Huracán was donated to Pope Francis with a special papal paint job.

The Pope’s car was a customized Huracan with a top speed of 202 miles per hour; it is white in colour with gold leaf accents. A Spanish rental car agency, Rent Car Deluxe bought it for $960,797. To keep controversies at bay, where the Vatican could be blamed for monetizing its assets, it has been made very clear that the proceeds from this sale are slated for reconstruction of Christian communities along the Nineveh Plain near the Tigris River in Iraq, among other charities.

And how does the rental car agency plan to use this coveted car? Surely falling short of worship, it will be rented for a huge amount by the believers. The company’s marketing and communications director, says there will be no fixed cost for the Huracán rental, but it will surely over and above 3,500 euros per day, what with all the holy provenance.

Their tag line most likely, “ help the poor by renting the blessed car.”

Now this is what we call cashing in on religion!

There is nothing wrong in monetizing such donations as long as the proceeds are used for the betterment of people. Tirupati does it and does a pretty good job of it!