(12 November 2009) Presently, the highest bid on the auction for the special edition Volkswagen Citi, currently open on bobshop.co.za, stands at a little over R160,000 – even though the indicative market price is R113,500. How can this be, especially when one considers that the car in question started its Bob Shop journey on 3 November at a starting bid of only R1?

“We are used to seeing auctions closing at under the indicative market price, not over it”, says Andy Higgins, managing director of Bob Shop.

Granted, the car that Volkswagen SA  put on Bob Shop is not just any Citi. It is one of the 1,000 limited edition cars produced to mark the retirement of the popular Citi brand after a quarter of a century of faithful service.

Of course, that piece of information by itself would not quite explain the bidding war presently being played out on Bob Shop. What makes this particular car special is the number it bears.

Each one of the 1,000 limited edition Cities has been numbered. The unique number given to the Citi on the Bob Shop auction, 003, means that this particular car was the third-last to roll off the production line. The last two produced, numbered 001 and 002, will be preserved for posterity in the Autostadt museum in Wolfsburg, Germany and the AutoPavilion museum in Uitenhage, South Africa.
It follows that the car currently on Bob Shop is the very last of the legendary Volkswagen Citi that is available to the members of the public. Whoever wins it, will own a highly collectible piece of history.

“This auction has already been seen by almost six thousand visitors, which puts it among the most attractive ever listed on the site”, says Higgins. “And since the bidding wars usually heat up during the last hours, we expect that this auction will break several more records by the time it closes at 9 P. M. on 23 November.”

The seller, Volkswagen SA , has selected to donate all the proceeds from the Bob Shop auction to Ubuntu Education Fund which supports communities in the townships of Port Elizabeth, providing health and educational resources and services to over 40,000 people.