Palin’s ‘mayor-mobile’ up for auction on eBay

WASILLA — Would you pay the Kelley Blue Book value of $2,318 for a 1999 Ford Expedition in excellent condition? If it had fewer than 75,000 miles, would you pay more? How much would that sport utility vehicle be worth if you knew it had been driven by former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin?

The city of Wasilla hopes the answer to that last question is at least $10,000. That’s the minimum bid the city has set in an eBay.com ad for the city vehicle Palin drove while she was Wasilla mayor. The 5.4-liter Expedition XLT model, gold in color, was purchased new in 1999 and was Palin’s official vehicle until she left office in 2002.

Cashing in on Palin’s cachet is absolutely the idea behind the online ad, Wasilla Mayor Verne Rupright said.

“This was her mayor-mobile,” Rupright said. “Sarah had that for the rest of the time she was mayor, so we look at it this way. When you stop and think of who drove that, … why not get the biggest bang for the dollar for the city? Who knows, maybe some rich somebody from somewhere wants (Palin’s former vehicle). She does have a great following and there are a lot of people who may want it.”

Even without Palin’s name attached to it, the Ford SUV is in pretty good shape, Rupright said. It has low miles — 74,188 — and the eBay ad lists that it needs some minor work, like new brakes, wheel seals and an idle control valve. The vehicle has been sitting in city storage for a number of years, Rupright said, and like all city-owned vehicles when retired from service should be sold to bolster the vehicle replacement fund. The more the city can get for it, the better, he said.

“Hey, if Elvis’ Cadillacs can go for $1 million apiece, who knows?” he said. “Since it is a surplus vehicle, it’s got more intrinsic value to the city in terms of dollars than just some piece of machinery. The bigger dollar we can get, the better. The trick is to replenish the vehicle replacement fund for the city without having to dip into the tax dollars.”

To help potential buyers visualize the vehicle’s former driver, a cardboard cutout of Palin sits behind the wheel in the photo accompanying the ad on eBay and on the city’s website, cityofwasilla.com.

That was just a bit of fun, Rupright said. But trying to get top dollar for the city is not.

The ad was placed on eBay Monday morning, and as of Monday afternoon, Palin’s former city ride didn’t have any bids. The online auction is set to expire Nov. 28 at 12 a.m., AST.

Palin made national headlines when she was tapped Aug. 29, 2008, as Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain’s running mate. She was Alaska’s governor at the time, elected Nov. 8, 2006. Prior to that, she served as a Wasilla city councilwoman and was the city’s mayor for two terms from 1996 to 2002.

Contact Greg Johnson at 352-2269 or greg.johnson@frontiersman.com.

View the city of Wasilla’s eBay.com ad listing former mayor Sarah Palin’s city vehicle at http://tinyurl.com/kwn23nt or visit the city’s website at cityofwasilla.com.