Miyazaki governor-mobile sells for five times its market value
After becoming governor of Miyazaki Prefecture in January, Hideo “Sonomanma Higashi” Higashikokubaru decided to auction off his official government car to cut public spending. Of course, which eats up any Gov. Sonomana-related news, has hyped up the story, and their coverage of the car sale may have led to it fetching a hefty sum:
A martial arts wear company from Yokohama has made a successful bid of 2.55 million yen (21,000 US dollars) for the official car of the Miyazaki Prefecture governor, five times its current market value, officials said.
[...]
The car, a Toyota Century, is valued at some 500,000 yen, although it cost the local government 8.8 million yen (76,000 US dollars) to buy new.
According to wikipedia’s entry on the Toyota Century, the car “projects an image of conservative achievement.” Not exactly the kind of automobile a former comedian who wants to portray himself as a maverick politician would want to be caught riding around in…
