Former French president's ‘love scooter’ auctioned for more than $21,000

France'sformerpresident FrancoisHollande’sscooter, which at one time was at the centre of a presidential love scandal and led to legal action from a bodyguard nicknamed“Croissant Man”,was sold for more than €20,000(approx. $21,750) at an auction.

Thiswas double the listed price of the scooter and much more than itssecondhandvalue. The vehicle, whichhasbeen giventhe name“love scooter”,played animportantrole in the political crisiswhich happenedin January 2014.

After spending two years of his five-year presidential mandate, Hollandewas capturedby a paparazzi photographer riding the scooter to visit actor Julie Gayet late at night.

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Paris Match journalist Valerie Trierweiler had figured out that Hollande was living with his partner at the Elysee Palace only a night before his photographs got published in the celebrity magazine Closer.

The nationwas not scandalisedby reports of the French president making secret visits to his lover but by the fact that he was riding a Piaggio MP3 125cc scooter to do so.

After the controversy broke out, Trierweiler suffered“exhaustion”andwas admittedto hospital. President Hollande announced the end of his marriage, decided not to contest elections in 2017 and married Gayet in 2022.

Auction of a politically infamous scooter

On Sunday (May 26), the most famous scooter in France was auctioned off at a château in Montbazon in western France, as reported by AFP.

Rouillac auction house organised the auctionwhichsaw an attendance of nearly 40 people and continued for just 10 minutes.

The owner of a car museumDenisBreheretpurchasedthe grey Piaggio MP3 125. Breheret said he wanted to exhibit the scooter at his museum, which is located in Jallais, so that"everyone can enjoy it".

The scooter"is part of French history,"Breheretsaid."Iwill be presenting it among the 120 vehicles that Ialreadyown, which range from 1922 to the present day," he added.

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The scooterwas soldby its first ownerElyseePalacein2015. At the auction on Sunday (May 26), the vehicle's starting price was 10,000 euros (approx. $10875).

"It'sthe Rolls (Royce) of scooters, but its value on thesecond-handmarketis only estimatedat between 1,300 euros (approx. $1413) and 4,000 euros (approx. $4350)," auctioneer Aymeric Rouillac said.

"In January 2014, FrançoisHollande'sscooter entered the category of legendary vehicles,"said the Rouillac auctionhouse,in a statement.

"It tells the story of a man like any other and of a nation torn between its desire for power and the realisation of its decline," it added.

(With inputs from agencies)