Bulgaria:  Goodbye Lenin's limousines…

If you are looking for a classic Soviet-era luxury car, you have just missed a rare chance.  The auction has just closed for 66 limousines used by the communist-era Bulgarian secret police to ferry around local dignitaries and visiting heroes of socialism such as Soviet cosmonauts and Fidel Castro. 

Of particular interest for the connoisseur were 20 Russian-made Chaikas -- big, black, chrome-encrusted copies of the 1950s-era US Lincolns, with six-litre engines and 'revolutionary' bells and whistles such as Persian carpets, mahogany fittings, remote-control electronics and lace curtains to stop the workers looking in.  Admittedly, the Chaika was not top of the range -- for that, you had to have a Zil. 

The National Protection Service is clearing out its garage and wants to use the proceeds to buy state-of-the-art replacements.  The Soviet cars are expensive to run, because spare parts are almost impossible to find.  All 20 were snatched up on the first day of the sale, the most expensive fetching about 25,000 dollars.