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Eurotunnel has put a 580-tonne drill used to build the Channel Tunnel up for grabs on the online auction site eBay.
After 152 bids the price tops £1m, but the auction has taken a dubious turn with some bidders repeatedly outbidding themselves and a £10m bid withdrawn.
The Tunnel Boring Machine called B6 is the last remaining drill used in the building of the cross-Channel link.
The massive drill currently stands in Folkestone, Kent, and delivery costs have to be paid by the buyer.
They (potential buyers) are going to need a pretty big garden
Eurotunnel spokesman
In its write-up for the drill, eBay suggests the giant machine might just make the perfect present for an eccentric engineering fan.
The potential buyer will not only need to stay in the bidding but will need room to store the 580-tonne apparatus.
Eurotunnel are hoping to make as much money as possible from the charity auction but admit they are not entirely sure who will want it.
A company spokesman said: "We're hoping to get interest from mines or museums, but there's also a chance that eccentrics might want to buy it.
B6 IN DETAIL
Has 227 double-headed rock picks tipped with tungsten carbide
Possesses a revolving speed of 2.38 revolutions per minute
As one of 10 TBM, it ate through millions of cubic metres of chalk and soil in digging the Channel Tunnel
"It's not operational so it's got more of an ornamental value really.
"Delivery isn't included so if an individual does want to buy it then that could be tricky. They are also going to need a pretty big garden."
Proceeds from the sale will be shared by McMillan Nurses, Demelza House Hospice and Pilgrims Hospice.
Dubious bidding
The eBay auction closes on 12 April.
It is doubtful, though, whether these charities will see any of the hundreds of thousands bandied about on the eBay website.
After attracting no bids during the first two days, the auction got well under way on Monday, with prices slowly creeping up to the £17,000 pounds level.
From there on the auction appeared to spin out of control, with a couple of alleged buyers repeatedly outbidding themselves.
Shortly after the auction moved past the £1m mark one of the 'buyers' put in a killer bid of £10m.
However, this bid was quickly purged from the eBay website, putting the auction back into the £1m price range.
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Posted: 2004-04-05 17:23:31
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yeah, saw that on the BBC news site yesterday and my wife and I cracked up
Here is the auction and its currently at £10,000,000.00
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Posted: 2004-04-05 17:26:02
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I wonder who bought this and what they eventually did with it?
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Posted: 2006-02-15 07:43:02
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My dentist might be able to use that for the hole I have in my tooth (more of a cavern than a hole really).
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Posted: 2006-02-15 08:11:11
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Could it be another big company? It might be cheaper for them to get a good one second hand. Might even be the right size for the drill.
This message was posted from a Z1010
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Posted: 2006-02-15 08:18:23
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it's sold as unoperational. I doubt it could be brought back to serviceable condition economically speaking.
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Posted: 2006-02-15 08:33:07
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Its possibly gone on exibition somewhere,its aquired fame after all for linking britain with the rest of europe for the first time in mans history.
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Posted: 2006-02-15 08:42:12
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It was on show at the eurotunnel exhibtion. In Folkstone. Its damn big.
This message was posted from a WAP device
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Posted: 2006-02-15 09:18:11
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Ah so now we know where it went!
Is the exibition is still on?
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Posted: 2006-02-15 09:20:28
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according to
this site it was sold on ebay for only £39,999....i suppose its still quite a lot for a non working lump of metal!
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Posted: 2006-02-15 09:53:39
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