WASHINGTON — A luxury Chrysler sedan that U.S. president-elect Barack Obama drove before winning the White House is being auctioned off on eBay.

The starting bid is $100,000.

Tim O'Boyle, the general manager of a restaurant in Hillside, Ill., west of Chicago, is selling Obama's steel-blue 2005 Chrysler 300C Hemi on the Internet auction site, hoping to cash in on history. The price is a cool $1 million under eBay's "Buy It Now" option.

"In my mind, it's a one-of-a-kind car," O'Boyle said Wednesday.

Obama leased the car in 2004 at Park Plaza Dodge in Forest Park, Ill., and swapped it for a Ford Escape Hybrid in 2007. The vehicle was transferred back to the dealership, where O'Boyle bought it used last February.

Before driving off, "one of the guys over at the car dealership said: 'You better hold onto that thing,"' said O'Boyle, an Obama supporter.

"I said: 'Why's that? And he said: 'Because it used to belong to Obama."'

Gary Hall, finance director for Park Plaza Dodge, confirmed Obama had leased the car from the dealership and O'Boyle later bought the vehicle.

O'Boyle tried to sell it on eBay in December but stopped the bidding process when his accountant told him to wait until he had owned it for a year for tax reasons. O'Boyle said the top bid on eBay was $125,100 and another person contacted him offering $150,000.

Anything near that amount would be a coup. Kelley's Blue Book values a 2005 Chrysler 300C in excellent condition at $15,750. A 2009 300C has a list price of $27,415 but sales of the car took a nosedive in 2008. Chrysler LLC sold 62,352 300C sedans last year, a 48-per-cent decline over the previous year.

O'Boyle reasoned cars used by ther late pope John Paul II and late U.S. president John Kennedy have sold at auctions for tens of thousands of dollars. He said some of the proceeds will benefit the Italian American Executives of Transportation, a Chicago-area charity.

The restaurateur hopes the bids surpass previous offers but he's not tipping his hand.

"I've got a number in my head and I'm not going to tell you what it is," O'Boyle said.

"If I can't get what I'm after, I'm not really interested in selling it."

The car comes "loaded" with a navigation system, a sunroof and leather interior, the eBay listing says. Obama and O'Boyle only logged a combined 33,475 kilometres and the sedan is still under warranty.

"Overall, the car is immaculate. If you were to jump inside the thing and drive it, you'd think you're driving a brand new car," O'Boyle said.

"Hopefully, he takes as good care of the country as he did the car."