Ex-army bicycles auctioned off to benefit veterans' charities
More than 200,000 euros raised by online auction
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A thousand auctioned military bicycles spent Thursday night in a regimental line-up in the Senate Square in central Helsinki. The old Helkama, Tunturi, and Jääkäri bicycles will be introduced to their new owners in a function that starts at 10 a.m. on Friday, the National Veterans' Day.
The auction, organised on the Internet, produced no less than EUR 227,944.74 for various veterans' organisations. The sum will be handed over to the organisations in the National Veterans' Day main event in Helsinki’s Ice Hall arena later today.
All of the auctioned bicycles found a new owner. The starting price for the bids was EUR 50.00. Within a week, the auctioneers had reached the EUR 100,000 mark. The highest prices paid for an individual bicycle exceeded EUR 3,000.
The winning bidders for around a dozen bicycles could not be reached. Auctioneer-for-the-day Jone Nikula will sell off these bikes to cash buyers today in the square.
The bikes removed from use by the Finnish Defence Forces have all been serviced to tip-top condition and they all have been equipped with a numbered registration plate.
After the handing over of the vehicles, all the willing new owners may take part in a bicycle march from the Senate Square via the statue of the Three Blacksmiths at the corner of Aleksanterinkatu and Mannerheimintie to the equestrian statue of Finland's wartime commander Marshal C.G.E. Mannerheim, outside the Museum of Contemporary Art.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 27.4.2007 - TODAY |
 Ex-army bicycles auctioned off to benefit veterans' charities |
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