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Pope meets with family who drove 13,000 miles to see him

Pope Francis met Sunday with a family who made a 13,000-mile trip over 194 days from Argentina to Philadelphia in an old Volkswagen van. Francis spent time with fellow Argentinians Catire Walker and Noel Zemborain and their four children, talking about their visit and praying. Zemborain told the Associated Press that Francis told her that they were crazy to drive so far with their children. She said it was like meeting an old friend and Francis hugged the children. "We couldn't believe it. They called us this morning (and) we were like in shock," she said after Sunday night's Mass. "It is like being with an old friend. He was so warm. He told us we were crazy. He made jokes. "The children got to hug him a lot. They couldn't leave him. Not at all protocol, not at all formal, it was like being with a friend." Walker and Zemborain quit their jobs in food service and marketing to lead their children on the unforgettable tour of the Americas, using savings and soliciting donations to fund the trip to the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. Along the way they made 12 border crossings and stayed with dozens of host families, did lots of sightseeing and documented the trip online. They schooled their children — Cala, 12; Dimas, 8; Mia, 5; and Carmin, 3 — with the help of a distance learning program. The family said they got a call at 6 a.m. Sunday that Francis wanted to meet with them at the Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, where he stayed this weekend. Francis told the family he had been following their trip, they wrote in a Facebook post. Zemborain, Walker and the kids plan to continue traveling until November, when they will fly home from Miami. They were going to send the van by ship, but then a relative volunteered to drive it back to Buenos Aires from Florida. Francis celebrated Mass on Sunday that drew hundreds of thousands to downtown Philadelphia. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Auto execs surveyed say VW, BMW most likely to grow

A new survey of top global automotive executives indicates both Volkswagen and BMW are the most likely to grow their market share over the next five years.
Tax advisory firm KPMG LLP has released its 14th annual Global Automotive Executive Survey, which includes responses from over 200 executives. A total of 81 percent of respondents said they expect to see Volkswagen make gains, compared to 70 percent last year. BMW, meanwhile, saw 70 percent of those surveyed say they believe the company will increase its market share. That's a jump of 7 percentage points over last year. This is the first time in the history of the survey that BMW has claimed the second-place spot.
Meanwhile, Hyundai has seen its perceived market share potential slacken for the third year in a row. Around 61 percent of those surveyed predicted gains for Hyundai, down from 63 in 2012. Toyota also has a surprising year, but for just the opposite reason. While the manufacturer had slipped in ranking since 2011, it enjoyed the largest increase of any company in the 2013 survey, jumping to 68 percent from 44 percent last year.

Jack Kevorkian's old van up for sale in Detroit [w/video]

With Halloween fast approaching, a Detroit pawnshop is offering a macabre automotive memento to park in your garage – Dr. Jack Kevorkian's Volkswagen Bus (pictured above in 1990). The van is currently a broken-down heap with the interior a mess, but the title and registration proves Dr. Kevorkian's ownership. The pawnbroker is hoping to get $40,000 for the ghoulish ride, according to an interview with Fox 2 News. If you're unfamiliar, Dr. Kevorkian rose to prominence in the '90s when he helped with 130 assisted suicides. It earned him the nickname Dr. Death, and he was eventually convicted of second-degree murder in 1999, serving eight years in prison. He died in 2011. Kevorkian's VW has had quite a history. The van was reportedly due to be destroyed in 1997 but somehow avoided the crusher. A retired VW parts dealer put the bus on eBay in 2010, but the vehicle was removed for violating the site's policy against selling "murderabilia." The VW eventually went to auction, but this report said that it hasn't moved in over two years. The video below shows the decrepit vehicle currently, and the gallery above has period photos from the Associated Press. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.