Jean-Marie Le Pen, the far-right leader who has stalked French politics for six decades, put his bullet-proof car up for auction yesterday in an attempt to pay off the debts that have come with his decline.

Mr Le Pen announced that he was selling his black armour-plated Peugeot 605 on eBay as he sought to keep the French National Front afloat amid electoral failure and internal strife.

The news highlighted the fall of a man who was once the most successful ultra-right politician in Western Europe.

Six years after he caused a political earthquake when he reached the second round of the French presidential election, Mr Le Pen is scrambling to stave off creditors after a sharp drop in his party's revenue.

With debts of 8 million euros (£6 million), he has already ordered the sale of the movement's headquarters outside Paris, which are valued at between 15 and 20 million euros, and the dismissal of up to 20 employees.

“The National Front is not ruined because its assets are greater than its debts,” the 79-year-old leader said yesterday.

“But that means the liquidation, the sale, of what are called the crown jewels. I'm even selling my bullet-proof car, that's how bad it is.”

The 1991 Peugoet is equipped with level two armour plating designed to protect the most controversial figure in contemporary French politics from a terrorist attack.

The advertisement said that it had been used daily by Mr Le Pen, serviced regularly, was in excellent condition and could become a collector's item. Within hours, bidding had reached 10,500 euros.

The sale comes as he prepares for the French far-right's annual Labour Day parade through Paris today with his movement facing its greatest crisis since he founded it in 1972.

With President Sarkozy's populist style drawing the National Front's traditional working-class electorate towards the centre ground, Mr Le Pen scored only just over 10 per cent in last year's presidential election.

Worse followed for him when his supporters polled 4.29 per cent in the legislative elections that determine the level of state funding received by political parties.

As a result, the National Front's subsidies fell from 4.6 million euros a year to 1.8 million euros.

Mr Le Pen, who has 25 convictions for offences ranging from violence to inciting racial hatred, sought to respond to the crisis in typically inflammatory fashion, describing Nazi gas chambers as a detail of history in a recent interview.

A series of similar comments over the past two decades have alienated most French voters but won him the unflinching support of a xenophobic minority.

Even Mr Le Pen's car auction appeared to be going wrong last night, with bidding suspended after a prankster offered 10 million euros for the car.

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