The Popemobile: A Short History of the Pope's Car

No car is seen by more people, in more countries, than the pope’s. It has to show him to a crowd of hundreds of thousands, and keep him safe while it does.

1929 and 1930: gifts to Pius XI

The first papal cars were gifts. On 10 November 1929 the Graham brothers donated a Graham-Paige 837 limousine, and Pope Pius XI rode in it to the Basilica of St John Lateran that December. On 14 November 1930 Mercedes-Benz gave him a Nürburg 460 Pullman, a long limousine with a single seat in crimson brocade in the rear, like a throne, and a dove embroidered in the roof lining. It is considered the first official papal car, and it is kept in the Carriage Pavilion of the Vatican Museums. (Vatican Museums)

1965: a word is born

When Pope Paul VI visited New York in 1965 he rode in a custom Lincoln Continental, and the English-language press called it the popemobile. The name stuck, though John Paul II later asked the media to stop using it, calling it undignified.

1980: the G-Class

For John Paul II’s first visit to Germany, in 1980, Mercedes-Benz built a papal car on the 230 G, the G-Class, with a raised glass cabin so he could stand and be seen. The G-Class has been the basis of many popemobiles since.

1981: armour

On 13 May 1981 John Paul II was shot in St Peter’s Square. Afterwards, the cars used to carry him through crowds were fitted with bulletproof glass, and the glass-cased popemobile became the image of a papal visit. Open cars did not disappear: in Spain in 1982 he used an open-air car based on the SEAT Panda, with a grab handle so he could stand. In 1997 Mercedes-Benz built an S 500 Landaulet for papal use, a saloon with a folding roof over the rear seat. Read what a landaulet is.

Francis and the open car

Pope Francis preferred to be close to the crowd, and used open vehicles rather than a glass case. On 4 December 2024 Mercedes-Benz gave him the first all-electric popemobile, built on the G-Class, with a rotating seat, a grab bar and a retractable roof, in time for the 2025 Jubilee. The Vatican plans to electrify all papal transport by 2030. (Vatican News)

SCV 1

Popemobiles usually carry the number plate SCV 1, for Status Civitatis Vaticanae, the State of the Vatican City.

What the popemobile teaches

The popemobile solves the hardest brief in motoring: to show a person to the world and protect him at the same time. Its answers, raised seats, glass cabins, folding roofs, armour where it counts, are the same ones used by every state car. Read what an official state car is and the history of the US presidential limousine.