Popemobiles past and present
Pope Benedict XVI has taken charge of a new Pope Mobile, a Mercedes Benz G-class painted "Vatican mystic white". Unlike Pope John Paul II's version this one doesn't come with bulletproof glass.
Pope Pius XI was the first Pope to have a Mercedes. Daimler-Benz presented the Pope with a Mercedes-Benz Nürburg 460 in 1930.
Here are some Popemobiles of the past.
Pope John Paul II waves from the Popemobile for the closing ceremonies at La Aurora Airport in Guatemala City 30 July, 2002. Pope John Paul II welcomed a decision to abolish the death penalty in Guatemala, his spokesman Joaquin Navarro Valls said, as the pontiff concluded a 24-hour visit to the Central American country.
Pope John Paul II's popemobile passes by an advertisement poster approaching center of Ukraine's capital Kiev Saturday, June 23, 2001.
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This Popemobile was sold on eBay.
Pope John Paul II waves from his Popemobile to the crowd gathered in the streets of Caracas as he heads to Catia Prison shortly after arriving in Venezuela for a three day visit, February 9 1996.
Pope Benedict XVI gets up from his seat as he arrives on the popemobile for the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, June 6, 2007. The day a man tried to jump into the uncovered popemobile as the pontiff began his general audience, and was wrestled to the ground by security officers. The pope was not hurt and didn't even appear to notice that the man had jumped over the protective barricade toward the white popemobile as it drove by with the pope waving to the audience.
Joanna Sugden
