Pope Benedict XVI to get New Wheels?

Photos

Popes have traveled across lands both near and far in vehicles either donated by companies or commissioned for special visits. (Photo: Mercedes-Benz U.S.A.)

The freshly elected German Pope Benedict XVIs first official Popemobile will come from Volkswagen. (Photo: Artists Rendering)

Volkswagen will join the ranks of GM, Fiat, Peugeot, Renault, Toyota and Mercedes-Benz, all manufacturers which have made vehicles for the Pope over the past two decades. (Photo: General Motors)

Pope John Paul IIs personal vehicle was a long-wheelbase Lancia sedan based on the Dialagos concept. (Photo: Lancia)

Of the over twenty Popemobiles in existence, several of these multi-ton vehicles reside in the Vatican Garage. (Photo: Mercedes-Benz U.S.A.)

Papal Rides are Big Product Placement Opportunities

What does a man whos in charge of more than a billion people across the world drive? The answer is, whatever he can get his hands on! During the past century, Popes have traveled across lands both near and far in vehicles either donated by companies or built by commission for special visits. If it werent for the fact that Popes are chauffeured, they might very well have the broadest and widest portfolio of vehicles ever driven. Ranging from world-class to local-built, for a manufacturer to build a Popemobile is to ascend into the highest holy order of the motoring world.

The freshly elected German Pope Benedict XVI, successor to his holiness Pope John Paul II, is already in the hot-seat at the Vatican, keeping all running as smoothly as a finely-crafted Swiss pocket watch. While picking out a motor vehicle might seem trivial at this early stage, rumor has it that ones already been selected and is currently under construction for the new Pope.

As weve come to learn (mind you, not by divine right), his holiness first official Popemobile will come from Volkswagen. Expected to make its debut this August at the 2005 World Youth Days in Cologne, Germany, this will be a unique, one-off converted Touareg, customized and built especially for the Popes visit. Interestingly, this news has a slight German cultural twist to it - a German SUV, a German event, and of course, the German Pope. A carefully coordinated match-up, or a coincidence? Heaven only knows.

As for the Touareg, one brand-new specimen, pulled right off the glass house assembly line, will be heavily reworked to include the glass pulpit in which the Pope rides. While the front half of the VW will remain untouched, its mid-section will be constructed with a pickup-style bed where the Pope will ride. The rear doors are to be removed and sealed off, while the raised seating position is encapsulated in bulletproof glass, a mandatory feature since the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1982. The Popemobile will be finished in gloss white; fitting as it is a representation of purity.

With the construction of the Touareg Popemobile, Volkswagen will join the ranks of GM, Fiat, Peugeot, Renault, Toyota and Mercedes-Benz, all manufacturers which have made vehicles for the Pope over the past two decades. From the papacys early beginnings, Popes have usually been presented with some of the finest vehicles on earth. Pope Pius XI favored Isotta Fraschini limousines, while his successor, Pius XII had several Cadillacs built, including one
with an adjustable throne. Other world-class vehicles include the famed 1964 Lincoln Continental four-door convertible, a Chrysler Imperial, and a number of top-of-the-line Mercedes-Benz limousines.

In comparison, Pope John Paul II took a different approach to the Popemobile. With the exception of his personal vehicle, a long-wheelbase Lancia sedan based on the Dialagos concept, his touring vehicles have primarily been white-colored SUVs. When he visited Toronto for World Youth Days in 2002, he used a Mercedes-Benz G-Class and ML430, while on his first trip to England, his ride was the Land Rover Range Rover.

Of the over twenty Popemobiles in existence, several of these multi-ton vehicles reside in the Vatican Garage, though a few, including the Range Rover, are now a part of personal collections. Slightly older Popemobiles, including the coaches and carriages which early Popes rode in, are housed in the Vatican Carriage Museum. Interestingly, whichever vehicle is used is equipped with a license plate that reads “SCV 1″, Italian for “Stato della Citta del Vaticano”, or Vatican City State.

Its also rumored that as a sponsor of this years World Youth Days, Volkswagen will be donating over one hundred vehicles for the events comprehensive shuttle fleet service. While they wont be as specially-designed as this one-off Touareg, expect to see VWs arsenal of practical people-movers, such as the T5 MultiVan, mid-size Sharan minivan, plus the compact, Golf-based Touaran MPV in action. Unfortunately, these vehicles, however cleverly designed they are, are currently unavailable in North America.