Popemobile

The popemobile is a specially designed motor vehicle used by the Pope during public appearances.^[1] It is considered a successor to the sedia gestatoria and was designed to allow the Pope to be more visible when greeting large crowds.

There have been many different designs for popemobiles since Pope Paul VI first used a modified Lincoln Continental to greet crowds in New York City in 1965. Some are open air, while others have bulletproof glass walls to enclose the Pope, deemed necessary after the 1981 assassination attempt of Pope John Paul II. Some allow the Pope to sit, while others are designed to accommodate him standing. The variety of popemobiles allows the Roman Curia to select an appropriate one for each usage depending upon the level of security needed, distance, speed of travel, and the Pope's preferences.

The vehicle registration plates of Vatican City all begin with the letters "SCV", an abbreviation of the Latin Status Civitatis Vaticanae ("Vatican City State"), followed by the vehicle fleet number. The registration plate for the Ford Focus currently used by Pope Francis is "SCV 00919".^[2] In the past, the popemobile has typically used registration plate "SCV 1", although plates numbered "SCV 2" to "SCV 9" have also been used.^[3] Mercedes-Benz is acknowledged to have been the most frequent provider of papal vehicles since it provided the Vatican with its first "popemobile" in 1930.^[4][5][6][7] In December 2024, the Vatican would get its first electric popemobile, with plans also being made to make the rest of the popemobiles electric by 2030 as well.^[6]