The popemobile race: How car companies rallied to serve a papal passenger

A new exhibit at the Vatican Museums featuring select popemobiles opened on Oct. 28, detailing the history of papal transport. Sandro Barbagallo, curator of historical collections at the Vatican Museums, told reporters that the evolution of these vehicles has moved from ornate wooden carriages to bulletproof all-electric cars.

The first car offered to a pope was donated by the Archdiocese of New York following the 1903 election of St. Pius X, but the pope declined the gift. Barbagallo noted the pope refused the vehicle because a dispute with the Italian government regarding the sovereignty of the Holy See kept popes confined to Vatican City between 1870 and 1929. The pope also preferred walking in the Vatican Gardens.

Following the election of Pope Pius XI in 1922, an association of Catholic women in Milan provided him with a car manufactured by Bianchi. After the 1929 Lateran Pacts allowed popes to travel freely outside Vatican City, manufacturers began competing to become suppliers to the papal household. The first vehicle to arrive after the signing of the pacts was a U.S. Graham-Paige 837.