GPM JR06 PAPAMOBILE -DEFENDER

The papamobile is the common name of the car, most often intended for short journeys, of the pope - the head of the Roman Catholic Church. Loosely translated, the phrase "Papamobile" means the papal car. The first vehicle of this type in history was the Italia 20/30 limousine from 1909, which was given to Pope Pius X as a gift. It can be quite conventionally assumed that until the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, i.e. until 1978, the role of the Papamobile was most often played by upper-middle class cars and luxurious. Due to the numerous pilgrimages and journeys of John Paul II, the role of this type of vehicle has changed - it has rather become a car used by the Holy Father to reach the altar to celebrate the service, and thus it has become an open or glazed vehicle in its rear part. Such cars as Mercedes-Benz 230 GE or Land-Rover Defender were rebuilt for this role. During the first pilgrimage of John Paul II to Poland in 1979, the role of the Papamobile was played by a specially rebuilt truck, Star 660. After the attack on John Paul II (1981), the Papamobiles received armor quite regularly. Only Pope Francis resigned from this element of security (pontificate from 2013). It is worth adding that Papamobile almost always has a registration that starts with the letters SCV. The current Papamobile is registered as "SCV 1".