The popemobile

This is Pope Benedict XVI’s ride while he was in the U.S. for 6 days. It was shipped to Maryland where he made his first stop two weeks before his arrival. The vehicle came from Rome. It is a Mercedez ML 430 with a 6 foot tall glass enclosure at the back where the pope can comfortably sit and wave to people. It has a specialized license plate bearing the this “SCV 1”, meaning the Vatican name in Italian and the pope’s place in the church hierarchy. It has bars for him to hold on to while standing with a double pane bullet proof glass windows. Popemobile is only a term used to describe the vehicle but there is no official name for the pope’s vehicle. The popemobile in the U.S. is the one on the right side of the picture. The other one is the popemobile in Brazil.

photo credit: newsweek.com