Vatican Museums Open Popemobile Exhibition

The Vatican Museums opened “A Century of the Popemobile,” an exhibition featuring eight Mercedes-Benz vehicles used by popes from 1930 to 2012, running through January 31, 2027. The vehicles show how papal cars evolved from luxurious models to designs intended to improve visibility, help popes greet crowds and provide greater security. The 1980 Mercedes-Benz 230 G, with its raised transparent enclosure, helped define the modern popemobile, and the Vatican’s first fully electric popemobile arrived in 2024. Pope Leo XIV praised the vehicles’ role in bringing the Church closer to people; the exhibition does not include papal vehicles made by other automakers.