All of the 'Popemobiles' Pope Francis rode this year, from a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen to a hydrogen-powered Toyota
- Pope Francis has ridden his fair share of Popemobiles in 2019, including a Kia Soul and a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen.
- His Holiness was gifted a Dacia Duster by the automaker in November.
- Take a look at all of the cars the Pope has used as his Popemobile this year.
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From a flashy Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen to a humbler Kia Soul, His Holiness Pope Francis has had his ridden in his fair share of Popemobiles this year.
The term "Popemobile" - coined in the 1970s - is used to describe cars used to transport His Holiness, according to the New York Times. Some of its earliest iterations include a 1929 Fiat 525 and a Graham-Paige 837 of the same year, according to the Washington Post. Before that, the preferred popemobiles were portable thrones carried by footmen and velvet horse-drawn carriages.
Now, the papal passage is aided by the likes of a Kia, Mercedes-Benz, and Romanian brand Dacia, the later of which gifted the Pope an SUV in November. Automakers sometimes make a custom car for the Pope during his visits to the country in which they are based, like Toyota during his visit to Japan and Dacia during a trip to Romania.
In 2017, Lamborghini presented a Huracan to the Pope, who then signed and blessed the car before it was auctioned off for charity, according to the automaker.
Take a look at this year's preferred form of papal transports: