From October 28 through January 31, 2027, an exhibition in the Giardino Quadrato [Square Garden] of the Vatican Museums celebrates a century of Popemobiles.
Mercedes-Benz has supplied official vehicles to the Vatican since 1930.
Eight historic vehicles trace the evolution of the Popemobile, from papal state limousines to specially designed vehicles.The 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen and the current Mercedes-Benz S-Class create a bridge connecting the history of the Popemobile with the brand’s “140 Years of Innovation.”
Stuttgart/Rome. The relation between Mercedes-Benz and the Vatican dates back to 1930. That year, Pope Pius XI received a Mercedes-Benz Nürburg 460 as a gift from what was then Daimler-Benz AG. The luxurious Pullman limousine was the first automobile to be used regularly by a Pope. Over the following decades, official state limousines, landaulets, and eventually specially built off-road vehicles were produced for successive pontificates. Many of these vehicles represent milestones in automotive history.
An important milestone in the development of the Popemobile dates back to 1980. For Pope John Paul II’s visit to Germany, a vehicle featuring an elevated seating position, a transparent dome, and pearlescent paintwork was built for the first time, based on the Mercedes-Benz G-Class introduced the previous year. This transformed the public’s experience of papal appearances: the aim was to ensure that the Pope was clearly visible during public events while allowing him to maintain direct contact with the people. This basic design concept also influenced subsequent papal vehicles based on the G-Class and M-Class. Since 2024, the Vatican has had its first fully electric Popemobile: a specially configured Mercedes-Benz G 580.
This extraordinary chapter in automotive history is the focus of the exhibition Mercedes-Benz: un secolo di Papamobile [a century of popemobiles], on display at the Vatican Museums in a glass pavilion in the Giardino Quadrato through January 31, 2027. Eight Mercedes-Benz vehicles illustrate different eras of the brand’s collaboration with the Vatican, from the 1930 Nürburg 460 and the exclusive landaulets to the unmistakable Popemobiles based on the G-Class and M-Class.
“For Mercedes-Benz, it is an honor and a privilege to have been able to provide this service to the Pontiff for nearly a century. Over that time, Carl Benz’s invention has given rise, generation after generation, to increasingly advanced papal vehicles. Through this exhibition, we wish to invite you to discover, for the first time, the history and evolution of the Popemobiles bearing the three-pointed star. We also hope, in a spirit of Christian humility, to inspire you to reflect on the profound meaning of the journey that began with Peter nearly two thousand years ago and is carried forward today by Pope Leo XIV.”
Marc Langenbrinck
President of Mercedes-Benz Italia