Press Release
1985 – Mercedes-Benz 500 SEL
Despite the media presence of the new popemobile, John Paul II continued to use classic limousines and landaulets as well. A photo of his first outing after his election in 1978 showed the new pope in the Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL landaulet from the W 109 series.
From the summer of 1985 onward, the pope was able to choose between landaulet and limousine because Mercedes-Benz had given John Paul II an armored Mercedes-Benz 500 SEL (V 126 series) as a present. Prof. Dr. Werner Breitschwerdt, chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler-Benz AG, handed over the car in a metallic black livery to the Holy Father in a private audience.
The dimensions of the new car, replacing the Mercedes-Benz 600 from 1965 as the pope’s official car, differed substantially from the production version. The limousine was given a 200-millimeter longer wheelbase and a 30-millimeter higher roof. In the rear, the car had a single seat for the pope and two folding seats vis-à-vis. Hence, the arrangement of the seats in the new 500 SEL corresponded exactly to that of the Mercedes-Benz Nürburg handed over 55 years earlier.
Unlike the 1930 car, the limousine provided the pope with the possibility of showing himself in public despite the armoring. To this end, a 100-millimeter longer sunroof was installed ahead of the rear seat. And underneath the sunroof, the popemobile creators installed two small platforms operated by electric motors. These platforms could be raised to the level of the transmission tunnel, thereby creating a level platform that was clearly above the floor to improve standing height. To protect the pope against slip stream, a shield made of six-millimeter-thick polycarbonate could be extended in front of the sunroof.
With the sunroof opened and the shield extended, the limousine drove no faster than 30 km/h. With the sunroof closed, the car, with its permissible gross weight of over three tons (unladen weight: 2673 kilograms) had a top speed of 160 km/h. Pope Benedict XVI was seen in this limousine on his first official outings in Rome after his election in 2005.
1997 – Mercedes-Benz S 500 landaulet with long wheelbase
Mercedes-Benz succeeded in combining venerable tradition and advanced engineering in a landaulet based on S-Class model S 500 with long wheelbase (V 140 series) which was handed over to the Vatican in 1997. Pope John Paul II personally took delivery of the car and had himself informed about the technical details of the one-off car highly inquisitively. And in view of the extensive conversion, the delegation from Mercedes-Benz had plenty to explain to him.
On the basis of the S-Class with long wheelbase, a landaulet with electro-hydraulically operated soft-top was created, giving the Holy Father in his single seat particularly generous space. As a result, Pope John Paul II had nothing but praise when the car was handed over. As in the two older papal landaulets from Mercedes-Benz, two folding occasional seats were mounted to the rear side of the partition opposite the white upholstered chair. The car’s designers had given the seat a particularly long vertical adjustment travel of 500 millimeters, allowing the pope to get up more easily. In addition, the landaulet’s soft-top was designed to have a 50-millimeter higher roof than the production car in closed condition.
The S 500 landaulet had a V8 engine with a displacement of five liters, an output of 320 hp and a five-speed automatic transmission. The special equipment of the new popemobile included not only the landaulet body with soft-top and grab handles, the single seat, the communication system and a partition but also a St. Mary icon integrated in the paneling of the partition from the driver’s compartment.
2002 – Mercedes-Benz ML 430 with special bodywork
At the World Youth Day in Toronto in 2002, Pope John Paul II traveled for the first time in the new popemobile on the basis of the Mercedes-Benz M-Class, which had been presented to him by DaimlerChrysler AG a little earlier. The special body of the car (W 163 series) was modeled on its predecessors on G-Class chassis. However, the cupola on the M-Class was no longer squared. For the first draft of a popemobile on the basis of the G-Class, this compact cube made of advanced plastic (not armored glass, as is often assumed) had simply suggested itself because the cupola was easy to remove from the chassis of the converted offroader when required.
At the time the new M-Class was provided, however, using the car without protective panes had been out of the question for quite a while. Therefore, the Mercedes-Benz designers created a special superstructure whose sides extend far upwards behind the front doors, thereby providing an elegant frame for the large windows surrounding the pope’s seat. With its V8 engine with a displacement of 4.3 liters and an output of 272 hp, the ML 430 was adequately powered to serve as the basic car for the new popemobile. And like its G-Class predecessors, the papal M-Class was given a mother-of-pearl finish and white interior appointments.
Technical data
Model: Mercedes-Benz Nürburg 460 (W 08)
Year of production 1929/1930
Bodywork Pullman limousine
Engine Eight-cylinder in-line
Displacement 4.6 liters
Output 80 hp (59 kW)
Transmission Four-speed manual
Wheelbase 3670 millimeters
Length 5380 millimeters
Width 1820 millimeters
Height 1820 millimeters
Unladen weight 2300 kilograms
Model: Mercedes-Benz 300 d (W 189)
Year of production 1960
Bodywork Landaulet
Engine Six-cylinder in-line
Displacement 3.0 liters
Output 160 hp (118 kW)
Transmission Automatic
Wheelbase 3800 millimeters (extended by 450 millimeters)
Length 5640 millimeters
Width 1955 millimeters
Height 1720 millimeters
Model: Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman landaulet (W 100)
Year of production 1965
Bodywork Landaulet, long wheelbase
Engine V8
Displacement 6.3 liters
Output 250 hp (184 kW)
Transmission Automatic
Wheelbase 3900 millimeters
Length 6240 millimeters
Width 1950 millimeters
Height 1580 millimeters
Model: Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL (W 109)
Year of production 1966
Bodywork Landaulet
Engine Six-cylinder in-line
Displacement 2.8 liters
Output 170 hp (125 kW)
Transmission Automatic
Wheelbase 2850 millimeters
Length 5000 millimeters
Width 1810 millimeters
Model: Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL (W 109)
Year of production 1967
Bodywork Limousine
Engine Six-cylinder in-line
Displacement 2.8 liters
Output 170 hp (125 kW)
Wheelbase 3500 millimeters (extended by 650 millimeters)
Model: Mercedes-Benz 230 G and 230 GE (460/G 23)
Year of production 1980
Bodywork Special superstructure
Engine Four-cylinder in-line
Displacement 2.3 liters
Output 230 G: 100 hp (74 kW); 230 GE: 125 hp (92 kW)
Transmission Automatic
Wheelbase 2850 millimeters
Length 4392 millimeters
Width 1950 millimeters
Height 2800 millimeters
Unladen weight 3000 kilograms
Model: Mercedes-Benz 500 SEL (V 126)
Year of production 1985
Bodywork Armored limousine
Engine V8
Displacement 5 liters
Output 240 hp (176 kW)
Transmission Automatic
Wheelbase 3270 millimeters (extended by 200 millimeters)
Length 5335 millimeters
Width 1820 millimeters
Height 1470 millimeters
Unladen weight 2673 kilograms
Model: Mercedes-Benz S 500, long wheelbase (V 140)
Year of production 1997
Bodywork Landaulet
Engine V8
Displacement 5 liters
Output 320 hp (235 kW)
Transmission Automatic
Wheelbase 3140 millimeters
Length 5213 millimeters
Width 1886 millimeters
Height 1526 millimeters
Unladen weight 2305 kilograms
Model: Mercedes-Benz ML 430 (W 163)
Year of production 2002
Bodywork Special superstructure
Engine V8
Displacement 4.3 liters
Output 272 hp (200 kW)
Transmission Automatic
