This car might very well have a sticker that reads: my other car is the Popemobile. Except that this car is also properly known as the Popemobile—a Volkwagen Touran provided by VW Philippines for the use of Pope Francis for his visit to Manila. While the pope will be using a jeepney-based Popemobile for his ceremonial duties, that will be too cumbersome and conspicuous for daily use. For normal traveling, Francis will be using one of a pair of VW Touran MPVs.
Volkswagen offered any car from its entire lineup to the Vatican for the Manila trip, but the papal contingent stayed true to the policy of Pope Francis: get the simplest, cheapest car for his use. That would be the VW Polo, but given the Polo’s size and configuration, getting in and out, waving, and reaching out to a crowd might be a bit of a challenge for the 78-year old Pontiff.
So as a happy compromise, the Touran was selected by the pope’s Swiss Guard. The two stock Tourans will serve as transport to and from events. At least one will bear the official “SCV 1” license plate, standing for “Stato della Città del Vaticano” and the number one identifying the pope’s official car—think of it as the holy Air Force One.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
