80 years ago – July 1930:
A special-production Mercedes-Benz “Nürburg” 460 was delivered to Pope Pius XI. It was the brand’s first “Popemobile”.

Mercedes-Benz has been providing popemobiles since 1930. In the summer of that year, 75 years ago, Pope Pius XI received a Mercedes-Benz Nürburg 460 as a present from Daimler-Benz AG. In the following decades, Mercedes-Benz supplied the Vatican with several extensively converted limousines, landaulets and offroaders as official cars for the Holy Father. For three quarters of a century, there have therefore been close relations between the Stuttgart-based automotive brand and the Roman Supreme Pontiff.

The passenger was enthusiastic. It was clear for all to see that Pope Pius XI had enjoyed the one-hour trial run in his new Mercedes-Benz through the Vatican gardens. “A masterpiece of modern engineering,” the Holy Father enthused when he climbed out of the Pullman limousine based on the Mercedes-Benz Nürburg 460. The elegant car with the three-pointed star on the engine hood had been handed over to him by a Daimler-Benz delegation and was to go down in history in subsequent years – as the first automobile to be regularly used by a pope.