Popemobile "SCV 1", but plates "SCV 2" to "SCV 9" have also been used. The precursor to the popemobile was the "sedia gestatoria", which was a chair carried on the shoulders of papal attendants. This fell out of use after the incumbency of Pope Paul VI in 1978. Pope John Paul I succeeded Pope Paul VI and reigned for only 33 days before his death, and he was the last pope who used the "sedia gestatoria". Since the beginning of the 20th century, many automotive manufacturers have produced specially designed vehicles for the Pope. The Ford Motor Company produced a series
History of the chair Roman chairs were of marble, also adorned with sphinxes. The curule chair was originally very similar in form to the modern folding chair, but eventually received a good deal of ornament. The most famous of the very few chairs which have come down from a remote antiquity is the reputed Chair of Saint Peter in St Peter's Basilica at Rome. The wooden portions are much decayed, but it would appear to be Byzantine work of the 6th century, and to be really an ancient sedia gestatoria. It has ivory carvings representing the labours of Hercules. A few pieces of an