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
Litter (vehicle) habit must have proven quite persistent, for the Third Council of Braga in 675 AD saw the need to order that bishops, when carrying the relics of martyrs in procession, must walk to the church, and not be carried in a chair, or litter, by deacons clothed in white. In the Catholic Church, Popes were carried the same way in Sedia gestatoria, which was replaced later by the Popemobile. A palanquin is a covered litter, usually for one passenger. It is carried by an even number of bearers (between two and eight, but most commonly four) on their shoulders, by