A Divine Fiat: Own This Fiat 500L Used By The Pope

Think of vehicles used by the pope, and you’ll have a pretty clear image in your mind: probably a Mercedes SUV, in white, with a large glass compartment grafted onto the back so that His Holiness is kept safe but visible as he’s paraded through the streets.

That’s not really the style of Pope Francis, the current head of the Catholic Church, however. Since taking over the position in 2013, he’s been noted for his personal humility and modesty.

This was demonstrated when Francis visited New York City in 2015, when he was driven into central Manhattan in a Fiat 500L. You know, Fiat’s misguided and largely unloved effort to create a small, roomy people carrier with the 500’s cutesy styling.

The 500L, supplied for the occasion by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, was briefly used by the pope before he was transferred into a more traditional ‘Popemobile’ in the form of a modified Jeep Wrangler for the main public part of his visit.

After the pope’s visit, the 500L was owned by the Archdiocese of New York, who drove it in the city’s 2016 St. Patrick’s Day parade before donating it to a charity auction.

Now, it’s up for sale again, this time as part of RM Sotheby’s upcoming ‘Dare to Dream’ sale – yep, the same one that features examples of all five of Ferrari’s limited-production halo hypercars.

It’s an entirely standard 500L, powered by a 1.4-litre turbocharged 160bhp engine, the only powertrain the car came with in North America. It’s likely to be the most valuable 500L the world will ever see, in small part thanks to it having covered 773 miles from new, but mostly because of the papal connection: RM Sotheby’s reckons it’ll sell for between $50,000 and $100,000 (around £40,000 to £80,000).

It’s a staggering amount, but not many cars can claim to have such a spiritual background. What’s the phrase again – the Father, Son and wholly forgettable people carrier?