There has been a large and varied collection of "Popemobiles," the modified parade vehicles used by popes over the past half-century to travel by road and allow onlookers the best possible view of the pontiff as he passes. (See The Evolution Of The Popemobile at Jalopnik.) But an apparently unreconized fact is that the first real "Popemobile" (aside from black Mercedes limousines) was a CJ-3B Jeep.
Jim Gregor has an interest in church history, and he ran across a small paperback book entitled The Pilgrim Pope, published by Pocket Books, Inc. with United Press International, 1965. The book documents three international journies made by Pope Paul VI, who became the first head of the Roman Catholic church to travel outside of Italy since 1812. His pilgrimage to the "Holy Land" of Jordan and Israel in 1964 was followed soon after by trips to India and New York City.
From 2-4 December, 1964, the Holy Father visited Bombay, India for the International Eucharistic Congress.
In this photo published in the 18 December 1964 issue of LIFE, the Pope rides through the crowd to the stage, on a white CJ-3B decorated for the occasion, followed by military officials in another CJ-3B. Both were reportedly Indian-built Mahindra Jeeps.
See also a UPI photo of the vast crowd (200K JPEG) from The Pilgrim Pope.
A photo from the LIFE Photo Archive at LIFE.com, taken by photographer Paul Schutzer as the Pope made his way through the streets of Bombay, shows the same or a similar white Jeep. It has a handrail for the standing passengers, a papal crest and flags, and a screen over the front grille. In this photo there is a visible "Willys" logo, which some early Mahindra Jeeps had on the grille. It seems likely this mode of transportation was an Indian idea, but it certainly established the simple, practical design seen in most later Popemobiles.
LIFE's sister publication Time discussed the Pope's trip in its 4 December 1964 edition. The cover story of that issue was "The Congo Massacre," in which scores of hostages including Dr. Paul Carlson were killed by Simba rebels in Stanleyville before the arrival of Belgian paratroopers (see Jeeps in the Congo, 1960-1964 on The CJ3B Page.)
Perhaps the events in the Congo were on Pope Paul's mind when upon his arrival in Bombay he said, "Would that the nations could cease the armaments race and devote their resources and energies instead to the fraternal assistance of the developing countries... may this anguished cry go forth to all the governments of the world."
The Time article "Bombay's Spiritual Spectacular" began: "This week Paul VI will add 8,000 miles to his record as the most travel-minded Pope of history by flying from Rome to Bombay for Roman Catholicism's 38th Eucharistic Congress. More than 100,000 Catholics, including 14 cardinals and 300 bishops, are expected to attend this spiritual spectacular."
Time also reported that "With more than 20,000 extra cars in town -- including the Pope's white Lincoln Continental, given him by an alumnus of Notre Dame -- Bombay police are resigned to the prospect of monstrous traffic jams. As it happens, almost every major highway in the city is clogged with construction projects."
So maybe the traffic situation is why the Pope ended up in the more maneuverable Jeep instead of the Lincoln? It would probably have been a better getaway vehicle in case of any trouble in narrow, packed streets.
Time had mentioned that "There are blunt posters on the streets of Bombay warning that 'Christianity is a danger to Hinduism.' Indian officials minimized the threat to the Pope, but put a number of Hindu fanatics in protective custody and strengthened the 16,000-man Bombay police force with 3,000 troops from the Maharashtra state police."
These two photos of the crowds are by UPI, from The Pilgrim Pope.
It has been widely reported that on his departure from India the Pope gave his Lincoln Continental to Mother Theresa, who raffled it off to raise money for the poor. (See the Washington Post.) It has passed through various hands and is now reportedly in an automotive museum in Pune, although photos of it there (90K JPEG) show it to be gold rather than white.
Better known is the black Lincoln limousine (70K JPEG) converted by Lehmann-Peterson in a week, for the Pope's visit to New York in 1965. It's one of the few non-Mercedes papal limousines, and features an elevating seat, a public address system and other special fetaures.
But it was the white CJ-3B in Bombay that really set the pattern for future "Popemobiles," and it deserves its place in history. Dan Bowles reports the Jeep is on display in the lobby of Mahindra & Mahindra's purchasing/engineering building in Pune, India as of 2010.
Thanks to Jim Gregor for scanning the photos from The Pilgrim Pope, and Todd Moulton for digging up the photo from LIFE.com, copyright by Time, Inc. Thanks also to Team-BHP.com and Heritage Classics for the Lincoln photos.-- Derek Redmond
Return to the Index of Unusual Photos on The CJ3B Page.
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