The Fiat Popemobile in which Pope John Paul II was the target of an assassination attempt. Photo: Jebulon

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI liked his Mercs, BMWs and air-conditioned M-class limousines.

Pope Francis has slightly simpler tastes and more street cred: he has his own Ford Focus and his favoured mode of transport is now a battered, white 1984 Renault 4 hatchback with French stick shift and 190,000 miles on the clock.

The devoted Renault man uses it around the Vatican grounds, although he has been seen cruising it down Via della Conciliazione.

Given to him by a priest from Verona, along with a new humble and ecologically- correct electric Renault Kangoo Maxi Ze, it is the latest addition to the Vatican’s car museum.

The Holy See has always been well equipped, boasting its own heliport, railway and cinema.

And in the Padiglione delle Carrozze in Viale Vaticano, there is now a Popemobile museum, where petrolheads can admire the Papal fleet and take a selfie photograph in front of the personalised number plate SCV1 1. The Ford Focus registration is SCV 00919.

A dozen or so Popemobiles and nine official cars are on permanent display surrounded by portraits, saddles, lay court costumes, protocol cushions and various mobility devices employed by His Holiness.

The Holy Father’s old teal green central American VW Beetle always attracts a crowd. I eavesdropped on two visitors doing the tour, which is free on Sundays.

“You couldn’t see him in a Nissan Almera or a Renault Espace, could you? He doesn’t strike you straight off as a Mazda man,” one of them said.

“Nor a Vauxhall Vectra or Chrysler Crossfire one either. But he’s certainly into his bodywork,” said the other.

Previous popes have used everything from a Lincoln to a Seat. Some of these vehicles can be seen in the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart and in the Peugeot Museum in Sochaux.

Pope Pius XI refused a car from the Archbishop of New York because it was too noisy for the Vatican Gardens and he didn’t want to get rid of his horses

The iconic yellow and white converted Ford truck the recently canonised Pope John Paul II used on his 1979 visit to Ireland has been ‘modded out’ for €300-per-hour hen dos and bachelor parties around Dublin.

It can be seen in the city’s Wax Museum, while the armour-plated Leyland mobile throne used for the Pope’s British visit in 1982 sold for £37,000 at auction.

A light blue VW Beetle with its whitewall tyres was the last to roll off the assembly line in Puebla, Mexico, and was presented to Pope John Paul II after his visit in 2002 to canonise Juan Diego. Like all the others, it still has one careful owner and hardly anything on the clock.

The Berlina di Gran Gala gilded carriage was built in 1826 for Pope Leo XII. Photo: CNS

The museum’s centrepiece is the Berlina di Gran Gala gilded carriage built in 1826 for Pope Leo XII. Drawn by six horses, the wooden wheels are more than five feet high. Two young men worried over its suspension and wet road handling.

“For nearly 60 years popes were not allowed out of the Vatican City,” our guide informed us.

“They were only allowed to travel freely in 1929. Pope Pius XI refused a car from the Archbishop of New York because it was too noisy for the Vatican Gardens and he didn’t want to get rid of his horses.”

Then, the Association of Catholic Women in Milan offered the pontiff a Bianchi Tyipo 15. This was followed by a Fiat 525, an Isotta Fraschini, a Citroën Lictoria Sex and a black Detroit-made Graham Paige sedan. The Pope suddenly had wheels.

We were now looking at the open-top white Fiat Nuevo Campagnola jeep Pope John Paul 11 was riding in when an attempt was made on his life in St Peter’s Square in 1981. Popemobiles became bulletproof the next year.

Papal transport has come a long way since the 12-pole sedan chairs, a few of which can be admired in the museum. For a moment, I imagined Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson reviewing the gestatorial chair in which the Pope was carried by his attendants.

“It’s hardly a Bugatti Veyron or a sports utility vehicle, but when those footmen pedalled, did it burn cobbles.”

I envisaged James May looking for the airbag and speculating on the pulling powers of non-ceremonial landaus. Momentarily, I also saw Richard Hammond frowning superciliously at practically everything.

Pope Paul VI used a customised Toyota Land Cruiser in 1976, while Pope John Paul II preferred a car based on the Polish FSC truck when he visited his homeland. He drove in a converted Gelandewagen throughout his trip to Germany in 1980. He also used a Seat Panda in Spain and Sierra in Canada and Cuba.

Seat Panda Popemobile used by John Paul II during his visit to Spain in 1982. Photo: Detectandpreserve

Our tour was nearly at an end: “Pope Benedict’s white leather with gold trim limos were equipped with their own oxygen supply as well as a hydraulic mini-lift.

“Bomb and bullet proof, a super-cool four-wheel drive Popemobile with halogen lights and all the mod cons will set you back £350,000,” the guide said.

Perhaps the oddest item on view in the Vatican carriage museum is a steering wheel. It used to be attached to a Ferrari Formula One racing car and was donated to Pope John Paul in 2005 by the company’s president, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo.

An accompanying plaque commemorates the Pope for his ‘26 years in pole position on the roads of humanity’.