Oh the Popemobile. The holiest, safest and most odd-looking of transports. Since Pope John Paul II toured the world in a glass box mounted on the back of a truck, the Popemobile has become a bit of a meme. But over in Ireland, you can hire out a vintage Popemobile for your stag do, if that’s what floats your boat.
The Popemobile in question doesn’t look much like recent vehicles. From the Pope’s 1979 visit to Ireland, the vehicle is built on top of a Ford D-Series flatbed. Looking almost a little like the Bluth’s stair car from Arrested Development, it has a covered back section with stairs up to a little balcony just above the truck’s cab for the Pope to appear and wave to the gathered masses.
Unlike these days where the Popemobile is shipped around internationally with the Pope, this vehicle was built just for the Irish trip, and has stayed in Ireland ever since. It ended up in the possession of one Paddy Dunning almost accidentally.
He acquired the old Popemobile as a package deal with the Wax Museum (which I’m assuming is the thing he actually wanted) and decided to put the odd vehicle out to work rather than let it moulder in the museum somewhere. So it ended up being fitted out for party rentals.
Don’t plan on hiring it out for a wild satanic orgy, however, as much as that idea may tickle your fancy. Dunning has said he still plans to be selective with who he hires it out to.
Dunning was planning on hiring the vehicle out for about €300 an hour, though very little can be found about the rental online aside from the original 2012 news, so perhaps Paddy’s dream has fallen through. Still, if you’re ever in Ireland for a night out, it might be worth looking into.
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