Religious leader · Argentina and Vatican City · Former owner · documented gift

Pope Francis

1984 Renault 4 · 30 hp · four-speed column shift

Pope Francis’s white 1984 Renault 4 displayed behind red ropes in the Vatican Museums; the registration is outside Joyride’s crop.
Pope Francis’s actual 1984 Renault 4, photographed by Biser Todorov in the Vatican Museums on October 20, 2018. Joyride cropped the left edge so the registration is not shown.Photo: Biser Todorov · CC BY 4.0. Joyride crops 900 pixels from the left side of the 3648 × 2736 Commons JPEG to exclude the registration, then JPEG-compresses at quality 96. No generative alteration, retouching or vehicle reconstruction.
Pope Francis in a May 2016 identification portrait by the Estonian Foreign Ministry.
Pope Francis2016 · Identification portraitEstonian Foreign Ministry · CC BY 2.0. Joyride serves the current 393 × 549 Commons JPEG byte-for-byte. Commons records a 2016 crop and a 2020 brightness adjustment; Joyride adds no crop, retouching or generation. A responsive frame may crop displayed edges.

A 300,000-kilometre parish car entered the Vatican

Connection
Former owner · documented gift
When
Gift accepted September 7, 2013 · museum display photographed October 20, 2018
Identity
Individual white 1984 Renault 4 · 300,000 km recorded at the 2013 gift · no chassis number claimed

This Renault 4 had a public-service life before it became a papal gift. Vatican Museums says Eraldo Polato, then deputy president of the Verona football club, gave the car to chaplain Renzo Zocca in 1984. Zocca used it throughout his Saval parish to bring help and comfort. By 2013 it had travelled 300,000 kilometres.

Zocca donated the individual white car to Pope Francis on September 7, 2013. Vatican Radio reported that Francis accepted the manual-shift Renault, told Zocca he knew how to drive it and intended to use it for short trips inside Vatican City. That account documents a gift and an intention; it does not prove a particular later journey or make the car an official ceremonial Popemobile.

Biser Todorov photographed the same car in the Vatican Museums on October 20, 2018. The museum setting extends the exact car’s documented trail, while the photograph itself does not establish ownership after that date. Joyride therefore treats the Pope’s connection as historical and makes no claim about a present private owner or current custody in 2026.

Documented custody

Where the car went next

  1. 1984A parish car

    Eraldo Polato gave the Renault to Father Renzo Zocca, who used it across his Verona parish.

  2. September 7, 2013Given to Pope Francis

    Vatican sources document the handover after 300,000 kilometres; an intended future use is not presented as a proven trip.

  3. October 20, 2018Photographed in the Vatican Museums

    Biser Todorov photographed the individual car on display. The appearance does not establish later ownership or custody.

Follow the evidence

Sources for this story

Vatican Museums documents the 1984 Renault 4, Zocca’s parish use, 300,000 kilometres and the September 7, 2013 donation to Pope Francis. Vatican Radio records acceptance, the short handover drive with Zocca and Francis’s stated intention to drive it inside Vatican City. The licensed 2018 museum photograph shows the same individual white car. No chassis number, proven solo drive, official ceremonial role, present owner or post-2018 custody is claimed.

  • Renault 4 · Carriage PavilionVatican Museums · Collection record · reviewed 2026-10-04 · external source

    The individual 1984 Renault 4, its 30 hp and four-speed specification, Zocca’s parish use, 300,000 kilometres and the September 7, 2013 donation to Pope Francis.

  • Pope Francis to drive his own ‘popemobile’ inside Vatican CityVatican Radio archive · 2013-09-13 · external source

    Francis’s acceptance of the 1984 car, Zocca’s short handover drive and the stated intention—rather than proof—of later short trips.

Reviewed

Why this is the actual car
  • Photo identity evidence

    Vatican Museums identifies the donated individual car as the 1984 Renault 4 formerly used by Father Renzo Zocca and given to Pope Francis on September 7, 2013.

  • Photo identity evidence

    Biser Todorov identifies the photographed vehicle as Pope Francis’s 1984 Renault 4 in the Vatican Museums, records the October 20, 2018 capture and licenses the image CC BY 4.0.

The matching photographer, venue, date and vehicle history establish the identification; the chassis stamp is not visible in these photographs.