Popemobile available for rent: stags, hen nights, and photo-ops

The 1979 Irish Popemobile, an armoured car designed to exhibit the Pope on his visit, has been through a €60,000 makeover, and is now available for private hire:

According to a promotional pack, the vehicle has 15 seats, including the original “pope’s chair”. Mr Dunning plans to charge up to €300 an hour plus VAT for use of it .
He said the chair used by the pope was kept in his mother’s home in Greenhills, Dublin, while the vehicle’s makeover was completed.
“Nuns over from Rome were in my mother’s house to see it,” he said.
The promotional pack lists a number of possible uses, including “hen and stag [nights], debs and photo calls”.

Debs, hens and stags to make holy show of Popemobile [Irish Times] (via Memex 1.1)

(Image: Irish Times)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: automotive • ireland • religion

More at Boing Boing

Ants and Stars: Bruce Sterling and Jasmina Tesanovic visit the Sardinia Radio Telescope in Italy

The Snowden Principle

Brainspore

Are you allowed to fire up the afterburner if someone calls for help with the Pope Signal?
http://twitter.com/digitalArtform Joseph Francis

Oh, the “Pope’s chair.” I’ve heard about that.
- http://www.matthewpetty.com/ Matthew Petty
  
  Does it look like this?
Antinous / Moderator

The Queen’s custom parade Land Rover is for sale. As you can see, the Queen has never been big on personal security.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/9663948/For-sale-the-Land-Rover-the-Queen-commanded-from-the-back-seat.html
- Repurposed
  
  I was going to buy it, but decided against it after I found discarded lizard skin in the back seat.
- Brainspore
  
  She has less reason to fear muggers than the Pope does—he tends to go out in public wearing a lot more expensive jewelry.
- http://lemoutan.blogspot.com/ Lemoutan
  
  Hey! The security’s fine – you just can’t hear the faint hum of the forcebubble in a photograph is all.
Repurposed

I wouldn’t mind it being the bridal car at my sister-in-law and her girlfriend’s wedding.
That_Anonymous_Coward

We now must bring this to the attention of Popehat… and wait for it to happen.
http://grumer.org/ Avram Grumer

If you’ve got any sede vacante jokes, now’s the time for ‘em.
- http://lemoutan.blogspot.com/ Lemoutan
  
  I was awaiting the rather less arcane ones about the hidden seats for the kids.
http://profiles.google.com/spacewatcer Marios P.

““Nuns over from Rome were in my mother’s house to see it,” he said.”
And I was wondering what is wrong with religion…
http://profile.yahoo.com/26PYSF7EBOMW6HZLYKI33T3XOM XLM

Never understood why the pope needs an armored vehicle, what’s he so afraid of?
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_II_assassination_attempt
  - http://profile.yahoo.com/26PYSF7EBOMW6HZLYKI33T3XOM XLM
    
    Right, so is it a disregard of God’s will, or is the hereafter not as wondrous as it’s been made up to be? I think the Pope would get a pretty good suite.