The Vatican is shipping the Popemobile to the U.S. for John Paul II's 10 motorcades. Actually there's more than one Popemobile: The Vatican garage houses a number of them, including a customized Mercedes-Benz military truck with bulletproof glass, puncture-proof tires and enough armor to withstand grenade attacks and automatic gunfire. The one that arrives for this trip will even get to see some off-road action -- in New York City's Central Park.

When the Pope visited the Philippines earlier this year, his 'mobile was built from a T2500 Mazda medium commercial truck because of the region's high humidity. Its armor was tested by peppering it with automatic gunfire. (After the visit, local officials sold rides in it.) For the Pope's 1993 visit to Denver, officials imported a Mexican Popemobile: a modified Chevy Cheyenne 4X4 pick-up previously used for a pontifical visit to the Yucatan.