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The fascinating history of the Popemobile

Pope Francis will be arriving today in the US for a variety of stops, including the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, PA. While here, the Pontiff won't be riding in the usual Mercedes-Benz Popemobile, but instead will make a more American switch to a modified Jeep Wrangler, according to the Washington Post. It'll feature a protected front, top, and rear, but the sides will be open for His Holiness to see the throngs of people gathering for him. For hundreds of years, Popes were transported in horse-drawn carriages or sometimes carried in an enclosed chair by footmen, but His Holiness finally traded for some real horsepower in 1929. While his ride sometimes varied depending on the country being visited, a Mercedes-Benz was generally the common choice. However, the Pontiffs have ridden in everything from a modified GMC Sierra to a Ferrari Mondial over the past few decades. Pope Francis has definitely preferred more plebeian transportation, though, including a Renault 4 running on biofuel. A trip to South Korea even put him in a Kia Soul, and he opted for an Isuzu D-Max in the Philippines. The Post's whole list is quite a fun read, and it's fascinating to see how the Popemobiles evolve over time. Related Video:

Chinese Jeep production confirmed with Fiat, Guangzhou agreement

Fiat has just finalized a deal originally set up in January between it and China's Guangzhou Automotive Group to bring Jeep production to China. It remains unclear which models will be built, although we're wagering that it'll be the 2014 Cherokee. What we do know, now, is where production will take place.
According to Automotive News, Guangzhou originally wanted production to take place in its home assembly plant in its namesake city. Fiat has battled to send production to a joint venture facility established between Guangzhou and Fiat in the town of Changsha. The joint facility won out, and now the factory, originally built in 2010 with a 140,000-unit capacity, will see Jeeps rolling out of it.
Currently, the GAC-Fiat factory produces the Fiat Viaggio, a jointly developed product that is closely related to America's Dodge Dart. And while it remains unclear as to which model will join the Viaggio on the assembly line, that model is understood to ride on Fiat's Compact platform. The only Jeep to share those underpinnings is the new Cherokee, so there's not much connecting of dots needed to see why this scenario would make sense.

2013 AEV Brute Double Cab

These are the guys who bring an M777 howitzer to a knife fight. In terms of overall rugged utility, the all-new 2013 Brute Double Cab from American Expedition Vehicles (AEV) is about as overkill as they come, and we can't seem to get enough of the beasts that this company produces. Unlike most aftermarket firms, always striving to lower cost and increase volume (but at the expense of quality), Michigan-based AEV takes pride in its OEM-quality design, engineering, manufacturing and testing. Everything is as good, or better, than the stuff from the factory, and they have been doing it this way for more than 15 years.
Launched at the recent 2012 SEMA show was the 2013 AEV Brute Double Cab. Its debut marked the company's expansion to a four-door Brute on the newer JK platform (drawing inspiration from the Land Rover Defender 130). I recently spent a few hours with the new truck in sunny Southern California, though unfortunately, due to time constraints, I was limited to pavement-only driving impressions.
Driving Notes