Why My Next Car Will Be A Pope Mobile

By Allen Bacon, The Daily Bosco

I am pretty much over my obsession of the automobile.

My goal nowadays is to move around the planet as much as I can without one.  That's why I like walking, taking trains, subways, buses, planes, boats...anything that doesn't involve me actually driving in a motor vehicle.

I like the freedom that not driving affords me.  For instance the ability to multi-task: work or sleep while I'm traveling to my destination.

That sleep thing is a hard trick to pull off if you are driving.

I got my obsession with cars out of the way when I was a kid.

When I was growing up our family had cars and motorcycles and my Dad and I were always under the hood or had some machine apart to work on it.

Once, because we kept getting malfunctioning auto parts, we had to switch out a transmission in our 1957 Chevy Pickup three times in one day.  You would think by the second time we would have at least tried to get the transmission from another source.

My first car was a Classic 1965 Mustang.  Although in 1975....Could you really call it a classic at that point?  But I gave that up shortly after I started my family.

Needed to be responsible you know.

Still, with all that being said, every once in a while I think about resuming my love affair with the automobile.

For instance, this week, my friend Chris, who works down the road from my office and is the Chief Mechanic for a place that specializes in rebuilding Classic Corvettes and other cars, was test driving a 1969 Camaro and almost ran me over on my way to lunch.

For a fleeting moment, as the bright and shiny classic car rumbled by me,  I thought of buying that car.  I always wanted a 1969 Camaro.

But it was something that happened earlier in the week that really got me to thinking.

I heard the Pope Mobile was going up for Auction.  You know, the Mercedes that use to drive the Pontiff around on his special visits.

I have to have that car.

The ability to stand up while I drive is the big selling point.

I would retrofit the vehicle with a treadmill.   This way I could exercise while I was on my way to my destination.  The savings on a gym membership would pay for the car in no time.

I was thinking that I could even hook up the treadmill to the engine to provide an alternate energy source.  Think about it...I would have the ability to power the vehicle, by walking and storing energy and since it is a Mercedes the car already runs on Diesel fuel.  You talk about the ultimate Hybrid Car.

I also like the fact that the glass is bullet proof. This will come in handy as I travel through certain parts of Los Angeles, St. Louis, and New York City.

Now if I can integrate that technology like the Google Car that enables the car to drive itself, I will be all set.