1938 Buick Limited Limousine - Series 90L - SCV 15 🇮🇹

Of the 410 Limited  90L limousines sold, two entered the Vatican fleet. The high quality and luxury available at a reasonable price from a proven brand such a Buick, appealed to the Vatican.  Both cars were used for 28 years to transport dignitaries on official Vatican visits and business.

Originally bearing the City of the Vatican license plate SCV 15, this car carried illustrious guests of the pope, great cardinals and political leaders from all over the world. In 1966, the car was sold by the Vatican and eventually purchased by The NB Center.  Today, it wears the Italian license plate ZA 924WX. Over the years this car has undergone moderate restoration work to maintain full function of the car while preserving a large percentage  of its  originality. 

Company
General Motors

Make
Buick

Model
Limited, 90L

Body Style
Limousine, 4- door,  8-pass.

Body Manufacture
Fisher Body Co.

Model year
1938

Wheelbase
140 inches

Length
219.5  inches

Engine
inline-eight, OHV, 320.2 cid

Horsepower
141 @ 3600 rpm

Transmission
3-speed manual

Original Base Price
$2,453

Brand Production
168,689  model year

This Car Production
410

Buick replaced model numbers with names for the first time in 1936. The top of the line series 90 cars now became the Limited. The model line-up for 1938 included the  Limited followed by  the Roadmaster or series 80, the Century or series 60, and the entry level Special or series 40.  Only available as sedans or limousines, the Limited was aptly named as it offered size and luxury rivaling Cadillac.  The appointments included high-quality wool broadcloth cushioned seats, rich carpeting and roll up division window with jump seats for the limousine.

1938 was an extension and further refinement of the ground breaking 1936 cars with sophisticated suspension and improved engines that made Buick a leader in engineering.  Obvious styling changes included grilles with more robust horizontal bars, the headlights were repositioned and the hoods were longer but otherwise the bodies were carry-overs from 1937. 

To understand the Vatican Limousine Collection of the NB Center you need to understand why the Vatican had American cars in the first place. In 1861, the Kingdom of Italy was created by the unification, both voluntary and forced, of the small countries and city-states that made-up the Italian peninsula. Many of the areas taken by the unification were Papal States, under the direct rule of the pope. The pope and the ruling body of the papacy, called the Holy See, retreated from these seized lands to the Leonine City on the shore of the Tiber river across from central Rome. This became the de facto headquarters of the Papacy and by extension the seat of the Catholic Church.

The new King and parliament of the Kingdom of Italy had no wish to be seen suppressing the Church or the pope, after all, the vast majority of Italians were Catholic.  Through an act of the Parliament, called the “Law of Papal Guarantees”, the Kingdom of Italy granted certain powers and sovereign prerogatives to the pope. But, because this law was created by the government of the Kingdom and the pope did not recognize the rights or powers of the Kingdom, the pope did not accept this law. He declared himself a prisoner of the Leonine City, aka the Vatican, unable to leave the grounds for fear the Kingdom of Italy may seize the Vatican as their own. This stalemate,  called the “Roman Question”, remained the status quo from 1861 through 1929.

The government of dictator Benito Mussolini finally negotiated an end to the Roman Question through the Lateran Pacts. This agreement, made February 1929, created the independent sovereign State of Vatican City and granted the full legal and political independence of the pope from the nation of Italy.

For the first time since 1861, the pope was free to move about outside the Vatican. Since no pope had left the Vatican since 1861, they never needed a car. While cars did exist inside the Vatican and the pope had even been given cars prior to this time, they never really had any place to go. To mark the occasion of the signing of the pact, the American Graham brothers, owners of the Graham-Paige Motor Company, donated a car to the Vatican for the use of Pope Pius XI. This 1929 Graham Paige 837 Landaulet by LeBaron became the first car for the exclusive use of a pope outside of the Vatican walls.

The car proved very reliable and comfortable. While the pope had other cars at his disposal, the Graham became the chosen vehicle. The car served both Pius XI and Pius XII  before it was retired from regular use in 1947. The car can still be seen today in the Vatican museum.

In the years since the Graham entered the papal fleet, the Vatican came to appreciate that American cars were less expensive, easier to maintain and less gaudy than the offerings of most European manufacturers. In 1932, the Vatican began to purchase cars from General Motors. In that year they purchased several Buicks and a couple Cadillacs. This was followed in 1938 with the purchase of two Buicks and two Cadillacs. While other brands were purchased for various duties, all the cars dedicated to transporting dignitaries of all types, except the pope, through the end of World War II, were Buicks or Cadillacs

Immediately after the war, the Vatican placed an order for a custom Cadillac for the exclusive use of Pope Pius XII. This car was delivered in 1947 and soon followed by orders for another Cadillac, Packards and eventually Chryslers. American cars dominated the transport of dignitaries and the pope, at the Vatican until the mid-1960s.

Today, the largest collection of Vatican cars outside of the Vatican are in the NB Center collection. From a 1932 Cadillac to a 1965 Checker Marathon, including the Cadillac  customized by Derham Body Company for the use of the pope starting in 1947, these cars survive because Nicola Bulgari and the staff of the NB Center set about to locate, save and preserve these artifacts while documenting their history.