Since 1922, when Pius XI became the first Pope to be driven around, the Vatican has used a range of different Popemobiles, including a Mercedes limousine, a Fiat and even a Ford Transit van.

But it has never had any as small, as economical, or possibly as noisy, as the latest to grace the Vatican City State Garage: two specially adapted three-wheeler motor rickshaws from India.

The papal tuk-tuks, emblazoned with the Vatican crest, were presented to Benedict XVI last month by Piaggio, the moped maker, which also produces motor rickshaws at a factory in India. They are the first Popemobiles to be made in India and the first three-wheelers in the pontiff's collection.

The vehicles are more commonly seen laden with passengers weaving dangerously through traffic in India, where Piaggio sells about 150,000 every year for 125,000 rupees (£1,500) each. But Ravi Chopra, the managing director of Piaggio's Indian subsidiary, told The Times that the tuk-tuks had been specially adapted to “suit the Pope's needs and to suit a person of his status”. They had been fitted with leather seats, white wheels, white canvas roofs and white doors inscribed with the Vatican insignia.

He conceded, however, that the open-sided vehicles were not bulletproof and would never be used by the Pope in public. “I don't think he's going to use them on the roads. He's got a fleet of cars,” said Mr Chopra. “But I'm sure he'll use them somewhere, maybe in the garden or the courtyard.”

The vehicles were presented to the Pope during an audience in the Vatican to mark the 60th anniversary of the production of the Piaggio Ape, on whose design the three-wheeler is based. Vatican officials say that the first Popemobile was a Bianchi Tipo 15. The first made specifically for the purpose was a Nurberg 460 Pullman limousine made for Pius XI by Mercedes-Benz in 1930.

The late John Paul II, who used a modified Ford Transit on his visit to Britain in 1979, commissioned the first closed-in, bulletproof car after surviving an assassination attempt in St Peter's Square in May 1981 while travelling in a Fiat Campagnola.

The result was the first glass-sided vehicle with the distinctive Popemobile shape - a Mercedes 230 G-class, in white with gold trim. Benedict XVI at present uses a custom-built two-door Mercedes ML 430 that was donated to the Vatican in 2002.