You may already have seen some of the coverage from back in July when Pope Francis grabbed headlines with his decision to ditch the custom-built bulletproof Mercedes-Benz “Popemobile” for a silver Fiat Idea for his drive around Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Pope Francis in Fiat Idea

Well, this week, the frugal pontiff from Argentina was at it again, as this amazing story came out about how a 70-year-old priest from northern Italy, Father Renzo Zocca had given his 1984 Renault 4 with 186,000 miles to Pope Francis to drive around the Vatican.

Pope Francis, right, and Father Renzo Zocca, second right, with the Renault 4. Photograph: AP

Pope Francis continues to be a man of his word as he appealed to priests several months ago not to drive expensive cars and to save money to give to the poor.  So all of this buzz around his new “old” car is not a huge surprise for the frugal Pope.

Nevertheless, as car guys we thought this was a very cool touch to the latest story.  The Italian priest Zocca was quoted saying “the snow tires are still in the boot and you never know,” although Pope Francis will probably never need them driving in the Vatican since Rome is only hit by serious snow every 25 years.