Pune, July 3: His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI recently received an unusual gift — two Ape-Calessino three-wheelers from Piaggio Vehicles Pvt Ltd (PVPL), the Indian subsidiary of the Italy-based two and three-wheeler major. The two vehicles were rolled out from the company’s manufacturing unit at Baramati, Pune district, and have been specially customised for the Pope.

Piaggio Group chairman Roberto Colaninno and PVPL chairman and managing director Ravi Chopra presented the three-wheelers to the Pope at the Vatican on June 27. According to PVPL head (marketing) Rajesh Gupta, this is the first time that ‘Made in India’ three-wheelers have found their way to the Vatican.

In 2007, PVPL had exported a few hundred three-wheelers, also manufactured in Baramati, to several countries across Europe, Gupta informed.

“The two vehicles sent to the Pope have been specifically customised. Everything from the body, the seats, tyres and even the colours applied on various parts have been decided and executed keeping in mind the uniqueness of the occasion,” he explained.

It may be recalled that in 2006, politician-cum-businessman Dominic Ponniah, through a local autorickshaw dealer in Pune, exported twelve three-wheelers — or tuctucs as they are popularly known outside India — to the UK for commercial use. However, the maker of these vehicles — another two-wheeler major — confirmed that the vehicles were not sourced from the company.

After making waves by plying on the roads of Brighton, the 12 tuctucs were later taken off the roads. The reason, according to Dominic Ponniah, who is also executive director of Tuctuc Ltd, was the “archaic legislation” that required them to operate according to a pre-set timetable like a bus service, rather than a for-hire taxi service.