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November 20th, 2007

The Papal Tractor (made in Basildon)

papal tractor

The Echo has the story of the new papal tractor which has been built down the road from here in Basildon. A New York Times report has a few more details.

The tractor is a gift from Fiat, who own New Holland. The tractor took two days to make. Normally they can put one together in about ten minutes but this one has special features – a hint of gold and the coat of Papal arms.

The tractor plant is a well known landmark in these parts. It is next door to the Festival Leisure Park (known locally as ‘Bas Vegas’) where the young people go ‘night clubbing’ and the like.

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14 Responses to “The Papal Tractor (made in Basildon)”


  1. Sarah B says:

    Did I skim read this and miss the all important answer to the question – WHY does the Pope need a tractor?

    Is that so he can roll out lots of religious TRACTS??

    November 20th, 2007 at 11:07 am
  2. David Keen says:

    A question for Anglican parishes: is this a fresh expression of tractor, or just the same old tractor with a couple of minor tweaks?

    November 20th, 2007 at 11:14 am
  3. Selina Morse says:

    There is a cardinal in the vatican who can suck cigarette smoke from a room into his lungs and then deposit it outside. When he was a boy he was very fond of tractors – but no longer does he find these pieces of machinery so interesting.

    He is an ex-tractor fan.

    November 20th, 2007 at 11:30 am
  4. Peter Kirk says:

    Basildon is the obvious place to make a gold-blinged tractor. But when I was at Bas Vegas last week, nice eat-as-much-as-you-can Indian meal, I missed this special agricultural Popemobile among all the other Essex bling.

    November 20th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
  5. Chas says:

    Selina got there first – bah!

    November 20th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
  6. tortoise says:

    Sarah B – no, the tractor isn’t for distributing papal tracts. He uses a bicycle for that. It’s called the papal encyclical.

    I’ll get me coat.

    November 20th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
  7. Emma says:

    I have invented a tractor tracking device with regular tractor updates for your car that every 10 minutes or so bleeps to say ‘there are currently 3 tractors on the A6 between Preston and Lancaster’ (you can set it up for the stretch of A road relevant to you). Well it’s invented in my head of course but I’m sure it would sell well. I think there would be an alarm in every tractor as well warning them that they had been on the A road for too long (1 mile) and are to pull into the nearest country road or be fined.

    I don’t like tractors much.

    November 20th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
  8. joe says:

    I wonder how much agricultural land there is in Vatican City.

    November 20th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
  9. Russ says:

    Pope. Tractor. Plough. Fields. Scatter. Good seed. Harvest. Vatican. Cardinal. Goldfish. Radish. Bingo.

    Arrange the above for your own DIY Pope tractor joke. Send your answer on a turnip to the address above, and we’ll send you a small plastic trinket of no value whatsoever.

    By the way, has anyone noticed that Australians pronounce ‘people’ as if it’s spelled ‘papal’? Is this significant? We should be told.

    November 21st, 2007 at 9:26 am
  10. chris clark says:

    It presumably replaces the Papal Bull?

    November 21st, 2007 at 11:39 am
  11. Stephen says:

    Normally they can put one together in about ten minutes but this one has special features – a hint of gold and the coat of Papal arms.

    I hope the Holy Father gets his upper limbs back in time for the next Urbi et Orbi!

    November 21st, 2007 at 1:12 pm
  12. Jim says:

    “…The Holy See has long used Fiat cars. When a gunman shot Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square in 1981, the pontiff was riding in a Fiat jeep…”

    I don’t think Fiat should include that point in its advertising somehow…!!!

    November 21st, 2007 at 3:36 pm
  13. Matt W says:

    Hydraulic pulpit with auto trapdoor and 6 minute homily timer…

    November 21st, 2007 at 4:58 pm
  14. John Deere says:

    Yes your tractor rocks.. But i prefer a John Deere ! Best dam tractors ever made, ofcourse there all amercian too :)

    February 11th, 2008 at 5:02 pm