autoevolution
 

UPDATE: Russian President Putin's New Limo Doesn't Look like a Chrysler at All

Back when the Eastern Europe was still under communist rule, there were a lot of jokes about the oppressive regime. One of them told the story of a man who was caught by the state police and asked to tell what color the sky was.
New Russian limousine 15 photos
Photo: Sputnik/Sergey Subbotin
Chinese Rolls-Royce/Bentley copyChinese Rolls-Royce/Bentley copyChinese Rolls-Royce/Bentley copyChinese Rolls-Royce/Bentley copyChinese Rolls-Royce/Bentley copyChinese Rolls-Royce/Bentley copyChinese Rolls-Royce/Bentley copyChinese Rolls-Royce/Bentley copyChinese Rolls-Royce/Bentley copyChinese Rolls-Royce/Bentley copyChinese Rolls-Royce/Bentley copyChinese Rolls-Royce/Bentley copyChinese Rolls-Royce/Bentley copyChinese Rolls-Royce/Bentley copy
He tried "blue," but he got a beating. Then he thought it might be cloudy outside, so he said "gray," but he still received an avalanche of fists from his captors. Things followed the same pattern until the man gave up and answered with a question of his own: "what color do you want it to be?" Satisfied he finally understood how things stood, the torturers allowed him to go.

Officially speaking, Russia is no longer a communist country, but judging by the way Putin and Medvedev take turns in being the president or the prime minister, it's hard to call it a democracy either. That's why the minute I saw what the president's new armored limousine is going to look like, I thought about a similar scenario to the one presented before where one poor soul asked whether the new car wasn't too similar to a Chrysler 300. Or even a Rolls-Royce.

He'd be summoned in a dark room and made to understand that not only is this limousine completely original but also the sky is velvety pink with a shade of tangerine and the occasional burgundy accents.

In case you haven't read the news, the recent Panama Papers leak revealed that Vladimir Putin has about $2 billion in off-shore accounts that he can't obviously account for, but as we've proven before, facts aren't too relevant in a country where the sky is velvety pink with a shade of tangerine and the occasional burgundy accents. So of all the people affected by this whistle-blow, Putin is probably the least worried.

In fact, he's just about to receive a new state limousine next year. The Russians have been running a program for the past few years that looked to develop a locally-built series of vehicles to be used by the state officials. They've been testing the limousine over the past year and now a sedan is undergoing crash tests. Apart from these two, an SUV and a minivan are also being considered.

The first cars will be delivered by the end of 2017, Moscow Times reports, with a total production run of 200 units scheduled for the first year. The factories will significantly ramp up production after that, as four to five thousands units of each body style are expected to be made available by 2020.

If you're wondering why make such a high number of Russian-built armored cars, it's because the vehicles will be available to buy for anyone interested, not just state officials. So you can expect other names featured in the Panama Papers to be driving one of these cars that definitely don't look like a Chrysler 300 or Rolls-Royce.

UPDATE: About a year later, our spy photographers have managed to catch a short-wheelbase version of the new Russian limousine while doing cold-weather testing somewhere in Northern Sweden. It now looks like a mix between a Rolls-Royce and a Bentley and it's even more awkward.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Vlad Mitrache
Vlad Mitrache profile photo

"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories