Inside Vladimir Putin’s $1.7m hi-tech armoured car
Russian President Vladimir Putin travels around the country in a $1.7million James Bond style car built to resist chemical attacks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin travels around Moscow cocooned in a seven-tonne armoured car that can resist bomb and chemical weapons attacks, it has been revealed.
And in true James Bond style, its occupants can survive even if the car is completely submerged in water, The Sun reports.
The giant Aurus Kortezh limousine has run-flat tyres, night-vision cameras, 6cm reinforced glass, an air compression system to protect against gas attacks, armour plating and an emergency exit through the boot.
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It also recognises road signs and limits its speed. And when faced with inescapable collision, the Aurus can automatically move the passenger seats to a safer position, tighten all the seat belts and then close all the doors and windows.
The $1.7 million vehicle has a 4.4-litre V8 engine and is 7m long.
It was built for the famously paranoid President at the NAMI state automobile institute in Moscow and made from Russian-produced parts, being first unveiled in May 2018.
Mr Putin, who has led an invasion of Ukraine which in just a month has killed thousands and displaced millions, was previously driven in a Mercedes-Benz S600 Guard Pullman, as was his predecessor, Dmitry Medvedev.
Russia’s first president after the dismantling of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin, used a Mercedes-Benz S500.
In Soviet times, general secretaries such as Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev and Mikhail Gorbachev famously used chunky ZiL limousines.
At least 16 Kortezh models are reported to have been passed to the Federal Protection Service, which is responsible for Mr Putin’s security. Other high-ranking officials are expected to receive versions of the vehicle.
The commercial sale of Kortezh models is under way with a mini-van and a sedan version also available.
The Russians want to compete with Mercedes-Maybachs, Bentleys and Rolls-Royces.
Prices start at $209,600 and about 300 vehicles will be built annually.
This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission
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