The flowing, elegant lines and even the name of the Russo-Baltique Impression appearing at the Geneva Motor Show on Thursday for the first time marked a distinct shift in gear for Russia’s ramshackle old motor industry.
So did the price tag: more than â,¬1-million.
To add to the complete break from the aura of cheap Ladas and Volgas produced under communism, the grandiose new coupé by young Russian industrial designer Ivan Shishkin unashamedly harks back to the elitist luxury of the tsars.
Shishkin (33) explained that he wanted to “resurrect a glorious name” and its century-old badge with the two-headed eagle, once the coat of arms of the Russian Empire and now adopted by the Russian Federation.
“You need to have an extravagant shape to attract attention,” he said, casting an eye over his striking, handcrafted blend of contemporary and 1930s design, space-age carbon fibre and precious wood.
The brand name Russo-Baltique revives a company that was founded on the shores of the Baltic Sea in Riga 100 years ago, when Latvia was part of the Russian Empire. It was an offshoot of one of the largest industrial conglomerates and became the “official supplier of His Highness the Emperor’s court”.
Tsar Nicholas II bought two of the company’s tourers, which were winning prestigious rallies at the time. One of its cars crossed Europe from St Petersburg to Naples in southern Italy in comfort, an exploit at the time.
However, the Bolshevik Revolution put paid to such extravagance and the car company was closed down in 1919.
Shishkin’s 30 employees honed the aerodynamic shape of the four-seat, 5,5m-long coupé over the past two years. Each production model is expected to take 12 to 18 months of painstaking craftship.
The interior combines striped zebrano wood from South Africa — each car uses the same single trunk — with leather and the latest electronic gadgetry.
The only sop to convenience is the 555-horsepower engine supplied by Germany’s Mercedes.
Russo-Baltique’s director claims he has touched 304km/h with the Impression and tested its reliability. “I drove a few thousand kilometres in Russia and Germany,” said Shishkin.
The production run will be limited to 16, and the only existing model on show had already been snapped up by an unnamed Russian businessman. Russo-Baltique’s new boss needs two more orders to get the targeted production run off the ground. “We can make two at a time,” he said.
Shishkin said the decision to make a first public appearance in Geneva was aimed at demonstrating more sophisticated Russian know-how.
“We are ready to be a kind of bridge between Russia and Europe, to show that we, the Russians, know how to manage a project like this with the Europeans,” he said.
While most other stands at the motor show were showing racy, disco-paced video clips, Russo-Baltique chose old black-and-white film showing the Russian royal family in full regalia inspecting their fleet of cars.
If the company were to revive tradition fully, President Vladimir Putin should have an Impression in his Kremlin garage.
“That’s an idea we have,” Shishkin said. “The problem is that if you want your president to drive a car, you have to give it for free,” he added quickly.
The Geneva motor show is open to the public until March 18. — AFP