Well-off Russians will soon be able to choose a new luxury drop-top with ties to the nation's president, Vladimir Putin. Instagram user yakunin_077 posted photos of an Aurus convertible model clearly based on the Senat luxury sedan sold in the country.
The standard Aurus Senat made its debut last year at the Moscow auto show. The car holds many design similarities to Putin's presidential limo, and frankly looks like a knock-off Rolls-Royce. Several models from Aurus are in the pipeline, including a van and an SUV. Underpinning each of them is a single modular platform from a consortium of Russian automakers led by the Russian Central Scientific Research Automobile and Automobile Engines Institute. The cars shown here are clearly still prototypes with camouflage skewing the final design. However, it's clear they share a lot with the Senat in the styling department.
Up front, we see a big front grille, LED lights, and a nearly identical shape to the Senat.
2019 Aurus Senat
Since the unnamed Aurus convertible looks virtually identical to the Senat sedan, we imagine it will share its powertrain. The stately Russian car is a hybrid, with a 4.4-liter V-8 and an electric motor that team up to send 638 horsepower to a 9-speed automatic transmission. Power then flows to all four wheels. In the future, Aurus is expected to offer a V-12 good for around 800 hp.
Although we don't know what the Aurus drop-top will be called, we know it will debut soon. The photos shown here were snapped during rehearsals for a parade to mark Russia's Victory Day, which is May 9. The day celebrates Nazi Germany's surrender to the former Soviet Union. Since the convertibles are clearly part of the celebration, the Russian luxury vehicle should debut either that day or earlier.