It’s no secret that Russia’s president (and sometimes prime minister) Vladimir Putin wants a bespoke limousine to be driven in, after ZIL failed to impress him with their ZIL-4112P prototype.
While the main goal of the “Motorcade” project is to develop the presidential limo by 2017, it also includes an SUV and a minibus for the president’s escort. All these models will be built on a modular platform with longitudinal engine and all-wheel drive and will later spawn more affordable sedans and sport-utility vehicles for sale to Russian customers.
The contract to build the engines for the Motorcade project has been awarded to Porsche Engineering Group (PEG), a subsidiary of Porsche AG, with the German company being preferred over AVL (Austria), Ricardo (Great Britain) and FEV (Germany). The first engine Porsche Engineering Group will build is a V12 turbo engine with a capacity from 6.0 to 6.6 liters, said to deliver approximately 800 horsepower.
This flagship engine will most likely equip the presidential limousine, but V8, V6 and even four-cylinder engines will reportedly be built to power the rest of the vehicles from the Motorcade project. Engine production will take place at the ZMZ plant in Russia using domestic components.
As for the design of the presidential limousine, one of the variants has been published by Russian website Wruum and it is probably the most imposing design proposal we’ve seen so far. The final styling of the vehicle will be approved within the next few months.
The Motorcade project is coordinated by “NAMI” (Central Scientific Research Automobile and Automotive Engine Institute), with Porsche Engineering Group being a consultant since 2013.
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