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One more investment needed : a stylist. The front has the truck-like looks that RR and Bentley got from their German take over

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I was trying to avoid that comparison and be somewhat diplomatic.

Guscha posted a frontal shot early on and then replaced it with the side shot. The frontal view immediately made me think something similar to truck because the grille seemed so out of proportion to the rest of the car. Since you brought it up ----

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In the 1990s, the traditional Rolls-Royce brand was a niche manufacturer hostile to innovation and faced a massive reform backlog. Its few hundred vehicles were barely marketable and drove several dealers into ruin. Through a surge of innovation and breathtakingly successful design adjustments unprecedented in the history of the traditional brand, BMW torpedoed the ailing restructuring case into a global luxury giant with over 6,000 vehicles sold annually. Never before had Rolls-Royce come anywhere close to such sales figures. In addition to the sheer number of units produced, the Germans also managed the feat of substantially increasing profitability. How could this possibly work with a "truck-like looks that RR and Bentley acquired through the German takeover"?
It goes without saying that the designers handled the oversized radiator, Rolls-Royce's world-famous stylistic element that is essential to the brand identity, with kid gloves.
And Bentley? Under Volkswagen's leadership, the brand has evolved from a niche manufacturer to a global luxury player with sales figures that have remained stable at over 10,000 units per year for a decade.
Not despite, but because of their look that RR and Bentley got.

Bentley has a figure that I think 85% of them are still on the road. But HALF of total production has occurred in the past 2 decades.

I have one of this

bigrigchromeshop.com/chrome-swan-hood-or ... p5mPUqKBauUPo6Tg1W-qIshWxoSHB-Re6D_

Of course, it only has some resemblance from an impression. My Packard hood ornament paper weight model is in the closet while this one is put on top of the gas stove as a decoration (because it wouldn't burn!) I'd say, part of its appeal comes from the resemblance, without it, this buglar swan would be less attractive.

Sigh....

As you have mentioned already, I will say a bit more about this car here,

To me it feels more like a combination of Imperial, Chrysler and Packard (Back is nearly a Packard Model 2226 which doesn't go with the rest of the car)

According to an RT documentary (since deleted, with the rest of the YouTube channel) about Aurus, the design started with ZIS-110. But the only element they could use was the grill (and it is a Packard grill anyway, no one bothered the red flag above it), so they designed the grill for Aurus first, then got the rest of the car around it.

Interior wise, it is nearly a production version of Chrysler Imperial concept in 2006

It was showed with Dodge Challenger concept but the public reception was so negative the program was quickly cut (in contrast to the popular Challenger)

Given the Imperial concept interior was going to waste anyway, the Russians took this to use and I asked Ralph Gilles (designer of Chrysler 300) about it, he was relatively glad they did！

(of course, after 2022 things have changed and he was kind of annoyed at the association of this car to the Chrysler he designed and he has been vocal about the situation since. Not as loud as me, but pretty vocal among company executive teams)

So in the end, the original Aurus Senat has a Packard grill, the look of Chrysler/Imperial with whatever running gears they could get (BMW transmission). After the stock ran low after 2022, they are trying to use Great Wall transmission instead.

I think they should have thought better with the back design, than reusing the elements from ZIS-110, or 40s Packard. It just looks odd, and of course the appearance doesn't make sense, unless it is someone paying close attention to historical vehicles/automotive design.


Why it took me so long to reply is, the reason is actually somewhat related to this. I didn't watch the live coverage on TV back in August 2021 (I was outdoor playing then watched a local race instead after the COVID) but now I saw it, having an emotional meltdown of two weeks. I had to delay everything after crying for two nights (and I had to use everything I wore at the time to wipe my tears, including my underwear and my mom criticizes my bad emotional control) to sleep. Except the holocaust and nuclear disaster, my family experienced everything as in the video between 1917 and 1991 (and some uncled even drove identical cars as in the video), and I am stuck with another one today (even though I don't live in Eastern Europe myself) indirectly, making the already bad PTSD even worse. (and it is automotive related)

So nowhere to the ZIS-110, a black GAZ-24 is enough to bother me for a while. I have a friend who has zero clues about cars, but he is very active in politics. He has enough nightmares due to PTSD (He is on the receiving end of emotional damages) and upon explaining what GAZ-24-24 is (and purpose) by me, he had several days of the nightmare with that car.

(the video, from where it started)
youtube.com/live/F3NRKmNtX64?t=3570s

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I think it is a good documentary

youtube.com/watch?v=cHRX_6rBs6M

But ironically, the car on the cover is a GAZ-14, not a ZIL. (and Ukrainians hanged on to the GAZ-14 until 2010s, by then the steering wheel was horribly off aligned already and it made me laugh, as a teenager at the time, seeing them looking so serious steering the car straight ahead like that, with white gloves on top trying to make it go straight) This model was used by Russians, but not often. (because Moscow is supposed to use the more prestigous ZIL instead)

(look at where driver's hand was!)
youtu.be/joHF8F2Ki3M?si=B--Z55Q4M1yOnZha&t=146

As far away as the political ideology they (ZIL employees) had, everything technical looks very familiar to me who is used to giant American automobiles. And sadly this is exactly where the American automakers are, equally outdated. Few weeks ago Stellantis showed the factory in Detroit (the one on Jefferson Ave) and people mocked them for using a hammer to mount the back windows on Dodge Durango.

So, yes, craftsmen like that still exist, they are making brand new large American vehicles in similar fashion today. (and I used to work for GM, Ford, Chrysler, so I got to take a closer look myself) Even though they/we speak different languages, the body language is actually very similar between them/us.

Oh, and we all love cats. Too bad the cat isn't in this picture, the cat appeared near the end of the film. I have three cute cats and the one I love the most (I sleep with him sometimes) left a nail mark on my Packard. I only shut the door of garage since because of him. But of course, it is not easy not to love him, given how well mannered he is.

Btw, the last few cars ZIL factory made were not bought by the military. Ironically, Viktor Yanukovych bought one of them. Of course he didn't brag about such a purchase, it only came to be widely known after 2014. And the clue to tell? Those super tacky headlights and taillights! (in film, 37:38 and 45:13)

autoweek.com/news/a1888521/heres-former-ukrainian-presidents-car-collection/

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