TagAZ Aquila Is a Crazy Russian Four-Door Coupe

The Aquila was designed by a Russian company called TagAZ in Tagnrog. It's classed as a four-door coupe and measures 4,683mm in length (184 inches), 1,824mm in width (71 inches) and 1,388 mm in height (55 inches).

It might try and look like the offspring of Porsche Panamera and a Mazda RX-8, but the powertrain leaves much to be desired. Under the bonnet is a 1.6-liter Mitsubishi engine, linked to a 5-speed gearbox. The manufacturer claims it will do 0 to 100 km in 12 seconds. Even if we are to believe them, that's hardly impressive.

The Aquila is named based on the Latin word for eagle and went on sale in March 2013. Not many were built before TagAZ announced it was going bankrupt in January 2014. When new, this weird-looking machine cost somewhere between 450,000 and 500,000 rubles. At today's exchange rate, that's only $10,500, a bargain for any new type of new car.

This review video was shot by Youtuber MegaRetr during the winter of 2013, just before TagAZ went under. This copy has only 17,000 views, but he also did a Russian version which has racked up 461,000 views so far. Something tells me everybody in Russia knows about this thing. In 2009, TagAZ was in the middle of a huge scandal. Their Vega sedan was accused of being a clone of the Chevrolet Lacetti. Things really got serious after two GM DAT managers were arrested and accused of stealing 6,000 computer files which contained data about the Korean sedan.

Looking at the video, we can certainly tell where the Aquila cuts its corners. The door don't fit, there's a huge gap where the bonnet meets the bumper and the interior is bad even by 1980 Soviet standard. Still, there's not a lot else you can buy for that kind of money, considering the Russian eagle has standard ABS and a stereo.