I remember a friend of mine once telling me the difference between a Russian and a Unicorn. “They are both fictional,” he said. I had been holding fast to the sermon until this morning when my editor twirled my knotty head towards a couple of photographs published in Carscoops.com.
The images were of a made-for-Russia Datsun sedan, masked painstakingly, as is customary with upcoming vehicles just before the official launch/unveiling. What was remarkable though was the sign at the rear window forbidding anybody and everybody from clicking a snap.
My dear old friend might be right about the unicorn, but the hardy Russian seems to have kept his giggles alright through all the harshness that his frozen land and the factitious politics have been throwing at him.
Since the photographs made it online, one would assume that the photographer is still alive and it indeed is a pun cooked up by Datsun Russia and it has nothing to do with the fabled KGB or the faddish Russian mafia.
The new low-cost sedan is heading for its appointed April 4 unveil and for some reason this particular Datsun, seemingly suitable for Indian market, is not going to see any of our summers, or any other of our seasons for that matter. Don’t think we will miss it, though, would we?
Interestingly, the sedan has made an uncamouflaged leak a lot many days earlier itself. And here is how it looks like!
The sketches and video of the sedan were made officially public by the company a couple of weeks ago. You can check teaser and more details here. Datsun said that they plan to make the yet-unnamed sedan a wallet-friendly as well as a fun to drive car. A tall order in any language, especially in Russian, where big and brash is considered very desirable indeed.
What Datsun is about to ease off into the Russian market is something that might please a taxi/fleet owner looking for a car delivering ‘peace of mind’ and ‘competitive ownership costs’. His passengers, on the other hand, can go buy something snazzier, if they so choose, as soon as they have paid him up for the ride.
