One-hundred and three year old Estonian company Dartz, which also encompasses the Prombron and Russo Baltique brands, has a past glorious enough to match almost any in automotive history.
Its champions included Lenin, Trotsky and Tsar Nikolay II, a trio banded together by one common trait - they were in constant danger of assassination.
Tzar Nikolay II owned several RussoBalt cars and was so impressed with their capabilities for surviving armed attacks that he organized the world's first Motorised Infantry platoon using the RussoBalt C-class car chassis and specially built armoured bodies in a variety of designs.
The PROMBRON uses a cocoon armoring system designed to keep Communist chiefs safe after the first such car was made for Stalin - as the single human responsible for most human death (any other contenders?), Stalin was possibly the most sought after target in history.
At its peak, the company's chief engineer was Igor Sikorski who led the company into aircraft design and manufacture. The company was a hotbed of innovation and its products were diverse and renowned for their robust nature. The company produced the world's first long range strategic bomber and could carry 800 kg of bombs in 1913.
RussoBalt was the first automotive manufacturer in the world to produce a 4WD vehicle in 1912, and in 2011, its bulletproof Kombat T98 and Prombron models are the world's two most expensive SUVs, with prices starting at US$1 million.
Now the company plans a production run of the Dartz Prombron Nagel, a 2000 bhp armored Sportback designed for pulling yachts.
The weight of the car means it will easily pull five ton yachts up to 15 meters in length, and with a top speed in the vicinity of 250 km/h.
Dartz is not a name with the same automotive gravitas as Bugatti, Ford, Peugeot, Renault or any of the other long established marques we are familiar with, but that's only because cultural and language barriers have prevented us from knowing the names that made history elsewhere.
Though it is a relatively small company, its history is remarkable - among those who have championed the company's cars are Lenin, Trozky, Kalinin and Voroshilov. Indeed,a 2012 Prombron model will bear the name of the founder of the Red Army.
The model will be very similar to the black and red vehicle below, although presumably without the whale penis leather. One wonders what the world's best known Marxist revolutionary might think of his name being used to
Recent projects of note for the company include a Bugatti Veyron redecorated with red chrome and snake skin, and the US$1.5 million Prombron Monaco Red Diamond Edition with its kevlar coating, diamond and ruby logos, limited edition Vertu phone with the interior tastefully lined with whale penis leather!
Very few details on the new Prombron Nagel are available just yet, though the company does make a 1000 bhp V8 and hence it's feasible that the Nagel will employ two motors.
The car is named after famous Russian motoring journalist Andrey Nagel, a larger than life character who rallied Government support for the fledgling Russian car industry in 1912, and also drove a Russo Baltique to prominence at the 1911 Monte Carlo Rally. That's him on the right.
Finally, Gizmag statistics show that our readers are smarter than we are. So do we have any educated guesses on the vexing question as to how many whales are required to produce the interior of the Prombron Monaco Red Diamond Edition?
Adding to that, the ones that are actually armored cars look like Hummers beaten with an ugly stick.
should they not tell us about a massively powerful car just because they don\'t know the fuel capacity?!
I think you are all a \'little\' envious !?!
I had to laugh when I read, \" . . . the interior \'tastefully\' lined with whale penis leather!\"
Gag me, Lady.