TagAZ Aquila

Once again, popular culture proves its timeless wisdom. Like with almost everything in life, sometimes it could be a great experience to do new things, or even the same ones in a different way, at least. It could be taking a different route for going to work, tasting different cuisines, or buying products from other brands. The latter example is what this article exposes. Even though many brands’ bad reputation is justified by aspects such as bad quality, Aquila wants to show the very bright side of “there’s a first time for everything”.

Have you ever heard of this automaker? It was founded in 1997 at the Russian city of Taganrog, and in the following year started to manufacture Daewoo vehicles under license. In fact, until now it has only produced other brands’ cars, such as Chery, Hyundai JAC, SsangYong and even Citroën’s – Berlingo’s first generation went rebadged as Orion M. Therefore, they deserve even bigger compliments for creating such a good-looking first car. Many young automakers try to cause better first impressions with flamboyant designs, but end up showing a car that no one would like to have. That’s what turns Aquila’s moderation interesting to see, in fact. There aren’t strangely-shaped or oversized elements, creating an overall well-proportioned style which even reminds the 1990s cars, but in a good way: sometimes, creating too complex lines results too heavy for certain vehicles. The original intention was to create a low-cost coupé for city use, but fortunately this didn’t stop TagAZ to add some items usually restricted to super sports cars, such as painting the trunk lid in piano black to resemble a central-engine car’s hood and a discreet aerodynamic kit, composed by front and side spoilers. There are some dissonances, like bubble-shaped mirrors combined to very angular doors, but the overall result is very positive.

Entering the car once again gives the impression of going back to the 1990s: doesn’t this steering wheel remind you of cars like Ferrari 456 and Lamborghini Diablo? The cabin also applies an interesting combination of black, chrome and red, but items such as the standard single-slot sound system exposes the concern with reducing the costs. On the other side, it’s always nice to see that this car brings air conditioner, electrically-operated windows, hydraulic steering, driver airbag, sound system and heated rearview mirrors as standard equipments, with optional parking sensors and rearview camera – the latter ones were added because TagAZ listened to the opinions of some press members. What could be a problem is the powertrain: Aquila starts with Mitsubishi’s 16-valve 1.6L with 105 hp with a five-speed manual gearbox, clearly underpowered for any more intense use than at the big cities. But TagAZ keeps showing confidence on its car’s success, announcing that it’ll receive another engine option later, probably a 2.0L with 150 hp, and even a two-door version with even sportier looks. This can only lead the public to have big expectations for this car’s future, which has already begun successsy: the automaker states that its production has started last week, and there are about 7,000 requests already. And how about you: would you give this Russian coupé a try?