Vladimir Putin's new limo makes first foreign appearance

The world's eyes are focused on the presidential Trump-Putin summit held in Helsinki, Finland, and naturally, the leaders in question are chauffeured in their own, respective limos.While "The Beast," the Cadillac-based presidential ride has been hauled all over the world in the years it's seen official use, the Helsinki summit marks the first occasion that Vladimir Putin's bespoke Aurus Senat limousine has been seen outside of Russia.

The car officially debuted in May, and it's part of a big executive car rollout called "Kortezh"; in addition to the Senat limousine, there will be a shorter sedan version of it, along with a minivan and an SUV. These will follow in 2019. Certainly, it's an interesting arrangement: usually statesman vehicles have been a development of an existing mass-market car, not the other way around.

The Senat limousine is powered by a 4.4-liter V8 developed by Porsche and the car's manufacturer, the Russian NAMI institute. The nearly 22-foot-long vehicle reportedly weighs over 14,000 pounds, and it has almost 600 horsepower to move all that heft. Interestingly, the car has already been priced, and the Russian Interfax says it will cost something to the tune of $160,000 when bought privately.

The American counterparts were still the outgoing models of "The Beast," as the new generation cars are still in development. The current version has been in use since 2009, and its successor has been spotted testing for a couple years now.