Moscow Polytechnic University Graduate Shares How He Built Cars for Battle of Motors
Battle of Motors grossed more than RUB 800 million in its first three weeks in cinemas. The film’s success has been attributed to its star-studded cast, striking action sequences and gripping car chases. In an interview with Rambler/Auto, director Ilya Malanin, race car designer Igor Yermilin and stunt performer Martin Ivanov discuss how they filmed some of the most spectacular races in recent Russian cinema.
Igor Yermilin, a renowned race car designer and one of the leaders of the Marussia GT project, graduated from the Moscow Automotive Mechanical Institute (MAMI), now Moscow Polytechnic University, in 1975 with a degree in automotive engineering, specialising in vehicle design. He maintains close ties with his alma mater and continues to take part in university projects.
In the interview, he describes how the cars were built for the film, the challenges of recreating them, the equipment his team used and which car proved the most reliable on set.
“Everything I do brings me joy”
Yermilin recalls that in the summer before starting university, he changed his plans entirely and chose to study automotive engineering instead of power engineering.
“I completely changed my plans and enrolled at MAMI, the Moscow Automotive Mechanical Institute, now Moscow Polytechnic University. I’d always been fascinated by engineering. I built models of everything from ships and sailboats to all-terrain vehicles. It might be pretty cool to be an official in the energy sector today, but what I’ve spent my life doing gives me immense pleasure. I’ve never worked a day in my life because everything I do brings me joy,” Yermilin says.
Under Yermilin’s leadership, the Sports Car Laboratory at the FDR Advanced Engineering School for Technological Leadership built ten faithful, fully driveable replicas of race cars from 1909–1913. They were built from scratch and included the legendary Russo-Balt C24/55 and the car known as the “Russian Cucumber”.
