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Could there be something closer and dear to every inhabitant of our country than the legendary Soviet cars? Many of us remember very well how these models were dissected along the roads of large cities and villages. In this article, we have collected 27 of the most significant cars from the USSR of all time.

GAZ-A

GAZ-A, manufactured under license from Ford, became the first Soviet passenger car with local modifications, which were determined based on the operation of original Ford A cars in harsh Russian conditions. The first cars were assembled at the Nizhny Novgorod Automobile Plant in August 1932, and mass production began in December of the same year. In total, 41,917 vehicles were produced by 1936.

Despite the absolute unpretentiousness to fuel quality, maintainability in any conditions and relative cheapness, GAZ-A had a rather sluggish 40-horsepower engine, unreliable suspension on transverse springs, which quickly failed, as well as a weak non-rigid frame, due to which the body the car quickly fell into disrepair.

On the basis of GAZ-A, a sedan with a closed four-door body - GAZ-6 and a specialized taxi - GAZ-3 were produced. In addition, a modification of the GAZ-4 with a cargo-passenger pickup body, GAZ-A-Aero with an aerodynamic body and GAZ-A-Limousine was made.

GAZ-M1

This model in 1935 came to replace the first mass passenger car of the USSR - GAZ-A. The GAZ-M1, by analogy with the GAZ-A, was based on the successor of Ford A - Ford 40 (Model V8 40-730) with a modification of the chassis for the harsh real conditions of Russia. The abbreviation "M-1" stands for "Molotovets-first" in honor of the chairman of the government of the USSR - V. Molotov, and the A.A. Design Bureau was engaged in the design and development. Lipgart. In total, 62,888 copies of this model were made by 1942.

The main innovation in the design of the M-1 is the all-metal body, created using the advanced technology of the Ford body department. The modernized Ford A engine was used as a power unit, but produced on the original Soviet equipment. In addition, the design was changed, as a result of which "M-1" looked more modern, even in comparison with its overseas prototype.

On the basis of "M-1" were manufactured: a version of "taxi", GAZ-415 - a pickup truck of 500 kg, GAZ-11-73 - a modernized sedan with a 6-cylinder engine GAZ-11, GAZ-61-73 - the first in the world sedan 4x4, BA-20 - light armored car and 14-15 small-scale modifications.

GAZ-12 ZIM

Most Soviet cars were not intended for private ownership. Basically, they were created for numerous high-ranking party workers and heads of state enterprises. For them, at the end of the 40s, GAZ created the GAZ-12 ZIM - a long-wheelbase six-seater large executive-class sedan.

It was produced from 1949 to 1960 and a total of 21527 units of all modifications were produced. The main design feature of the car is the load-bearing body. There was only a removable sub-engine subframe. The new car had a very high (up to 50%) degree of unification with other models already produced by the plant.

ZIM was equipped with a not very powerful 3.5-liter GAZ-11 engine with a capacity of 90 hp. For the first time in Soviet practice, a gearbox with a steering column lever received synchronizers and was installed, in addition to ZIM, on Pobeda. On the basis of ZiM (GAZ-12), the following were made: taxi - GAZ-12A, sanitary version - GAZ-12B, GAZ-12 phaeton and even railroad cars. ZiM cars were exported both to the countries of the socialist camp, and to Finland and Sweden. There were also racing versions called "Dzerzhinets" and "Avangard".

GAZ-13 "Chaika"

Another executive limousine from the Gorky Automobile Plant. In total, 3179 units were assembled at GAZ from 1959 to 1981. In 1958, The Seagull was presented in New York and Brussels. The design of the GAZ-13 was reminiscent of the 1955 Packard.

The Chaika was a revolutionary car, unlike the ZIM: it had a 195 hp V8 engine with an automatic transmission with push-button control, power steering and brakes, and electric windows. This car could not be bought in the USSR, it could only be earned.

The following modifications were made on the basis of the Chaika: GAZ-13A - for the USSR Ministry of Defense with a partition between passengers and the driver, GAZ-13B - with a Phaeton body, GAZ-13S - a sanitary version, several copies of Chaeks for filming , ceremonial phaetons. Subsequently, several cars were converted into railway carriages.

GAZ-M20 "Victory"

A truly legendary Soviet passenger car that has earned love and respect not only in the USSR, but also in many countries of the world. It was produced under license in Poland (Warsaw), North Korea and even China. In total, 241,497 vehicles were produced from 1946 to 1958 (excluding foreign production).

It was one of the world's first mass-produced passenger cars with a monocoque body of a fully pontoon type. The appearance of "Victory" in the form of a streamlined teardrop-shaped body with a flat sidewall without protruding wings was originally created by the factory designer Valentin Brodsky. Cars of the first and second series had a characteristic three-story radiator grill, which was called "Martosskaya".

The first series was produced from 1946 to 1948. The second series, the production of which lasted from 1948 to 1955, received a new gearbox from ZIM with a lever on the steering wheel, as well as an updated 4-cylinder engine with 50 hp. (since 1955 - 52 hp).

The third series - M-20V (1955 - 1958) already had a different radiator grille, a new front axle beam design, an upgraded carburetor, a new air filter, a new steering wheel and instruments of a different color.

The main upgrades of the serial version are:

- GAZ M-20B "Pobeda" in the back of a "phaeton" - with rigid safety arcs and an open top, of which 14,222 were produced.

- GAZ M-72 - an all-wheel drive version on the GAZ-69 chassis with an additionally reinforced body, increased ground clearance, mud flaps on the rear wheel arches and 6.50-16 tires with herringbone tread. For the first time for Soviet cars, a pedal-operated windshield washer was used here. 4677 pieces of M-72 were manufactured.

GAZ-21 "Volga"

It was one of the most beautiful and coveted Soviet middle-class cars, which was produced at the Gorky Automobile Plant from 1956 to 1970. A total of 639,478 copies were produced in three series and several dozen different modifications. In the design of the "Volga" the influence of the "aerostyle" of American cars such as Ford, Chevrolet, Plymouth, Kaiser was clearly guessed. But the entire mechanical part of the GAZ-21 was of the original Soviet design.

After the manufacture and testing of four prototypes in 1956, the production of the first series of GAZ-21 with a characteristic "Star" on the radiator grille began. The "first series" was first equipped with a modernized engine from "Pobeda", and since 1957 - with a modern overhead valve engine ZMZ-21A. A total of 30 thousand cars of the first series were produced.

The "second series" began production from 1959 to 1962. She had redesigned front fenders, a shark's mouth grille, a new instrument panel, windshield washers, and new wiring with a "minus" on the ground. More than 140 thousand copies were made in total.

In 1962, a "soft modernization" of the car was made, which mostly affected only the exterior. The "third series" has a new "whale whisker" grille with 37 vertical elements, new bumpers and decorative details, new interior trim made of more durable materials. The engine power was increased to 75 hp. n, and the body began to be painted with more resistant synthetic enamel. In total, the "third series" cars were produced about 470 thousand copies.

Of the numerous modifications of the Volga, we note the GAZ-22 with a wagon-type cargo-and-passenger body based on the third series car. The station wagon was also produced in the form of an "ambulance" GAZ-22B.

GAZ-24 "Volga"

The successor to the Volga GAZ-21 was one of the most notable Soviet cars in the history of the domestic auto industry - the GAZ-24 Volga. It was mass-produced from 1967 to 1985 and was produced in the amount of 1,481,561 pieces of all modifications. GAZ-24 had a new, more modern body with a lower height, which increased stability and controllability, a wider cabin, an increased glass area and improved visibility.

The "first series" GAZ-24 (1967-1977) had bumpers without fangs, a long molding under the radiator grill, it had no foglights, and parking lights were located on the chrome-plated ventilation pads of the rear pillars. Chrome caps had red circles in the center, and mud flaps - branded "deer".

The "second series" was a smooth modernization in the period 1972-78. There were "fangs" on the bumpers, fog lights, rear lights with built-in reflectors were changed, "Zhiguli" halogen headlights appeared, direction indicators on the front fenders, in the cabin - imitation wood on the panel and steering wheel, a more modern receiver, an armrest in the rear seat.

In the mid-80s, a deep modernization of the model was carried out and the GAZ-24-10 ("Third Series") appeared. The vents disappeared from this model, the door handles were recessed, a new plastic black radiator grille appeared, the inscription "Volga" disappeared from the front fenders. The car was installed on radial wide low-profile tires 205/70 R14 instead of the previous 185 bias tires. Inside: new seats, handbrake on the floor, heated rear window. And most importantly, under the hood, an improved ZMZ-4022.10 engine with a capacity of 100 hp.

The lineup also included the GAZ-24-02 with a station wagon body. This car had a seven-seater convertible saloon. On the basis of this model, a sanitary version of the Volga GAZ-24-03 and a version for a taxi were manufactured.

GAZ-67

The most legendary and combatant of all Soviet military all-wheel drive cars, the GAZ-67 has managed to fight actively since 1943, both as a command and reconnaissance vehicle, and as an artillery tractor. Until the end of the Second World War, about 8,000 GAZ-67 units were produced.

They tested a military off-road vehicle like no other car in the USSR: it covered 2200 km with a 76-mm ZIS-3 cannon weighing 1850 kg, of which 930 km on country roads and 550 km on knocked out cobblestones.

For reliability and better cross-country ability, the GAZ-67 wheelbase was shortened by 755 mm compared to the GAZ-61. The modernization of the suspension and chassis of the car was subordinated to the same qualities. In addition, the GAZ-67 was installed on tires with split-tree lugs 6.50-16 in size. Electrical equipment was used from GAZ-M1 and GAZ-MM.

The body for a quick evacuation was doorless for 4 people, plus two more could sit on the sides on the shelves of the rear fenders. There were also boxes for weapons, ammunition and a radio. The modernized GAZ-64-6004 engine was used as a power plant.

GAZ-69

The famous Soviet off-road vehicle, which received the nickname "goat" for its rigid suspension. Over the period from 1952 to 1972, more than 600 thousand cars were produced. In addition, GAZ-69 was exported to 56 countries of the world in different climatic versions. The production was initially launched at the Gorky Automobile Plant, and in 1956 production was transferred to the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant.

The car had two basic modifications: GAZ-69 with a 2-door 8-seater body and the commander's GAZ-69A with a 4-door five-seater body. In order to increase the unification and maintainability, the engine with a gearbox, steering gear, shock absorbers, brakes, optics and a battery for this machine were taken from serial Soviet cars and trucks.

Moskvich-400 / -401

This Soviet small car was available to many middle-income citizens of the USSR and often became the first car in the family. It was with her that the mobility of Soviet people began.

The first serial "Moskvich-400" left the MZMA plant in December 1947. The car had interesting and innovative solutions such as a monocoque body, aluminum engine pistons, hydraulic brakes and Dubonnet independent suspension. And at the same time, the car did not have direction indicators, and the wiper was mechanically driven from the engine camshaft.

In 1954, an improved version of the Moskvich-401 was released, which had a forced 26 hp engine. against 23 hp the "400" model has synchronizers in 3rd and 4th gears, gearshift lever on the steering column, new steering wheel. From 1949 to 1954, the Moskvich-400-420A was produced - a 4-door convertible with an open top, but with non-removable sidewalls and door frames with glass.

Moskvich-402 / -407

The first Soviet passenger car of the "thaw" period, which was completely created by Soviet engineers. The production of this model began in 1956. In just two years, 87,658 copies were produced.

Compared to its predecessor, "Moskvich-402" had a more modern exterior and a more perfect body structure. The car received a separate trunk with external access, curved windshield and rear windows, a high level of interior trim, independent, pivotless front suspension with double wishbones and 12-volt electrical equipment, as well as many other innovations. It was equipped with an M-407 engine, which worked in conjunction with a mechanical 3- and 4-speed gearbox.

The first modification of the car took place in 1958. The modified car was named "Moskvich-407" and an improved 45 hp engine. The "Moskvich-407" became the half-million MZMA car that rolled off the assembly line in December 1960. For several years in a row, half of all Moskvich-407s were exported, incl. to France, Belgium, Scandinavia, Finland, England and other countries.

In 1962, a transitional model "Moskvich-403" was released, which had a different sub-engine frame and a configuration of the engine compartment. This model also used new units that were developed for the new "Moskvich-408".

On the basis of the "407th" model, the four-wheel drive sedan "Moskvich-410 (410N)" and the all-wheel drive station wagon "Moskvich-411" were produced. These Soviet off-road vehicles were geared towards the needs of rural residents. The cars were fitted with tires of increased dimension 6.4-15 inches with a "toothed" tread pattern, and the ground clearance was increased to 220 mm.

Moskvich-412

This is perhaps one of the most famous Soviet rear-wheel drive passenger cars, which became famous for its outstanding sporting achievements at many international competitions. The car was produced from 1967 to 1977 at the MZMA / AZLK plant and from 1967 to 1998 at the Izhevsk Automobile Plant.

"412th" replaced "Moskvich-408", but in fact it was a modification with a more powerful engine. In the early years, it was very actively shipped for export. In 1969, a modernization was carried out, as a result of which the passive safety of the body was increased, seat belts, soft interior elements, a 2-circuit brake system and fangs on the bumpers were installed. The new car was designated "Moskvich-412IE".

A characteristic element of Moskvich-412 were square headlights produced by the GDR, which were also installed on the German Wartburg 353. On the basis of the base model, the Moskvich-427 station wagon and the Moskvich-434 van were created.

AZLK-2141

"Moskvich" AZLK-2141 - Soviet and Russian passenger front-wheel drive car with a hatchback body, produced from 1986 to 1998 at AZLK. A total of 716,831 copies of this model were produced.

AZLK-2141 has a layout with a longitudinal arrangement of the power unit UZAM-331.10 and VAZ-216-70, which worked in tandem with a 5-speed gearbox of an original design with primary and secondary shafts located at the same height. As a result, it was possible to lower the overall height of the power unit and lower the bonnet line. Along with the base 1.5 and 1.6-liter engines, VAZ and UZAM engines of 1.7 and 1.8 liters were used.

Structurally and externally, the car looked like a real breakthrough compared to previous models: a 5-speed gearbox, fourteen-inch wheels, a relatively large wheelbase, a wide hatchback-type body, a MacPherson-type front suspension and a dependent rear suspension with a stabilizer and a Panhard transverse rod, rack and pinion steering and integrated "volumetric" plastic bumpers. The body itself was estimated to have a fairly decent aerodynamic coefficient Cx \u003d 0.35.

In 1997, the modernization "Moskvich-2141-02" "Svyatogor" appeared with a more powerful Renault 2.0 liter engine and an updated appearance. Also in 1997, a small-scale M-2141R5 "Yuri Dolgoruky" with a hatchback body extended by 200 mm and a similarly elongated sedan Moskvich-2142R5 "Prince Vladimir" appeared.

ZIS-110

This impressive car from the USSR was a real large and solid seven-seater limousine with a length of 6 meters and a mass of 2.5 tons. Its entire exterior resembled the limousines of the American company Packard.

The ZIS-110 was equipped with an inline eight-cylinder engine with a volume of 6 liters and a capacity of 140 liters. with., paired with a 3-speed manual transmission. The limousine was primarily intended for the top party leadership of the USSR and well-known workers in culture and science. Its production lasted from 1945 to 1961 at the Stalin automobile plant. A total of 2089 cars of all modifications were produced.

The car was technically fully equipped with: a lever for switching a 3-speed gearbox on the steering column, unusual for Soviet cars, hydraulic valve tappets and a hypoid main gear, which provided the ZIS-110 with a high level of acoustic comfort; independent pivot suspension of the front wheels on double wishbones; luxurious interior equipment, including electro-hydraulic windows, high-end radio, heating and ventilation system.

Basic modifications: ZIS-110A - ambulance car; ZIS-110B - phaeton with a folding fabric roof; ZIS-110P - four-wheel drive vehicle; ZIS-115 is an armored version.

ZAZ-965A "Zaporozhets"

ZAZ-965A "Zaporozhets" was a real Soviet "people's car", produced at the Kommunar plant in Zaporozhye from 1962 to 1969. A total of 322,166 of these cars were produced.

It was equipped with a rear-mounted MeMZ-966 air-cooled engine with a capacity of 27 hp. and a volume of 887 cc. In 1965, with a new carburetor, the power was increased to 30 hp. The car was exported to European countries through the Belgian exporter Jalta, and the cars went to Finland under the Yalta brand.

The design was based on the Italian Fiat 600 due to its successful and progressive body structure for mass production. Unlike Fiat 600 "ZAZ-965A" had a three-volume body of the "two-door sedan" type with a clearly defined volume of the trunk of the engine compartment in the form of a "hump" and a large rear window, unified with the windshield.

The suspension was on double trailing arms with two transverse torsion bars as elastic elements. The car relied on the road using 13-inch wheels with a high profile, which ensured acceptable cross-country ability. There were also modifications for the disabled and a mail van for collecting letters with a right-hand drive.

ZAZ-966 "Zaporozhets"

The successor to ZAZ-965A was the model with the index 966, which was produced from 1966 to 1972. ZAZ-966 had an independent front suspension of a parallelogram type, with a guide device in the form of double trailing arms and two transverse plate-type torsion bars as the main elastic element. Also "966" got a new, more advanced rear independent suspension.

Since 1967, the car has been equipped with an updated 1197 cc engine "forty" with significantly better traction characteristics and an increased resource. The rear body had the characteristic "ears" of air traps for cooling the engine compartment. For this element ZAZ-966 was nicknamed "Eared".

The fully synchronized forward row transmission was successful and reliable, allowing it to work with more powerful engines. The semi-axles with rather "delicate" rubber anthers of the internal hinges were not very successful design elements.

ZAZ-968 "Zaporozhets"

The "968th" model was a further development and modernization of the ZAZ-966, it appeared in 1971 and was produced until 1994. It was also a legendary Soviet car of the 1st group of a small class.

At first, the ZAZ-968 differed from its predecessor only in other reversing lights. Only in 1973, an upgraded model ZAZ-968A appeared, which already had a narrow molding instead of a false radiator grill, new seats, a 2-circuit brake system, a new instrument panel and an ignition lock with an anti-theft device.

ZAZ-968M "Zaporozhets"

In 1979, another modernization appeared - ZAZ-968M, which had rectangular rear lights instead of round ones, a new convex front panel with a middle black stripe and the inscription "968M", as well as rectangular direction indicators. In addition, this modification, along with the base, was equipped with a 50-horsepower MeMZ-968BE engine.

The engine cooling system was structurally changed, where air began to flow through a stamped grille in the hood lid: the "ears" were replaced with small "gills", where the right grill was used for air intake, and the left one for exhaust.

VAZ-2101

It was one of the most popular and popular Soviet small cars produced at the Volga Automobile Plant. It can be called a real "people's car" of the Soviet era.

VAZ 2101 was the "firstborn" of the classic family of VAZ cars, which was produced until 2012. Production of the 2101 model lasted from 1970 to 1988 and over 18 years 4.85 million units of VAZ-2101 of all modifications were produced.

The Italian FIAT 124 was chosen as a prototype for the VAZ-2101, but in the Soviet car the rear brakes were replaced with drum brakes for driving conditions on bad roads, the front suspension was strengthened and completely replaced with a more modern rear suspension, the cardan gear was modified, the clutch was reinforced and improved design of synchronizers in the checkpoint. Modifications have also been made in terms of comfort and safety. In total, over 800 changes were made.

The base model was powered by a 1.2-liter 62-horsepower engine. The car was also called "Zhiguli", "unit" and "penny". The main modifications of the model "2101" can be called: VAZ 21011 "Zhiguli -1300" - equipped with a more powerful engine with a volume of 1.3 liters 69 hp. with some modifications to the body and interior structure; VAZ 2102 - station wagon, is a licensed version of the Fiat 124 Familiare with numerous changes and modifications. A total of 666,989 copies of such station wagons were produced. At the VAZ-2102, the suspension springs and shock absorbers were reinforced, which made it possible to maintain a carrying capacity of 250 kg with two passengers. There was also a version of the VAZ-2102E / 2801 "Electro" electric van, produced in a total of 47 units.

VAZ-2105

This is a further development of VAZ-ovsky models of "classics". The VAZ-2105 is the longest-standing Soviet car in the Zhiguli family - 31 years from 1979 to 2010. It was also one of the cheapest cars on the Russian market.

VAZ-2105 in comparison with "2101" had more angular body shapes, replaced by chrome parts for matte black plastic or painted metal. Here, for the first time, a toothed belt of an engine timing drive was used instead of a chain; for the first time, parking and fog lights, turn signals, brake lights and reverse lights were combined under one lamp. In addition, the vents on the side windows were removed, but blowing of the side windows and heating of the rear window were added.

A total of 2,091,000 copies of the VAZ-2105 were produced. The basic configuration used a 1.29 liter engine with 63.6 hp. with 4-speed gearbox. But there were modifications with a 5-speed gearbox and more powerful engines: 1.45 l - 71.4 hp, 1.57 l - 80 and 82 hp. For law enforcement agencies, they even installed a VAZ-4132 Wankel rotary piston engine - 1.3 liters, 140 hp. For export, the VAZ-2105 was shipped under the name LADA RIVA.

VAZ-2106

This is a Soviet-Russian passenger car produced by VAZ from 1976 to 2006. In total, 4.3 million units of this model were produced at various factories during this time, which makes the VAZ-2106 one of the most massive domestic cars in history.

The exterior of the "2106" was developed using the then popular black plastics with a modified front fascia, rear trunk panel, bumper, wheel covers, side direction indicators, ventilation grilles and even a factory badge. In the basic configuration, the 2103 engine was used, the displacement of which was increased to 1.57 liters, the torque and power increased by 12% - up to 78 hp.

“Six” became the three- and four-millionth car produced by VAZ. VAZ-2106 for a long time remained the most prestigious model in the Zhiguli line, having an assessment of the car of increased comfort and reliability.

VAZ-1111 "Oka"

This Soviet and Russian microcar was produced at VAZ, KamAZ and SeAZ from 1987 to 2008, and during this period about 700 thousand copies were produced. The main prototypes on which the Soviet designers relied when developing the Oka were Japanese “kei-cars” such as the Daihatsu Cuore (L55), Subaru 700 and Honda Today.

Engine for VAZ-1111 29.7 hp created on the basis of the VAZ-2108 engine, taking the middle two cylinders with pistons moving synchronously. Such an engine was unofficially named "half past seven", and according to official documentation it was assigned the number "1111". The body of the "3-door sedan" type was self-supporting, with box-section front fenders as load-bearing elements.

The cooling system was taken from the VAZ-2108. The original carburetor was used in the power system. Front suspension - MacPherson strut with anti-roll bar. The rear suspension is a flexible transverse beam. The car was mounted on small 12-inch wheels with three nuts. More than a third of the parts were borrowed from VAZ-2101, VAZ-2103, VAZ-2108, VAZ-2121.

After the cessation of production of Oka at VAZ in 1995, due to its unprofitability, production was moved to Serpukhov, where the SeAZ plant began to produce SeAZ-1111, and to Naberezhnye Chelny at ZMA, where KamAZ-1111 was created. These models were already equipped with a more powerful 0.75-liter 33-horsepower VAZ-11113 engine - half of the 1.5-liter VAZ-21083 engine.

Production at KamAZ was discontinued in 2006 after the purchase of the enterprise by Severstal-auto, and at SeAZ in 2007 the production of Oka with a domestic engine was stopped and completely re-equipped to use a Chinese 3-cylinder 1-liter unit with a capacity of 53 liters. with .. An attempt was also made to produce pickups and vans of the SeAZ-11116-50 family. But in 2008, production was stopped at SeAZ due to its unprofitability.

UAZ-452

Legendary Soviet all-wheel drive utility vehicle produced at the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant from 1965 to the present. For its external cubic appearance with rounded edges, the UAZ-452 was popularly nicknamed "loaf", and in the cargo side version - "tadpole".

The UAZ-452, in addition to the basic "van", has a large number of different modifications, the main of which are: UAZ-452A - an ambulance that is able to get off-road to the most remote places; UAZ-452V - nine-seater minibus; UAZ-452D is a truck with a double cab and a wooden body.

In 1985, the UAZ-452 and its modifications received new indexes. So the all-wheel drive minibus began to be designated - UAZ-2206, and the ambulance - UAZ-3962. On the basis of the UAZ-452, they also created a special armored vehicle for transporting valuables.

UAZ-469

The all-terrain vehicle UAZ-469 became the successor to the legendary predecessor GAZ-69. It was produced at the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant for more than 30 years from 1972 to 2003. Since 1985, after modernization, the car began to be produced under the name UAZ-3151.

As conceived by the designers, the UAZ-469 should be a reliable, durable and all-passable utility vehicle on the tested units of domestic "GAZ" cars. UAZ-469 had a 5-seater body with a removable canvas top and side glazing, as well as a folding rear fifth door for loading cargo. The body was mounted on a rigid and durable spar frame.

The ground clearance reached 300 mm for the version with "military" bridges and 220 mm for the civilian "UAZ". Disconnectable hubs were mounted on the front axle, which made it possible to turn off the front axle and reduce fuel consumption when driving on the highway. Later, quick-disconnect or self-locking couplings began to be used. Since 1983, the UMZ-414 engine with 77 hp has been installed on the machine.

The UAZ-3151 version, modernized in 1985, had additionally: a hydraulic clutch release drive, new lighting devices, a windshield washer, high-reliability drive axles, a dual-circuit brake system, an UMZ-417 engine with an increased power of up to 80 hp. and a number of other changes.

The main modifications of the UAZ-469 include: UAZ-469B - a civilian version with a ground clearance of 220 mm; UAZ-469BG - medical option; UAZ-469AP - a patrol police version with a hard roof. UAZ-469 in 2010 set a world record for passenger car capacity - 32 people with a total weight of 1900 kg fit inside.

IZH-2715

IZH-2715 (or as it was called - "Kabluchok") Soviet and Russian utility vehicle serially produced from 1972 to 2001 at the Izhevsk Automobile Plant. For almost 30 years 2,317,493 copies of cars of this model were produced.

The truck was created on the basis of Moskvich-412 with a two-seater cabin and a cargo van or with a passenger compartment. IZH-2715 in the USSR was the only light delivery vehicle for supplying small trade organizations. Its carrying capacity was 450-500 kg. And because of its frequent use in the transportation of confectionery, IZH-2715 was also called "Pie" and "Pirozhkovoz".

The main modifications of the IZH-2715 include: the base one with an all-metal van, IZH-27151 in the back of a pickup truck with a tailgate and IZH-27156 — a six-seat passenger-and-freight option for short-term transportation of passengers. The car was shipped for export to Latin American countries (for example, to Panama), as well as to Finland under the name "Elite PickUp".

The IZH-2715 was powered by a standard UZAM-412E 75 hp engine. and derated - 68 hp. in the version for gasoline A-76.

LuAZ-969 "Volyn"

LuAZ-969 "Volyn" was a small Soviet-Ukrainian off-road vehicle, produced at an automobile plant in the city of Lutsk from 1966 to 2002. The 969th was the first SUV that could be bought for personal use, since it was specially created for the needs of the villagers.

The car had a very functional, uncomplicated design and the most minimal comfort. It was equipped with two types of MeMZ-969 engines with a volume of 890 cm³ and a power of 30 hp. and MeMZ-969A, with a volume of 1197 cm³, with a capacity of 40 hp. The initial production copies of the LuAZ-969 were only front-wheel drive, but with a power take-off shaft to drive attachments or trailed equipment. The four-wheel drive version of "LuAZ" began to be produced in 1971.

The body structure was semi-bearing with an integrated spar frame. The layout of the interior is even visually strongly displaced forward to ensure constant loading of the front axle in order to provide better traction on the ground. In the all-wheel drive modification, rotation is transmitted from the power take-off shaft from the gearbox to the rear axle gearbox using a thin shaft that has no hinges. There was no center differential in the design. Suspension - torsion bar on trailing arms. Drum brakes without booster.

The main modifications include: LuAZ-969A with a more powerful 40-horsepower engine and LuAZ-969M with a new shape and body finish, as well as an updated aggregate part.

RAF-2203 "Latvia"

Soviet minibus produced at the Riga Automobile Plant "RAF" from 1976 to 1997. It has successfully replaced its predecessor RAF-977. RAF-2203 became the most massive and almost the only minibus model in the USSR. It was produced in 18 thousand copies a year with a total end result of 274,000 cars of all modifications.

The minibus, according to the original design of the designers, was to be completely unified with the units of existing Soviet cars. The main elements are taken from the Volga GAZ-24, wheel covers from the GAZ-21, the dashboard from the GAZ-24, chrome mirrors and taillights from the Moskvich-412 car.

The engine was installed as a power unit from the "Volga" GAZ-24, which was located in the cabin between the front seats. Front suspension independent, spring, wishbone. Shock absorbers are hydraulic, telescopic, with reinforced springs. The rear suspension is dependent on semi-elliptical longitudinal springs. The salon was divided into two compartments: for the driver and front passenger, who sat on the front track covers and the passenger compartment for 10 seats with a passage to the rear row of seats.

The main modifications of RAF-2203 include: RAF-2203 basic passenger minibus for 10 seats, ambulance car - RAF-22031 with several subsequent upgrades, fixed-route taxi - RAF-22032 with a derated engine ZMZ-2401, as well as specialized minibuses of the RAF GAI -22033 and fire-fighting staff vehicles RAF-22034. In total, more than 90 different modifications were produced on the basis of RAF-2203.

Hello dear readers, today we will present to your attention the best cars of the USSR. As you yourself understand, our TOP will include those cars that were popular among the population of the Soviet Union back in the middle of the 20th century. Perhaps you will meet some of them on the modern roads of the country. The list will be quite large, so I propose to go straight to its consideration.

ZAZ 968

The well-known "Zaporozhets" was quite popular during the Soviet Union. In particular, this concerns the ZAZ 968 model. It was the dream of many. It was produced right up to 1994, but with the advent of more advanced technology, it gradually went down in history. Special modifications of this Zaporozhye giant were created, which were specially intended for the disabled. Engine power of 30 liters. from. in those years it was quite enough for traveling around the city. In those days, the first place was not speed, but quality. ZAZ 968 fully met the needs of the inhabitants of the Soviet Union.

Moskvich 412

This is the ninth place in our ranking. Even today, you can find this model on the roads of our country. The peak of popularity of the steel horse came in the mid-70s. The 1.5-liter engine capacity was quite enough to compete even with foreign brands, which were quite rare at that time. Engine power - 72 hp. from. It was pretty good for that time. Our country in the 70s even exported the model to foreign countries. Moreover, the geography of distribution was wide enough.

VAZ 2107

The famous seven, which has not been published for just a couple of years, is in 8th place in our rating. In the early 80s, this particular brand was one of the most popular. Then it was done conscientiously. Engine power - 74 hp from. It was just perfect for that time. At the same time, the car was very economical, and consumed only 7 liters of gasoline per 100 km. The design for that time was simply progressive. Today a used model can be purchased at any car market for a reasonable price, but since the 90s the quality of the brand has deteriorated significantly.

GAZ 12 ZIM

Just a luxurious car, which was produced in the Soviet Union in the period from 1948 to 1960. At that time, it was the peak of its popularity. Today he can only be found in the collection of wealthy oligarchs. The brand engine ran on 72-m gasoline. The engine power was enough for the then city. This piece of art was sometimes used as a taxi.

VAZ 2103

Sixth place goes to VAZ 2103. A typical Lada, which was developed in conjunction with the Italian company Fiat. Produced at the Volga Automobile Plant in the period from 1972 to 1984, the four-cylinder engine was capable of accelerating to a hundred in 16 seconds. Its capacity was 77 liters. from. Today, cars can be found on the streets of our country, but every year there are fewer and fewer representatives of this family.

VAZ 2108

The top five is opened by the VAZ 2108, which in the mid-80s made a revolutionary revolution in terms of design. After that, Soviet brands began to have a very respectable look. Years of release - 1984-2003. The standard engine had a capacity of 64 hp. from. At the same time, up to a speed of 100 km / h, it allowed it to accelerate in 15 seconds. A very economical brand that consumed only 5.4 l / 100 km.

GAZ 2410

Our beloved Volga is on the 4th position of our list. It was produced for a relatively short time, only 7 years, starting in 1985 and ending in 1992. The 2.5 liter engine had a capacity of 100 hp. from. For that time, very good indicators. At the same time, a person bought at his disposal a fairly roomy steel horse. There is even a limousine.

Volga 21

Volga 21 opens the top three. It was produced from 1955 to 1970. The iron horse was produced in several modifications at once. At the same time, it was available to the middle class of the population of the Soviet Union. Perhaps that is why it became popular. The 2.5-liter engine had a capacity of 75 liters. from. Today, the car can be found on the roads of the country, but this happens less and less. The model cannot be called economical. It consumes 15 l / 100 km in mixed mode.

In continuation of the post about the first Russian cars, today we will talk about the cars of the pre-war period.

Prombron C 24/45 1923

Made from Russo-Balta components preserved in Fili. Number of seats - 6; engine - four-stroke, carburetor, number of cylinders - 4, working volume - 4501 cm3, compression ratio - 4, power - 45 hp. from. / 33 kW at 1800 rpm; number of gears - 4; main gear - bevel gears; tire size - 880 120 mm; length - 5040 mm; width - 1650 mm; height - 1980 mm; base - 3200 mm; track - 1365 mm; curb weight - 1850 kg; the highest speed is 75 km / h. Circulation - 10 pcs.

AMO-F15SH

A light car on the chassis of the AMO F15 truck. Number of seats - 6; four-stroke engine, carburetor, number of cylinders - 4, working volume - 4396 cm3, power - 35 liters. from. at 1400 rpm; number of gears - 4; main gear - bevel gears; Length - 4550 mm; width - 1760 mm; height - 2250 mm; base - 3070 mm; track - 1400 mm; curb weight - about 2100 kg; the highest speed is 42 km / h.

US-1 1927

Most auto historians traditionally consider the AMO F-15 truck, produced at the future ZiS, and then ZiL from 1924 to 1931, to be the first Soviet car. Other researchers consider auto-antiquities to be the first Soviet car "Prombron". For some time this car was manufactured at the plant of the same name in the then Moscow region Fili on equipment for the production of Russo-Balt, exported in 1915 from the front-line Riga. However, the AMO F-15 truck was a copy of the Italian prototype, and the passenger car "Prombron" was developed before the revolution. Therefore, calling them purely Soviet cars is not entirely correct. In this regard, only one sample of automotive technology can claim the title of the first purely Soviet car. This is the NAMI-1 car, created in 1927 by the designer Konstantin Andreevich Sharapov.

SHARAPOV Konstantin Andreevich SHARAPOV Konstantin Andreevich, born in 1899, Russian, born in Moscow. Graduated from the Lomonosov Institute for auto business. Candidate of technical sciences, chief engineer of MATI USSR, head of the department. The creator of the first Soviet small cars NAMI-1 with an air-cooled engine and NAMI-2.

Chief designer of the NATI bureau of passenger cars. two children. 04/23/1939 arrested in Moscow. OSO NKVD USSR sentenced to 8 years in labor camp. He did not admit his guilt. He served in Kolyma. Beginning workshop for forging cast iron at a car plant in Kutaisi. 01/19/1949 arrested. 03/09/1949 CCO MGB USSR, protocol No. 15, sentenced to a settlement in Turukhansk, where he arrived on 06/26/1949. Relocated on 10/11/1949 to the Yenisei district of KK. In February 1952 in exile in Yeniseisk. 02.12.1953 released from exile, left for Moscow. 04.11.1953 rehabilitated. Personal file No. 5944, arch. No. Р-7872 at the TC ATC KK. He died in 1979.

The history of this car is as follows: in 1926, student Kostya Sharapov began writing his graduation project. However, he could not choose his theme. In the end, he settled on a project for a super-cheap car intended for operation in the Soviet outback. The scientific supervisors liked the diploma project so much that Sharapov, out of any competition, was accepted as a leading engineer at NAMI, and it was decided to implement the diploma project in metal. With the help of NAMI engineers Lipgart and Charnko, the diploma project was revised in relation to production requirements, and in 1927 the Moscow plant "Spartak", which still stands on Pimenovskaya (now Krasnoproletarskaya) street near the Novoslobodskaya metro station, produced the first sample a car named after the institute NAMI. Assuming that the institute would continue to introduce new cars into production, the sample was soon renamed NIMI-1.
Technically, the car is not just extremely simple. It should be called not even simple, but simplified. An ordinary pipe with a diameter of 235 mm was used as a backbone frame. An independent rear suspension was attached to it at the back, and an air-cooled two-cylinder engine with V-shaped cylinders was suspended in front. The working volume of this engine was 1160 cubic meters. cm, which made it super-small at that time - the then small cars Ford T or Russo-Balt K 12/20 had twice the working volume. This engine was a truncated version of the Cirrus five-cylinder radial aircraft engine. Such an engine was used on the AIR-1 aircraft, which appeared in 1927. Therefore, the V-shaped connecting rod, common for both pistons, was worn on one single crankshaft journal. The diameter of each of the cylinders was 84 millimeters, and the piston stroke was 105 mm. At 2800 rpm, the engine produced 22 hp. The compression ratio was extremely small and amounted to 4.5 units.
This made it possible to use the lowest grade gasoline that could ever be vaporized in a carburetor. There was no gas pump in the car, and fuel came from the tank by gravity. There was not only an electric starter, but even a battery - the engine was successfully started with a crank. There was no dashboard in the car. The speed was measured by eye, and the driver determined the engine speed by ear, since the loud hissing sound of the engine quite allowed it. By the way, it was for this hissing sound that the car was nicknamed "Primus". Now, probably, many of you have a rather poor idea of \u200b\u200bwhat a primus is. Therefore, for those of our readers who did not manage to catch the fun times of the NEP, it should be explained that a primus is a fuel-free heating device that runs on gasoline, kerosene or gas, operating on the principle of burning fuel vapors in a mixture with air.
In its structure, it resembles a blowtorch, but, unlike the latter, the flame of its torch is directed upward. Above its burner itself is a ring-shaped wire stand on which you can put a kettle, pot or frying pan. In addition, in those days, rooms were even heated with a primus, since there was no central heating yet, and a cubic yard of firewood was more expensive than a bucket of gasoline. Now its device will seem primitive, but it was the cheaper primus that displaced the more perfect samovar from everyday life, in which, by the way, they brewed not only tea, but also borscht.

Let's return, however, to NAMI-1. There was no trunk in the car, and the spare wheel was attached directly to the back of the rear seat. And a toolbox was installed on the car's step. Since the car was intended for use in the USSR, the box was equipped with a massive padlock. There were only two doors: front on the left, back on the right. With the right steering wheel, the driver had to drive the front passenger off the seat to get out. Soon a couple more copies were made. These prototypes successfully made the run from Moscow to Sevastopol and back.
The absence of a differential, independent suspension of the rear wheels and a high ground clearance of 265 mm provided NAMI-1 with excellent cross-country ability on the roads of that time, and the limited number of parts and the absence of complex technical devices contributed to the fact that the car almost never broke down - it was practically nothing. After the successful completion of the run, the Spartak plant in January 1928 began mass production of these machines, which lasted three years. In total, 412 vehicles were manufactured during these three years. In the tightness of Moscow streets, which often did not have a hard surface, NAMI-1 easily overtook clumsy American cars with large engines. It delivered passengers and light cargo faster to any part of the city, overcoming traffic jams with less difficulty. By the way, the problem of Moscow traffic jams did not arise in the 21st century.
It began to manifest itself by the mid-30s. It was then that the Nepmen, who had grown rich on the deferred demand that had accumulated over the years of War Communism, began to subscribe in droves from abroad through Vneshposyltorg a wide variety of cars. Soon, the streets of Moscow and Petrograd were filled with Rolls-Royces, Mercedes, Hispano-Suizas and less thoroughbred foreign auto-miracles. Among all this variety of automobiles, cars and draft cabs scurried about. At the same time, the drivers of the mares did not recognize any traffic rules.
In response to the sound signals grunting from the enema-like horns, they gracefully watered the drivers with an exquisite multi-story mat. NIMI-1, unlike all these Rolls-Royces, Mercedes and Hispano-Suiz, was considered not a bourgeois machine, but a proletarian one. The cabbies took him for their own, and, hearing the hiss of the "primus", politely avoided and made way. In 1930, when the construction of the future GAZ was already underway and the ZiS was being re-equipped, 160 copies produced in a year were considered insufficient. However, the expansion of production was hampered by the tightness of the territory located within the boundaries of a large city.
Then the engineers of the plant proposed to transfer the assembly of cars to a specialized enterprise, which would receive the chassis from "Spartak", and the body from another plant. This project promised to bring the production of cars up to 4.5 thousand per year and reduce their cost. However, on the way was a licensed Ford, which we called GAZ-A, and the government considered the further production of NAMI-1 inappropriate. To date, two complete NAMI-1 vehicles and two chassis without bodies have survived. One copy and one chassis are on display at the Polytechnic Museum, another NAMI-1 car is kept in the museum of the Nizhny Novgorod plant "Hydromash", and the second chassis is in the Technical Center of the Moscow newspaper "Autoreview".

NATI-2 1932

Number of seats - 4; four-stroke engine, carburetor, air-cooled. The number of cylinders is 4, the working volume is 1211 cm3, the compression ratio is 4.5, the power is 22 liters. from. at 2800 rpm; number of gears - 3; main gear - bevel gears; length - 3700 mm; width - 1490 mm; height - 1590 mm; base - 2730 mm; track - 1200 mm; curb weight - 750 kg; speed - 75 km / h Circulation - 5 pcs.

GAZ-A 1932

On December 6, 1932, eleven months after the launch of the Gorky Automobile Plant, the first GAZ-A cars rolled off its assembly line. These very simple and unpretentious cars quickly won the hearts of drivers.

The history of this car began in overseas Detroit, when Henry Ford finally realized that his Ford T was hopelessly outdated. Until recently, Ford believed that his T would stand on the assembly line for at least a hundred years, until mankind invented more capacious batteries. than his car's gas tank. Then, in about 2008, according to Ford's forecasts, humanity should have switched to electric cars. However, reality forced Ford to remove the Model T from the assembly line and replace it with Model A.

Moving on to Model A, Ford decided, first of all, to replace the engine - the 23 horsepower of the last Ford T was clearly not enough for the new conditions. However, the new engine was a slightly larger engine from the previous model. The cylinder diameter was bored from 92.5 to 98.43 mm - the center distances of the very rationally designed engine of model T were not allowed to bore further.The piston stroke had to be increased from 101.6 mm to 107.95 mm, which entailed the creation of a new crankshaft and new connecting rods. As a result, the working volume has grown to 200.7 cubic inches (in metric terms - 3285 cubic cm). Power was 40 horsepower. many progressive solutions were also used in the design. For example, instead of wooden spokes, they began to install metal spokes in the wheels, and instead of an oil clutch, a dry single-disk one. The latter excluded cases of collision of the car with the driver.
The fact is that the Ford T car had one dangerous character trait - sometimes, due to the coldness of the oil, the clutch turned on by itself and the driver who started the car with the crank was crushed by his own car. Therefore, the instructions for the Ford T stated: "before starting the car, turn on the reverse gear." True, since 1920, when they began to install electric starters on Ford T, the need for this point of the instructions disappeared, but switching to Model A, Ford decided to leave the starter and battery only as an option in order to keep within the set $ 385.

Following the same production and marketing scheme as with the Model T, Ford made a Ford-AA light truck out of a Ford-A passenger car, just as it did a Ford TT out of a Ford T. There was even a three-axle Ford AAA model, which inherited the Ford TTT. It was this universal and well-unified series that the Soviet leadership liked, and it was this car, as quite simple, reliable and technologically advanced, it was decided to make the main Soviet passenger car. The then Soviet Union, of course, needed more trucks. Therefore, having released the first batch of NAZ-A for the opening of the plant, the next was prepared only by December 6, when Nizhny Novgorod had already become Gorky, and NAZ had already become GAZ.

Let's start, as always, with the look. GAZ-A looked like a typical car of the turn of the 20s - 30s of the XX century. The bumper of the car was made of two elastic steel strips. The nickel-plated radiator was decorated with the first emblem of the Gorky plant - a black oval with the letters "GAZ". Wire-spoke wheels without threaded nipples for adjusting the tension - the strength and reliability of the design.

The slightly yellowish color of the windshield indicates that it is a triplex - two layers of glass with a third padded - an elastic film, once transparent, but yellowed from time to time. Upon impact, the triplex was covered with a thick layer of cracks, but did not crumble into separate crystals, like modern auto glass. There is a gas tank plug in front of the windshield. It is located on the rear wall of the engine compartment: fuel entered the carburetor by gravity. Thus, there was no need for a gas pump, in those years still a very imperfect device. The gas tank on the GAZ-A almost hung over the knees of the driver and passenger. In the lower part of the tank there was a faucet, which the driver shut off when leaving.
The faucet often leaked, which posed a serious threat from the point of view of fire safety. On the black ebony steering wheel, there are two levers next to the signal button. One is used to manually control the ignition advance (today the machine does the work), and the other is to set a constant supply of "gas". The speedometer does not have the usual arrow - in the window of the device, the numbers on the drum are moving, indicating the speed. The numbers on the petrol gauge are printed on a scale connected directly to the float in the petrol tank.

Just below the tiny circular accelerator pedal, there was a heel support for the right foot - the elongated pedal appeared on cars much later.

If we could disassemble the entire car down to the last boat, we would see only 21 rolling bearings (there are about two hundred in a modern car), of which seven are roller bearings, and the rollers are wound from a thick steel strip. But the crankshaft bearings were plain bearings, and not the same as they are now, with thin-walled quick-change bimetallic liners that served * VO-100 thousand km. The material for them was an alloy called babbitt, which was poured into the "bed" of the bearing directly in the cylinder block or in the connecting rod. To fit the surface of such a bearing to the crankshaft journals, the babbitt layer was scraped. But even the most careful fitting did not save from the fact that after 30-40 thousand km of run, the bearings had to be refilled.

GAZ-3 - the first domestic serial passenger car with a closed body Much in the design of GAZ-A seems surprising these days: the band hand brake of the rear wheels, the absence of a device for adjusting the valves (if necessary, the valve stem was slightly cut off), very small (4, 2) the compression ratio, due to which in hot weather, when conditions for evaporation of liquid are favorable, the engine could even run on kerosene.

Two transverse springs were used for the suspension of the wheels, and the rear one had an unusual shape of a strongly stretched "written" letter L. GAZ-A was produced mainly with an open five-seater four-door body of the "phaeton" type. In case of bad weather, it was possible to raise the tarpaulin awning and fasten the tarpaulin sidewalls with celluloid windows over the doors. In 1934 a pilot batch of cars equipped with closed sedan bodies was produced. The assembly of such bodies on the conveyor, in which the mutual adjustment of many complex in shape, and most importantly, easily deformable parts, was required, proceeded very slowly, and they were abandoned. But the demand for closed cars existed, in order to satisfy it, the Moscow plant "Arsmkuz" began to mount closed four-door bodies for Moscow taxis on the GAZ-A chassis.

From 1934 to 1937, the Gorky Automobile Plant produced GAZ-4 pickups (shown in the photo on the left). They used a two-seater cabin from a GAZ-AA truck, behind which was a metal body for 0.5 tons of cargo. A door was made in the rear wall of the body (for loading mail, food, small batches of industrial goods). Therefore, the spare wheel migrated to the pocket of the front left fender. By the way, GAZ-4 postal "pickups" were met on the streets of Moscow even in the late 1940s. It must be said that the GAZ-A chassis was used not only for "pickups" or taxis. It mounted the bodies of D-8 armored cars, which were used by the Red Army units. The GAZ-A car was produced from 1932 to 1936 at the Gorky Automobile Plant, and from 1933 to 1935, in addition, at the KIM plant in the then Moscow Region. Textile workers, where after the war the 400th Moskvich will be produced on captured equipment. A total of 41,917 cars were produced, but already in 1934 on the GAZ-A conveyor they began to replace the famous "emka" GAZ-M1.

L-1 1933

Number of seats - 7. Length - 5.3 m. 8-cylinder engine, working volume 5750 cm3, power - 105 hp. at 2900 rpm. Speed \u200b\u200b115 km / h. Circulation - 6 pcs.

GAZ-M1 1936

This car was the most massive Soviet car of the mid-twentieth century. 62,888 copies produced at the Molotov Gorky Automobile Plant filled the whole country in the 30s-40s, and made this car one of the symbols of victorious socialism, because it was with the announcement that socialism was built in the USSR that the appearance in the country coincided this car. You probably already understood that we are talking about the GAZ M1 car, popularly nicknamed "Emkoy".

Despite the fact that this car was built in the country of victorious socialism, its roots were the most bourgeois. Most auto historians and the absolute majority of auto journalists believe that the prototype of this car was the American Ford B modification of the F40.

Indeed, in accordance with the agreement in force at the time, the American side transferred the technical documentation for the F40, equipped with a V-eight-cylinder engine of 3285 cc. cm (200.7 cubic inches), but we allegedly could not master the production of the "eight" and put on Emka a forced motor from its predecessor GAZ-A. However, if you dig deeper into auto history, a small nuance will emerge that casts doubt on the official and generally accepted version. It turns out, having received the technical documentation of the F40 model, the Gorky designers did not even think about mastering it in production. From the very beginning, the car was recognized as unsuitable for our roads, and its development required a thorough revision of technical documentation - just one conversion from inch to metric dimensions would take at least a year.

However, the newly appointed chief designer of GAZ, Andrei Aleksandrovich Lipgart, was a supporter of the fastest introduction into production of a new passenger model. He drew attention to the fact that a European version of Ford B is being produced at the European branch of Ford in Germany. This car was called the Ford Rheinland and was already fully adapted by German designers for European conditions. In particular, German engineers-minders, instead of installing the expensive and gluttonous "eight", improved the old Ford engine from the Ford model A. They changed the valve timing, raised the compression ratio of the working mixture to 4.6 units (for Ford-A, this parameter was 4.2), increased valve lift by 0.8 mm, widened the flow sections of the channels in the carburetor, and also modernized the lubrication and cooling systems, as a result of which the engine began to produce instead of 40 hp. 50 horsepower. The suspension was also strengthened and the body rigidity increased. That is why Lipgart suggested contacting the Germans and buying technical documentation from them.

However, there were political obstacles in the way of such a decision - since 1933 Hitler was in power in Germany, and all trade relations between the USSR and Germany were almost completely curtailed by that time. Nevertheless, Lipgart's proposal came at a very favorable moment - our Soviet trade representative in Sweden, David Vladimirovich Kandelaki, went to Germany on a secret visit. On May 5, 1935, he met with Goering, and he secretly from Hitler decided to sell to the Soviet Union something of what we were ready to give him a very decent kickback

All this was allegedly sold to Sweden and then allegedly re-exported by the Swedes to the Soviet Union. Among all this was the technical documentation for the Ford Rhineland car. Work on the development of the model began immediately, and on March 17, 1936, the first two pre-production models of the GAZ-M1 were sent to the Kremlin. There they were examined by Stalin, Molotov, Voroshilov and Ordzhonikidze, after which they were given the go-ahead for production.

True, the People's Commissar of Heavy Industry Grigory Konstantinovich Ordzhonikidze, better known to us under the pseudonym Sergo, on July 8, 1936 instructed NATI to conduct official tests of three serial GAZ-M-1: two cars were to go on a 30,000-kilometer auto rally on impassability and sloppiness, and also one fell to be the object of careful research and design improvements made when defects were discovered during the run of the first two cars. At the same time, changes in their design were made directly during mass production. Emka could be considered finalized only by the end of 1937.

By modern standards, the GAZ-M1 would be considered a middle-class car. Emka's length with a 2845 mm wheelbase was 4665 mm. The width was 177 centimeters. So this car would most likely be attributed to the D segment today. The car body had a frame structure. The frame consisted of two box-section side members connected by two X-shaped cross-members in front and in the middle and two cross-members at the rear. The car was equipped with an in-line four-cylinder low-valve carburetor engine. Its working volume with a 98.43 mm bore and 107.95 mm stroke was 3286 cubic meters. see The torque was transmitted to the rear wheel through a three-speed gearbox equipped with an easy-shift clutch. In 24 seconds, the car accelerated to 80 kilometers. Its maximum speed was 105 km / h.

The car plant produced several modifications of Emka. After the limousine, the most popular was a pickup truck called GAZ M-415. Its front part, including the radiator grille, empennage and hoods (Emka had two of them - left and right), remained unchanged. However, the rear part was redesigned - it was a cargo platform with low drop sides, which could carry either 400 kg of cargo or six passengers.

The bulk of these pickups entered the Red Army, and only after significant wear and tear were they transferred to the national economy. There was also a purely combat version of Emka - the BA-20 BA-20 armored car - a light machine-gun armored car. It was used by the Red Army in the battles at Khalkhin Gol and the Soviet-Finnish war, as well as at the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War. In 1937, GAZ-M-1 was exhibited at the World Industrial Exhibition in Paris, but did not receive any awards there. Much more attention was paid to the models of the Moscow metro stations and Mukhina's sculptural group "Worker and Kolkhoz Woman". In the late 1930s, it was decided to modernize the car. First of all, it was necessary to replace the rapidly aging engine. The most suitable for production and operation in the USSR was the six-cylinder Dodge D5 engine.

Preparation of the GAZ-11 engine for serial production was completed mainly in March 1940. From the same time, the production of the modernized Emka GAZ-11-73 with a new 76 or 85 hp engine began. and a working volume of 3.485 liters. I would like to note that the first power value had a motor with cast iron pistons, and the second - with aluminum ones. The GAZ-11-73 car was somewhat different from its predecessor - it had a more modern radiator lining, different louvers on the hoods, an updated instrument panel, a semi-centrifugal clutch mechanism and improved shock absorbers. The suspension was equipped with an anti-roll bar. In this version, Emka was produced until June 1943, when the bombing of Gorky, which destroyed the body shop, forced it to stop production. Nevertheless, from the remaining parts in 1945-48, another 233 cars were assembled, after which the production of Emka was finally discontinued.

ZiS-101 1937

This car was created as Stalin's car, but Stalin did not use this car. However, this car turned out to be very useful for the party and economic activists. The fact is that in the summer of 1937, the head of the NKVD Yezhov banned the operation of foreign cars in Moscow and Leningrad. He explained this by the struggle with traffic congestion - Moscow got acquainted with traffic jams since the NEP times, and even the expansion of Gorky Street and the liquidation of the gardens on the Garden Ring did not save the capital from this scourge.

The creation of the ZIS 101 was preceded by the development of a seven-seat executive limousine Leningrad-1 (often called L-1) by the Krasny Putilovets plant. The American Buick-97 model of 1932 was taken for the prototype. It was a very sophisticated, but rather difficult car to manufacture. The drawings were commissioned to be made by the LenGiproVATO Institute, which was part of the All-Union Automobile and Tractor Association. According to these drawings, the Putilovites made six copies, which they paraded in front of the stands at the May Day 1933 demonstration. However, on the way from Leningrad to Moscow, all six assembled copies broke down, after which the Council of People's Commissars decided that the Putilov plant should produce mainly military products, and the production was transferred to the ZiS limousine. Evgeny Ivanovich Vazhinsky supervised the work on its development. He retained the general design, but abandoned the complex components to fine-tune: remote control of shock absorbers and the automatic transmission that existed on Buick. While the chassis was mastered, the car body was morally outdated and looked like an obvious anachronism. Therefore, they decided to re-create the body.

A young aeronautical engineer Rostkov, an extraordinary self-taught artist who was fond of seascapes, was involved in the work on its body.

In the process of work, it turned out that the all-metal body, the design of which was guided during development, is fraught with much more problems than was initially assumed, and a group of Soviet designers is sent to the American bodybuilding company Badd, where they, according to their sketches, create a working sample of the product, stamp tooling and other necessary technological equipment. It is quite natural that the body style turned out to be purely American, in the spirit of the newfangled stream line. The silhouette, details and fragments of the surface made the "101st" look like several American cars popular at that time, but, despite this, the car looked peculiar, which was largely due to the heavy and somewhat rough plastic character of the model.

ZIS-101 in the movie "Foundling"

The length of a car with such a body was 5647 mm, width - 1892. For comparison, the L-1 with the same width was only 5.3 meters long. The wheelbase was 3605 mm long, the front wheel track was 1500 mm, and the turning radius reached 7.7 meters. The ZIS-101 cars were equipped with an in-line eight-cylinder overhead valve engine. Its cylinder diameter was 85 mm, and the piston stroke was 127. The working volume, thus, was equal to 5766 cubic centimeters.

L-1 of the Krasny Putilovets plant

The engine was distinguished by such features as a thermostat maintaining the required temperature regime in the cooling system, a crankshaft with counterweights, a torsional vibration damper of the crankshaft, and a two-chamber carburetor with exhaust gases heating. The transmission consisted of a two-disc clutch and a 3-speed gearbox. The second and third gears were with synchronizers. Using aluminum pistons, it developed 110 hp. at 3200 rpm. With cast iron pistons, its power dropped to 90 hp. at 2800 rpm. The maximum speed of the car with this power was 115 km / h, the fuel consumption per 100 km of track was 26.5 liters. With a power of 110– the engine made it possible to accelerate to 125 km / h. Prototypes were demonstrated to Stalin in the spring of 1936, and serial production began in November. They were produced at 4-5 units per day, and from November 3, 1936 to July 7, 1941, 8752 cars were produced.

Despite the fact that ZiSov was not enough for all Soviet party and economic workers, and many had to drive simple "emkas", 55 cars were transferred to the 13th Moscow taxi company. Unlike the government ones, they had unconventional colors - blue, burgundy blue and yellow. Such taxis were also operated in other cities. For example, in 1939 there were three ZIS-101 taxis in Minsk. Taxi limousines had their own special parking in the center - next to the Moscow hotel, in front of the Bolshoi Theater, near the Sverdlov Square metro station. Travel by ZiS cost 1 ruble 40 kopecks per kilometer, while by taxi-emka only ruble. In addition, ZiS-101 became the first minibus: the first of them was launched along the Garden Ring. The fare in 1940 was 3 rubles. 50 kopecks, while a bus ticket then cost a ruble, a tram ticket - 50 kopecks, and a metro ticket (there were no turnstiles then, and tickets were bought at the box office and shown to the controller) - 30 kopecks. The average salary was 339 rubles that year.

The intercity route Moscow-Noginsk was also opened. However, taxi phaetons with open bodies were especially popular. Checkers did not exist at that time - they appeared only in 1948 at Pobeda, and taxis were distinguished from party economic vehicles only by the fact that they were not painted in black party economic color, but were blue, light blue and yellow. True, this yellow was so pale yellow that now it would be called beige. By the beginning of the war, there were 3,500 taxis in Moscow, of which about five hundred were ZiS.

The first copy of the ZiS-101 from left to right: Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) Andrei Andreevich Andreev (often confused with the director of ZiS Ivan Likhachev), People's Commissar of Heavy Industry G.K. Ordzhonikidze, I.V. Stalin, V.M. Molotov, A.I. Mikoyan.

In June 1940, a government commission worked at ZiS, headed by Academician E.A. Chudakov. She, in particular, noted that the ZiS-101 is 600-700 kg heavier than its foreign counterparts. The subsequent modernization led to the creation of the ZiS-101A. The radiator lining has changed, the engine has become more powerful, the design of the synchronizer in the gearbox has been simplified and helical gears of the first gear and reverse gear have been used, a single-plate clutch has been developed.

Engine power increased due to the transition to a new MKZ-L2 carburetor (Stromberg type), where the mixture entered the cylinders not as an ascending flow, but as a falling flow, which improved their filling and power. The modified design of the intake manifold and revised valve timing played a role: the ZiS-101A, produced only with aluminum pistons, developed 116 hp. Prototypes of the ZiS-101B with a stepped trunk and a number of improvements in the chassis were built, as well as the ZiS-103 with independent front wheel suspension. However, these plans could not be realized due to the outbreak of the war. By this time, the plant managed to produce about 600 ZiS-101A vehicles.

ZiSy were freely sold to the population. They cost 40 thousand rubles, or 118 average salaries, respectively. nevertheless, scholars, writers and artists enjoyed buying it. Among the buyers were Lyubov Orlova, Alexei Tolstoy, Alexei Stakhanov and the father of the future chief witch of the Soviet Union, Ilya Vesper.

During the war, the parks were closed one by one. The tenth park on Krasnaya Presnya was destroyed by a direct bomb hit. By the spring of 1942, only the Third Park remained in Grafsky Lane. Then they closed it too. The taxi was first transferred to the bus depot on Druzhinnikovskaya Street, and in the winter of 1943 to the garage on Aviamotornaya. By the end of the war, 36 taxis remained unmobilized and unbombed. After the war, they were all converted into minibuses. And they began to use brand new ZiS-110 as taxi limousines, but that's another story.

ZiS-101A-Sport 1938

Number of seats - 2; engine - four-stroke, carburetor, number of cylinders - 8, working volume - 6060 cm3, power - 141 liters. from. at 3300 rpm; number of gears - 3; length - 5750 mm; width - 1900 mm; height 1856 mm; wheelbase - 3570 mm; curb weight - 1987 kg; the highest speed is 162.4 km / h.

GAZ-11-73 1940

Modification of the GAZ M1 with the six-cylinder GAZ-11 engine. It differed from Emka in the shape of the radiator lining and vents on the sidewalls of the hood, bumpers with fangs (lengthening the car by 30 mm), a new dashboard, improved brakes, double-acting piston shock absorbers, reinforced springs. Number of places - 5; engine: number of cylinders - 6, working volume - 3485 cm3, power - 76 liters. from. at 3400 rpm; number of gears - 3; tire size - 7.00-16; length - 4655 mm; width - 1770 mm; height - 1775 mm; base - 2845 mm; curb weight - 1455 kg; speed - 110 km / h. Circulation - 1250 pcs.

GAZ-61 1941

Car for generals and marshals

On September 17, 1939, 17 days after the German attack on Poland, the Red Army invaded the crumbling Polish state, whose government had fled the country the day before. Two days later, Soviet troops approached the city of Vilna - the future Vilnius. In those years, this city belonged to Poland, and Kaunas was the capital of independent Lithuania. The majority of the population of Vilna and Vilna region were Belarusians. The Polish troops offered almost no resistance, and the columns marched in marching formation. Ahead, at the head of the column, in an "emka" rode the head of the Political Directorate of the 3rd Army of the Belorussian Front, Brigade Commissar Shulin. The road was narrow, unpaved, and therefore it was not surprising that the commissar's "emka" got stuck in the middle of the road. And not only got stuck, but blocked the road of the entire 3rd army following it.

As a result of this incident, Vilna was busy not at 8 am, but only at 1 pm. Few people in the Red Army knew that on that very day a fundamentally new command and staff vehicle came out of the gates of the Gorky Automobile Plant for the first test run. Outwardly, he did not differ much from the "emka". Only too high a clearance gave an all-terrain vehicle in it. The base for the new army passenger car was a sturdy Gorky "emka" GAZ-M-1, which had sufficiently reliable and durable chassis units. By the beginning of 1938, prototypes of its next modification were built: GAZ-61-40. However, the 40-horsepower Gaz-M engine - the same one that was on both the "em" and the one and a half, turned out to be very low-powered for such a machine. Therefore, in the summer of 1939, it was decided to install a GAZ-11 engine on the car, which then had a power of 73 hp.
Most of the components and assemblies were inherited from the "emka", more precisely, from its modification M-11-73, which had the same engine. It was necessary to re-create in fact only the front drive axle and the transfer case. For their power connection, a slightly modified cardan shaft of the ZiS-101 car with hinges on needle bearings was used. The rear closed, double propeller shaft was fitted with an intermediate joint. Instead of a three-speed "light" gearbox, a "cargo" four-speed gearbox from GAZ-AA with a doubled power range was used, which made it possible to do without a demultiplier. This range was increased due to the fact that the razdatka was two-speed. An equalizer was used in the mechanical drive of the brakes. And so, on September 19, the car went to factory tests. On the highway with a full load of 500 kg, it developed a speed of 107.5 km / h, having a fuel consumption of 14 liters per 100 km.

Thanks to all-wheel drive, large reserves of engine power, increased gear ratio in the transmission, tires with a special profile and a frame raised by 150 mm, the new car overcame such slopes on the ground that not every tracked vehicle is available - up to 43 degrees. This value was limited by the twisting of the rear axle shafts and the beginning of overturning back, and not by traction capabilities. On the sand, GAZ-61-40 took an ascent from a place to 15 degrees, from a run - up to 30 degrees, a ford with a fan belt removed - up to 0.82 m, a ditch - up to 0.85-0.9 m wide, snow - a depth more than 0.4 m.The car did not get stuck even on dirt roads and arable land washed out by autumn rains, could tow a trailer weighing up to 700 kg, confidently passed over a log with a diameter of 0.37 m and even ... climbed onto a 45-centimeter boardwalk of the dance floor of the cultural base car factory.
In the fall, when the continuous rain, which had been going on for three days, made all the surrounding roads impassable, the GAZ-61 car left the city of Gorky for another trip. Ahead was a dirt road, teeming with steep climbs and descents. The clay mixed with the sand that made up the road surface was soaked and cut into deep ruts filled with water. The ditches along the edges of the road were sort of traps that a normal car could not get out of on its own. Obviously, for this reason, the road was completely deserted. Suddenly, an oncoming car appeared ahead. It was a three-axle cargo truck with caterpillars on wheels, descending very carefully from the hill.
Her chauffeur was going to stop the car, since, in his opinion, it was impossible to leave in such a dangerous place. But suddenly he saw that the car was turning into a ditch and easily jumping over this obstacle. Turning around in the field, the car in the same maneuver went to the middle of the road, bypassing the three-axle. The amazed driver of the oncoming car got out of it and looked for a long time after the passenger car GAZ-61, which he first met under such circumstances. The ability of the GAZ-61 car to climb stairs is very indicative. The test of a prototype to overcome this type of obstacle was carried out at the cultural base of the Gorky Automobile Plant.

GAZ-61 overcomes a water barrier

From the sandy river beach, a staircase in four steps led uphill at an angle of 30 degrees. The car, as can be seen in the photograph shown here, climbed it surprisingly calmly. The new car was supposed to be produced in three versions, more fully meeting the interests of the army and the national economy: with an open body "phaeton", with a closed standard body from the "emka" type "sedan" and a semi-truck "pickup". The first copy of the phaeton went to Marshal Voroshilov. The rest of the marshals - Budyonny, Kulik, Timoshenko and Shaposhnikov - received sedans. Cars and generals of the army - Zhukov, Meretskov and Tyulenev, as well as the commander of the Western Special Military District, Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel-General of Tank Forces Dmitry Grigorievich Pavlov, who soon also received the rank of General of the Army, received cars.

After the start of the war, the commander of the Far Eastern Front, General of the Army Joseph Rodionovich Apanasenko, received such a car, and on February 3, 1941, such a car was received by the State Security Commissioner of the 1st rank Vsevolod Nikolaevich Merkulov. In July, the former car of the executed Pavlov went to the future Marshal Ivan Stepanovich Konev. He traveled on it throughout the war. This car, now working at the Mosfilm film studio, had both windshields broken by small fragments during the war. Several holes were also repaired in the roof .. The car retained its engine No. 620 and its body No. 1418. Only piston rings, liners were changed, the crankshaft was ground.

By the end of the 1930s, the USSR announced that socialism had finally been built. Life has become better, life has become happier. If in 1929 - the year collectivization and industrialization began - the average salary in the USSR was 75 rubles, then in 1940 it was already 339 rubles.In addition, food prices were quite low, and the purchasing power of the ruble exceeded that of the American dollar. Therefore, in the pockets of the population, the remnants of the previous pay were accumulated, which over months and years turned into decent amounts. The ignorant citizens did not want to either carry this money to the savings bank, or buy additional bonds (in addition to voluntary-compulsory ones) with it, and the State Planning Commission had to pull this money out of their pockets for the needs of the Motherland.

For this, at the beginning of 1940, one of the state planners' clever men proposed to launch a mass Soviet car into production. The idea was borrowed from the practice of German National Socialism. There, in Germany, the idea was successfully implemented to provide each family with a simple folk car, the cost of which did not exceed a thousand marks.

The 990 marks that Volkswagen cost were then 2,100 Soviet rubles, while the emka cost nine thousand in the USSR. Therefore, it is not surprising that at first the Soviet Union wanted to simply copy a German car or acquire a license for it. However, Stalin did not like the "vacuum cleaner" with an air-vent engine, and, moreover, located in the back, and then he was presented with two British cars. The first of these, the Austin 7, was fairly cheap to manufacture. However, its construction and design were already quite backward by that time. The other - Ford Perfect, produced by the British branch of the Ford corporation, was at that time the last word in the development of automotive technology, and although it did not fit into the two-thousand-ruble price limit, Stalin stopped the choice on it. The only thing he wanted to alter was to provide the body, which was two-door on the Prefect, with doors for rear passengers.

KIM-10 in the movie "Hearts of Four"

The plant named after KIM, located in the then Moscow Region Tekstilshchiki, was entrusted with setting up production. This plant was named in honor of the Communist International of Youth - the youth section of the then Comintern. The plant began its activity in November 1930, having started assembling Ford cars and trucks. Since 1933, the Gorky Automobile Plant has been operating at full capacity, the KIM plant becomes a branch of GAZ and switches to the assembly of GAZ-A and GAZ-AA cars from Gorky car sets. It was this plant that the State Planning Commission chose. The Gorky designer Brodsky redesigned the Prefect's design, and body stamps for this car were ordered from the USA to BUDD.

A trial batch of 500 cars, named KIM-10-50, was produced by April 25, 1941. Stamps for four-door bodies were still late, and cars in a two-door version participated in the May Day parade. The length of the car with a 2385 mm wheelbase was 3960 mm; width - 1480 mm; and the height is 1 meter 65 centimeters. The track of the front and rear wheels was the same and equal to 1145 millimeters. Thus, the Soviet version of the car was 16 centimeters longer than the British original, 3.6 centimeters wider by and four centimeters taller. The length of the wheelbase was 185 millimeters longer than that of the prototype. The ground clearance was also increased to 210 millimeters, which was only 139.7 millimeters on the British model.

The car was equipped with a low-valve four-cylinder engine. With a 63.5 mm bore and 92.456 mm stroke, its working volume was 1171 cubic centimeters. Its compression ratio in the original was 6.16: 1, and at 4000 rpm the engine produced 32 horsepower. However, in the Soviet Union, only B-70 aviation gasoline could withstand such a compression ratio, and the compression ratio in the engine was lowered to 5.75 units. Power immediately dropped to 30 horsepower. But at that time it was considered quite sufficient - the post-war "Moskvich" had eight less forces. Nevertheless, the maximum speed, which was 95 kilometers per hour for the British model, dropped only to 90 km / h, which was then quite enough - on most Soviet roads, cars then drove at a 40-kilometer speed, and after a 50-kilometer line, cars began to shake so that it was already impossible to steer.

In addition, the engine with a lower compression ratio was easier to start with a handle, because the capacity of a 6-volt battery was only enough for three or four engine starts. On the KIM-10, for the first time in the domestic automotive industry, an alligator-type hood was used instead of the then common hoods with lifting sidewalls. the small car was equipped with a clock and a mechanism for adjusting the installation of the front seats - both were found only on high-end cars. The body of KIM-10 had many innovations. It lacked an outside step like other passenger cars. The windshield was not flat, but in two angled parts, a design later adopted on post-war cars. Other novelties include thin-walled double-layer bearing shells of the engine crankshaft, a centrifugal ignition timing machine, a windscreen wiper operating under the influence of a vacuum in the engine intake pipe. There was also a modification of a car with a phaeton roof. It was called KIM-10-51 and was released in 1941 in a small series. Its body had a fabric folding awning and sidewalls with celluloid windows. The car was intended mainly for operation in the southern regions of the Land of the Soviets. However, with the beginning of the war, all the phaetons released were transferred to the Red Army, and therefore not a single copy survived.

Almost all cars made in the USSR were copies of foreign models. It still started with the first samples produced under license from Ford. As time went on, copying became a habit. The Scientific Research Automobile Institute of the USSR bought samples for study in the West and after a while produced a Soviet analogue. True, by the time of release, the original was no longer available.

GAZ A (1932)

GAZ A is the first mass passenger car in the USSR, it is a licensed copy of the American Ford-A. The USSR bought equipment and production documents from an American company in 1929, and two years later the production of Ford-A was discontinued. A year later, in 1932, the first GAZ-A cars were produced.

After 1936, the obsolete GAZ-A was banned. Car owners were ordered to hand over the car to the state and purchase a new GAZ-M1 with an additional charge.

GAZ-M-1 "Emka" (1936-1943)

The GAZ-M1 was also a copy of one of the Ford models - Model B (Model 40A) in 1934.

When adapting to domestic operating conditions, the car was thoroughly redesigned by Soviet specialists. The model surpassed later Ford products in some positions.

L1 "Red Putilovets" (1933) and ZIS-101 (1936-1941)

The L1 was an experimental passenger car, an almost exact replica of the Buick-32-90, which was upper-middle class by Western standards.

Initially, the Krasny Putilovets plant produced Fordson tractors. As an experiment, 6 copies of the L1 were produced in 1933. Most of the cars could not reach Moscow on their own and without breakdowns. The improvement of L1 was transferred to the Moscow ZiS.

Due to the fact that the body of the "Buick" no longer corresponded to the fashion of the mid-30s, the ZiS redesigned it. The American body shop Budd Company, based on Soviet sketches, prepared a modern body sketch for those years. The work cost the country half a million dollars and took months.

KIM-10 (1940-1941)

The first Soviet small car, the development was based on the "Ford Prefect".

In the USA, stamps were made and body drawings were developed based on the models of the Soviet designer. The production of this model began in 1940. It was thought that the KIM-10 would become the first "people's" car of the USSR, but the plans of the USSR leadership were interrupted by the Great Patriotic War.

Moskvich 400.401 (1946-1956)

It is unlikely that the American company liked such a creative development of its ideas in the design of the Soviet car, however, no claims on its part were followed in those years, especially since the production of "large" Packards was not resumed after the war.

GAZ-12 (GAZ-M-12, ZIM, ZIM-12) 1950-1959

A six-seven-seater passenger car of a large class with a "six-window long-wheelbase sedan" body was developed on the basis of the Buick Super, mass-produced at the Gorky Automobile Plant (Molotov Plant) from 1950 to 1959 (some modifications - to 1960.)

The plant was strongly recommended to completely copy the "Buick" of the 1948 model, but the engineers, based on the proposed model, designed a car that would rely as much as possible on the units and technologies already mastered in production. "ZiM" was not a copy of any specific foreign car, neither in terms of design, nor, in particular, in the technical aspect - in the latter, the designers of the plant even managed to some extent "say a new word" within the framework of the global automotive industry

Volga GAZ-21 (1956-1972)

The middle-class passenger car was technically created by domestic engineers and designers from scratch, but outwardly it copied mainly American models of the early 1950s. During the development, the designs of foreign cars were studied: Ford Mainline (1954), Chevrolet 210 (1953), Plymouth Savoy (1953), Henry J (Kaiser-Frazer) (1952), Standard Vanguard (1952) and Opel Kapitän (1951).

GAZ-21 was mass-produced at the Gorky Automobile Plant from 1956 to 1970. The factory model index is initially GAZ-M-21, later (since 1965) - GAZ-21.

By the time of the start of mass production by world standards, the design of the Volga had already become at least ordinary, and did not stand out much against the background of serial foreign cars of those years. By 1960, the Volga was a car with a hopelessly outdated design.

Volga GAZ-24 (1969-1992)

The middle-class passenger car became a hybrid of the North American Ford Falcon (1962) and Plymouth Valiant (1962).

Serially produced at the Gorky Automobile Plant from 1969 to 1992. The exterior and construction of the car were quite standard for this direction, the technical characteristics were also approximately average. Most of the Volgas were not intended for sale for personal use and were operated in taxi companies and other government organizations).

"Seagull" GAZ-13 (1959-1981)

An executive passenger car of a large class, created under the obvious influence of the latest models of the American company Packard, which were just studied at NAMI in those years (Packard Caribbean convertible and Packard Patrician sedan, both 1956 model years).

"The Seagull" was created with a clear focus on the trends of the American style, like all GAZ products of those years, but was not a one hundred percent "stylistic copy" or modernization of Packard.

The car was produced in small series at the Gorky Automobile Plant from 1959 to 1981. A total of 3,189 vehicles of this model were manufactured.

"Seagulls" were used as personal transport of the highest nomenklatura (mainly - ministers, first secretaries of regional committees), which was issued as part of the "package" of privileges.

Both sedans and Chaika convertibles were used at parades, served at meetings of foreign leaders, prominent figures and heroes, and were used as escort vehicles. Also, "Seagulls" came to "Intourist", where, in turn, everyone could order them for use as wedding limousines.

ZIL-111 (1959-1967)

The copying of American design at various Soviet factories led to the fact that the appearance of the ZIL-111 car was created according to the same models as the Chaika. As a result, externally similar cars were simultaneously produced in the country. ZIL-111 is often mistaken for the more common "Chaika".

The high-end passenger car was stylistically a compilation of various elements of American mid-to-high-end cars from the first half of the 1950s - predominantly reminiscent of Cadillac, Packard and Buick. The exterior design of the ZIL-111, like the Chaika, was based on the design of the models of the American company “Packard” of 1955-56. But in comparison with the Packard models, the ZiL was larger in all dimensions, looked much stricter and more square, with straightened lines, and had a more complex and detailed decor.

From 1959 to 1967, only 112 copies of this car were collected.

ZIL-114 (1967-1978)

Small-scale executive passenger car of the highest class with a limousine body. Despite the desire to move away from the American automotive fashion, the ZIL-114, made from scratch, still partially copied the American Lincoln Lehmann-Peterson Limousine.

A total of 113 copies of the government limousine were collected.

ZIL-115 (ZIL 4104) (1978-1983)

In 1978, the ZIL-114 was replaced by a new car under the factory index "115", which later received the official name ZIL-4104. The initiator of the development of the model was Leonid Brezhnev, who loved high-quality cars and was tired of the ten-year operation of the ZIL-114.

For creative rethinking, our designers were provided with a Cadillac Fleetwood 75, and the British from Carso helped the domestic automakers in their work. As a result of the joint work of British and Soviet designers, ZIL 115 was born in 1978. According to the new GOSTs, it was classified as ZIL 4104.

The interior was created taking into account the intended use of cars - for high-ranking statesmen.

The end of the 70s is the height of the Cold War, which could not but affect the car carrying the country's top officials. ZIL - 115 could become a refuge in the event of a nuclear war. Of course, he would not have withstood a direct hit, but there was protection on the car from a strong radiation background. In addition, it was possible to install hinged armor.

ZAZ-965 (1960-1969)

The main prototype of the minicar was the Fiat 600.

The car was designed by MZMA ("Moskvich") together with the Automotive Institute NAMI. The first samples were designated "Moskvich-444", and were already significantly different from the Italian prototype. Later the designation was changed to "Moskvich-560".

At the very early design stage, the car differed from the Italian model in a completely different front suspension - as on the first sports cars Porsche and Volkswagen - "Beetle".

ZAZ-966 (1966-1974)

A passenger car of an especially small class demonstrates a considerable similarity in design with the German subcompact NSU Prinz IV (Germany, 1961), which in its own way repeats the often copied American Chevrolet Corvair, presented at the end of 1959.

VAZ-2101 (1970-1988)

VAZ-2101 "Zhiguli" - a rear-wheel drive passenger car with a sedan-type body is an analogue of the Fiat 124 model, which received the title "Car of the Year" in 1967.

By agreement between the Soviet Vneshtorg and Fiat, the Italians established the Volga Automobile Plant in Togliatti with a full production cycle. The concern was entrusted with the technological equipment of the plant, training of specialists.

VAZ-2101 has undergone major changes. In total, over 800 changes were made to the design of the Fiat 124, after which it received the name Fiat 124R. "Russification" Fiat 124 was extremely useful for the FIAT company itself, which has accumulated unique information about the reliability of its cars in extreme operating conditions.

VAZ-2103 (1972-1984)

Rear-wheel drive passenger car with a sedan-type body. It was developed jointly with the Italian firm Fiat based on the Fiat 124 and Fiat 125 models.

Later, on the basis of the VAZ-2103, a "project 21031" was developed, later renamed to the VAZ-2106.