Of course, the vast majority of these cars are big black sedans for the party elite. However, in the development in the Union there were also such “folk” copies, which are still expensive to look at today. But let's start with BChS.

This beautiful black sedan replaced the outdated ZIS-110, which was not included in our selection only because its 8 cylinders under the hood were arranged in a row, not at an angle. But ZIL-111 received new motor with a similar marking, which had 6 liters of working volume, two hundred Horse power and a torque of 442 Nm. In tandem with him, a dual-range torque converter "automatic" worked.

On the basis of this sedan, the ZIL-111V phaeton, the successor to the ZIS-110V executive convertible, was also developed a little later.

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This, in turn, is the heir to the ZIL-111 - already at that time it was necessary to follow the automotive fashion so as not to “oversleep” the current design trends. New sedan received a new motor - of course, with the same markings as the sedan itself. This carburetor unit already gave out 300 forces with a volume that had grown to 7 liters, and the torque increased to 559 Nm. The automatic transmission, with which the new motor worked, also received an additional step.

In the photo: ZIL-114 "1967–71

Of course, several special modifications were also produced on the basis of the ZIL-114. One of these is the ZIL-114A station wagon, which received a medical specialty. In the USSR, such machines were called "Black Doctors".

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This is a shortened version of the ZIL-117 limousine, which received the same technical basis as the original. The seven-liter ZIL-114 engine, with a reduced weight of the car, provided more confident dynamics, and a decrease in the base had a positive effect on handling.

In the photo: ZIL-117 "1971–77

ZIL-117 also did not escape popularity as the basis for special vehicles. In addition to copies for the special services, a two-door phaeton with a cloth awning was also produced - such cars participated in parades on Red Square.

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The limousine, which was supposed to receive the name ZIL-115 as the legal successor to the previous car in the collection, became known as the ZIL-4104 due to the change in the index system. The same name was given to its engine - V 8 with a volume of 7.7 liters. This unit received a slight increase in power relative to its predecessor - it increased to 315 hp, but the torque increased more noticeably, to 608 Nm. The motor retained the main features: an aluminum block with cast-iron liners, two valves per cylinder, hydraulic valve lifters and a carburetor power system.

In the photo: ZIL-4104 "1978–83

The government limousine traditionally went to serve in various departments, receiving various modifications. In addition to the ZIL-41044 phaeton, there was also a “short” sedan ZIL-41041, and the “Black Doctor” ZIL-41042, and a special version of the ZIL-41072 “Scorpion”, and many other special vehicles.

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This car has become a cosmetic update of the ZIL-4104: this is clear even from the name. Having saved technical part and the body are unchanged, it received new lighting equipment, a modernized version of the design of the front end and a different style of chrome elements on the body.

In the photo: ZIL-41045 "1983–85

This is the last update of the ZIL-4104: such cars were produced until 2002, and after that they began to be produced piece by piece on special orders. The car was again left technically unchanged, but refreshed from the outside, making the exterior stricter and “square”.

In the photo: ZIL-41047 "1986–2008

This car, unlike most Zilov cars, did not become serial. Initially, it was supposed to replace the "short" ZIL-41041, having received a modern appearance and new technical stuffing. The appearance of the new car was noticeably “more democratic” than that of the rest of the family, but the equipment was not inferior to them.

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The same ZIL-4104 engine with a volume of 7.7 liters and a power of 315 hp was placed under the hood, and the main technical distinction the new car was the lack of a frame - they planned to transfer it to a load-bearing body. However, the car did not receive development, remaining to exist in two copies, on which technical solutions and options for internal equipment were worked out.

In the photo: Under the hood of the ZIL-4102 Experienced "1988

ZIL-118 "Youth"

ZIL-118 "Youth" is not a car, but a minibus, but we simply could not ignore it: its appearance was too chic - however, only in the first incarnation. The history of this curious car, but here we offer just to admire this example of the style of its time and class.

In the photo: ZIL-118 "Youth" "1962–70

Finishing the speech about Zilov cars, you can take a break from black sedans: there were sports cars in the history of the plant. One of these is the ZIL-112S: a fast roadster with a fiberglass body. Not one, but two different V-shaped “eights” could be installed on it. The first had 6 liters of working volume and developed 240 hp, and the second - already 7 liters, which at different times gave from 270 to 300 horsepower. The maximum speed of the roadster was about 270 km / h, and acceleration to hundreds took less than 5 seconds.

GAZ-13 "Seagull" is another legend Soviet car industry. Having absorbed the style of foreign cars of that time, it looked luxurious, bold and solid at the same time. The GAZ-13 engine was a match for the exterior: a 5.5-liter V 8 produced 195 hp. and 412 Nm. It had two valves per cylinder and an aluminum block, and was combined with a three-stage automatic transmission. In addition to it, the GAZ-13D engine was installed on the car, which, with the same volume and torque, already had 215 hp.

In the photo: GAZ-13 "Seagull" "1959–81

Of course, it was not without various modifications and based on gas machines. So, for example, Chaika had an open version with a soft top, bearing the GAZ-13B index.

In the photo: GAZ-13B "Seagull" "1961–62

The successor of the first Seagull, new car under the GAZ-14 index, it began to look completely different - stricter, simpler and more angular, approaching Zilovsky limousines in its style. Twin headlights, a long and low profile, a dosed amount of chrome - this was the Seagull in the second generation. At the same time, the GAZ-14 engine was registered under the hood, developed on the basis of the same GAZ-13 and having 5.5 liters, but a little more power and torque - 220 hp. and 450 Nm, respectively. It was fed by not one, but two carburetors at once.

In the photo: GAZ-14 "Seagull" "1976–89

On the basis of the "second" Chaika, both the traditional phaeton for parades under the GAZ-14-05 index, and the Black Doctor GAZ-RAF-3920 were created.

In the photo: GAZ-14-05 and GAZ-RAF-3920

A separate caste of powerful gas vehicles with V 8 is cars for special services, the so-called. GAZ-23 - a sedan based on the GAZ-21, which received a reinforced body, adapted to install a slightly modernized power unit from Seagull. The ZMZ-23 engine had a volume of 5.5 liters and 195 hp. power, accelerating the sedan to one hundred kilometers per hour in 16 seconds and providing a top speed of 160 km / h. Of course, under the new technical realities, not only the body was finalized, but also brake system, and transmission, and chassis.

In the photo: GAZ-23 "Volga" "1962–70

This sedan replaced the GAZ-23. The new "catch-up" also received an upgraded engine from Chaika and automatic transmission: with a 5.5-liter ZMZ-2424, according to various sources, it accelerated to 160-180 km / h.

In the photo: GAZ-24-24 "Volga"

The logical development of the model was the GAZ-24-34, which received a body from the GAZ-24-10, in which, according to a well-established scheme, a V 8 and a three-stage “automatic” were installed, simultaneously modifying all the main components of the car.

In the photo: GAZ-24-34 "Volga" "1987–93

This little-known car was supposed to become a representative car of a new generation, not just replacing Chaika, but becoming much more modern and technologically advanced, and at the same time compact. Judge for yourself how many technical innovations were put into the car at the creation stage: four-wheel drive with forced locking of the center differential, disc brakes on all wheels, hydraulic booster, climate control, original body glazing ... and this is only a small part of the interesting technical solutions - we talked in detail about

One of the most interesting pages national history The XX century became a chronicle of the development of the automobile industry of the USSR - an economic branch aimed at creating rolling stock and providing the country with it in all spheres of its multifaceted life. In the pre-war period, this process was inextricably linked with the general industrialization of the state, and in subsequent years it became an important part of the rise of the national economy and the creation of a solid economic base. Let's dwell on some of its most significant stages.

Where did it all begin?

The history of the automobile industry of the USSR began in 1924 with the release of the first Soviet truck AMO-F-15. Its prototype was the Italian car FIAT 15 Ter. The place of creation of this ancestor of the domestic automobile industry was the Moscow plant "AMO", founded in 1916, and in Soviet times renamed and received first the name of Stalin (1933), and then Likhachev (1956) - its first director, who held this position since 1927 .

A little later, in 1930-1932, this undertaking was further developed by the construction of another car plant in Nizhny Novgorod. It was designed for the production of both cars and trucks produced under license from the American company Ford Motors. From the conveyors of these first two enterprises, created as part of a nationwide industrialization program, many legendary Soviet cars came off, and it was they that became the basis for the further development of this most important industry.

In subsequent years, several more automobile plants were added to these largest automobile enterprises in the country: KIM (Moscow), YAGAZ (Yaroslavl) and GZA ( Nizhny Novgorod). Now it seems unbelievable, but in 1938 the automobile industry of the USSR occupied the first (!) Place in Europe and the second in the world (after only the USA) in the production of trucks. In the pre-war years, more than a million units were produced, which made it possible to equip the Red Army and enterprises of the national economy with the required amount of rolling stock. The creation of a large and sufficiently equipped vehicle fleet allowed the country to achieve success in the implementation of the pre-war five-year plans.

Car production during the war years

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Moscow ZIL plant (former AMO) was evacuated to the rear, and part of its equipment was used to create new auto enterprises. So, using the production capacities of ZIL, Ulyanovsk was opened car factory- UAZ, which at that time was called UlZIS. Subsequently, it was renamed and became widely known for its products both domestically and abroad. At the same time, at the UralZIS plant, built in the city of Miass, Chelyabinsk Region, the production of the first samples of trucks of the Ural brand began.

It should be noted that during the war years, the production of cars in the USSR was not limited to the production of models based on domestic developments. In order to better meet the needs of the front, as well as to provide rolling stock for industrial enterprises evacuated deep into the country, the assembly of cars was arranged from sets of components and parts supplied under Lend-Lease, a special program under which the United States provided the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition with ammunition, equipment, and medicines. and food.

Post-war priorities of the domestic auto industry

The post-war years brought with them an aggravation of relations between the former allies, who found themselves on opposite sides of the Iron Curtain, and were marked by the beginning of a general arms race. In the history of those years, episodes were noted when humanity stood on the brink of a global nuclear catastrophe - it is enough to recall the Caribbean conflict of 1962. These circumstances largely determined the specifics of the development of the entire national economy of the USSR and the automotive industry as one of its most important components.

From the beginning of the 50s to the end of the 70s, the Ministry of the Automobile Industry of the USSR, supporting the course for the production of trucks, gave priority to those models that could be used with equal success both to maintain the country's defense capability and in various areas of the national economy. These were mainly dual-purpose trucks, as well as multi-axle all-wheel drive tractors. One of the most famous developments of those years was the ZIS-164 truck, which came off the assembly line of the Stalin Moscow Plant and was the result of a deep modernization of the previously produced ZIS-150 car.

The birth of the first ZILs and Urals

The next milestone in the development of the plant was the legendary Soviet car ZIL-130, released in 1963, which can still be seen on the roads of the country. By their own design features he successfully competed with the best world models of that time. Suffice it to say that the car was equipped with an engine whose power was 150 liters. with., as well as power steering and five-speed gearbox gears. A panoramic windshield washer developed by the plant's engineers has also become a novelty.

At the end of the 50s, the country's car park was replenished with a novelty released by Ural specialists. It was a two-axle truck UralZIS-355MM (photo below). Despite the fact that, according to its technical characteristics, this model belonged to the category of medium-duty vehicles (up to 3.5 tons), it was she who was destined to play a leading role in the development of the virgin lands of Kazakhstan, Siberia and the Urals.

Impressive statistics

Statistics testify to how intensively the development of the production of trucks and tractors went in the first post-war decades. According to the available data, the total output of this type of product in 1947 amounted to 133 thousand units, and by the beginning of the 70s, the automobile manufacturing enterprises operating in the USSR increased their number to 920 thousand, that is, almost seven times, which exceeded the similar indicators of the leading industrial countries of the world.

No less impressive was the increase in the production of passenger cars, which received less attention in the pre-war period due to the need to provide the country with freight transport. According to the USSR automobile industry, in 1947, about 9.5 thousand units were produced, while by 1970 this number had increased to 344.7 thousand, in other words, it had increased almost 36 times.

Cars that have become emblems of the era

Among the passenger cars produced in those years, the most famous was the legendary Soviet car Pobeda, which rolled off the assembly line of the Gorky Automobile Plant under the symbol M-20. Its development has become a new word not only in domestic, but also in foreign automotive industry.

The fact is that Pobeda was the world's first model of large-scale production of passenger cars with load-bearing body, which do not have protruding elements, such as headlights, running boards and fenders with all their rudiments. An important distinguishing feature of this design was also the absence of a frame, the function of which was performed by the body itself. The Gorky plant "Victory" was produced in the period 1946-1958, and their number on the roads of the country then reached almost a quarter of a million units.

It is noted that the 50s as a whole were an unusually productive period in the activities of the designers and designers of the Gorky Automobile Plant. At the World Exhibition, held in Brussels in 1958, three of their developments were awarded the highest award - the Grand Prix. These were passenger cars: the Volga GAZ-21, which replaced the Pobeda, the Chaika GAZ-13 and the GAZ-52 truck. Later, the Volga GAZ-24 cars, memorable to everyone, brought fame to the plant.

The brainchild of the capital's automakers

Another peculiar emblem of that era was the Moskvich-400 passenger car, the production of which was launched at the metropolitan enterprise of the same name, opened in 1930. Its specialists, taking as a basis german car Opel Kadett of pre-war design, developed their own model, launched into mass production in 1947. Its first samples were released on captured equipment exported from Germany.

After 7 years, the design of the car was significantly modernized, and it began to be produced under the symbol Moskvich-401. In subsequent years, its new models were developed and put into mass production, replenishing the country's car fleet. The most famous among them was the Moskvich-408 car, which earned a good reputation for its reliability and unpretentiousness.

The era of "Zhiguli"

In the mid-1960s, the USSR automobile industry was given the task of organizing the mass production of passenger cars accessible to a wide range of citizens, and thereby eliminating the difficulties associated with their acquisition. As part of the implementation of this project, in the summer of 1966, an agreement was concluded with the leadership of the Italian concern Fiat for the construction of a plant for the production of passenger cars in the city of Togliatti. The brainchild of the new enterprise was Zhiguli cars, which were produced in an unprecedented quantity for that time. In the 70s, their production reached 660 thousand per year, and by the beginning of the 80s it had increased to 730 thousand. This period is considered to be the beginning of the mass motorization of the country.

Runabouts from the banks of the Dnieper

The Zaporozhye Automobile Building Plant also made a tangible contribution to the provision of Soviet people with individual transport. In 1961, the production of a small car ZAZ-965 was launched on it, which received the ironic name “humpbacked Zaporozhets” among the people. It is curious that its design was developed by specialists from the Moscow Automobile Plant that produced Moskvichs, and it was also planned to launch its serial production there, but due to the lack of the necessary production capacities, they handed over the finished project to colleagues from the banks of the Dnieper.

In 1966, an updated and radically different model, known as the Zaporozhets-966, came out of the gates of the enterprise, and more and more new developments appeared in the following decades. Their characteristic feature was the air-cooled engine located in the rear of the body. For the entire period of production, covering the period 1961-1994, almost 3.5 million cars were produced.

The contribution of Ukrainian specialists to the development of the automotive industry

For several decades, the main load on the transportation of passengers in the field public transport was assigned to the products of Lviv bus factory(LAZ). Built in the first post-war years, until the collapse of the USSR, it was one of the main Soviet enterprises specialized in this area, and in 1992 it was transformed into a joint Russian-Ukrainian enterprise that existed for 22 years.

The most famous among its products were buses of the LAZ-695 brand intended for urban routes, the production of which began in 1957. In addition, models designed to serve the ever-increasing flow of tourists every year have left a noticeable mark in the history of the domestic automotive industry. These include developments such as LAZ-697 and LAZ-699A. In 1963, the plant mastered the production of new products for it - urban trolleybuses LAZ-695T.

The creators of the famous "Urals"

The specialists of the Ural Automobile Plant operating in the city of Miass did not stand aside either. For the period from 1942, when the first sample of products rolled off its assembly line, and until the collapse of the USSR, they developed an extensive the lineup machines and tractors of various carrying capacity and power.

In addition to the UralZIS-355M two-axle truck mentioned above, which became a legend of virgin expanses, the first three-axle car"Ural-375", released in 1961 and had increased cross-country ability, which made it indispensable in off-road conditions. For its development, the designers of the enterprise were awarded the diploma of VDNKh of the USSR of the first degree. High quality new machines was appreciated by many foreign buyers, who hastened to conclude contracts for their supply.

The next government award - the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, was received by the Ural automakers in 1966 for the modernization of a number of previous models and the development of new ones. Shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the millionth car rolled off its assembly line. In the following period, the plant underwent repeated restructuring and today is part of the GAZ Group, which is the largest automotive company in Russia.

Achievements of Ulyanovsk automakers

In one of the previous sections of the article, it was mentioned that during the Great Patriotic War, an enterprise was formed on the banks of the Volga, which later became known as the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant (UAZ). His role in the development of the national economy of the country turned out to be so great that it should be considered in more detail.

The history of this illustrious plant began in May 1944 with the release of the first prototype of a 4-ton truck UlZIS-253. In parallel with this, his team set up the production of the GAZ-MM car, developed and produced at the Gorky Plant, and then transferred to Ulyanovsk to continue its mass production. It was the same famous "lorry" - a car with a carrying capacity of 1.5 tons, which, having traveled the front roads, became an indispensable assistant in the post-war restoration of the national economy.

In 1954, Ulyanovsk specialists launched the production of the GAZ-69 off-road passenger car, and after some time, its modified model, the GAZ-69A. Both of these machines became bright milestones in the development of the Soviet economy in the post-war years. They turned out to be equally in demand both in the Armed Forces of the country and in all areas of the economy. It is important to note the fact that since 1956 they have been assembled from parts of their own production.

The next labor victory of the factory workers (as it was customary to say during the years of Soviet power) was the production of UAZ-450D light trucks and UAZ-452D modifications launched in 1966. These were the legendary "UAZ", without which it is difficult to imagine the roads of those years. This development was awarded the gold medal of VDNKh. Passenger cars of the UAZ-469 and UAZ-469B brands that left the factory assembly line, which had increased cross-country ability and became a continuation of the tradition laid down in the days of the GAZ-69 production, enjoyed no less success.

Afterword

This article provides a far from complete list of products manufactured by the enterprises of the automobile industry of the USSR over the years that have passed from the moment of its formation to the collapse of the country. In addition, even most of the mentioned models had various modifications, each of which is of interest due to the originality of the design and the audacity of technical thought. In general, the history of the Soviet automotive industry is a fascinating chapter in the annals of the Russian history of the 20th century.

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

Prombron S 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. With. /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

Passenger 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. With. 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.

NAMI-1 1927

Most auto historians traditionally consider the AMO F-15 truck, which was produced on the future ZiSe, and then ZiL from 1924 to 1931, to be the first Soviet car. Other researchers of the automotostarina consider the Prombron to be the first Soviet car. This car was manufactured for some time at the plant of the same name in the then Moscow region Fili on equipment for the production of Russo-Balta, taken out in 1915 from front-line Riga. However, the AMO F-15 truck was a copy of the Italian prototype, and the passenger representative Prombron was developed before the revolution. Therefore, to call 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 designer Konstantin Andreevich Sharapov.

SHARAPOV Konstantin AndreevichSHARAPOV Konstantin Andreevich, born in 1899, Russian, native of Moscow. Graduated from the Lomonosov Institute of Automotive. Candidate of Technical Sciences, Chief Engineer of the USSR MATI, Head of the Department. Creator of the first Soviet small cars NAMI-1 with an engine air cooling and NAMI-2.

Chief designer of the NATI car bureau. two children. 04/23/1939 arrested in Moscow. OSO of the NKVD of the USSR was sentenced to 8 years in labor camp. Didn't admit guilt. Departed for Kolyma. Beginning shop for forging iron at a car factory in Kutaisi. 01/19/1949 arrested. 03/09/1949 OSO 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. 12/02/1953 released from exile, left for Moscow. 11/04/1953 rehabilitated. Personal file No. 5944, arch. No. Р-7872 in ITs ATC KK. 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 topic. In the end, he settled on the project of an ultra-cheap car designed for operation in the Soviet outback. The supervisors liked the diploma project so much that Sharapov was accepted as a leading engineer at NAMI without any competition, and it was decided to translate the diploma project into metal. With the help of NAMI engineers Lipgart and Charnko, the diploma project was revised in relation to the requirements of production, and in 1927 the Moscow Spartak plant, which still stands on Pimenovskaya (now Krasnoproletarskaya) street near the Novoslobodskaya metro station, made the first sample car named after the NAMI Institute. Assuming that the institute would continue to introduce more and more new cars into production, the sample was soon renamed NIMI-1.
Technically, the car is not just extremely simple. It should not even be called simple, but simplified. An ordinary pipe with a diameter of 235 mm was used as a spinal frame. Behind it was attached an independent rear suspension, and a two-cylinder air-cooled engine with a V-shaped arrangement of 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 five-cylinder radial aircraft engine "Cirrus". Such an engine was used on the AIR-1 aircraft, which appeared in 1927. Therefore, a single V-shaped connecting rod for both pistons was dressed on a single crankshaft journal. The diameter of each of the cylinders was equal to 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 allowed the use of the lowest grade of gasoline that could possibly evaporate in a carburetor. There was no fuel pump in the car, and the fuel came from the tank by gravity. There was not only an electric starter, but even a battery - the engine was successfully started by the crank. Dashboard was not in the car. The speed was measured by eye, and the driver determined the number of engine revolutions by ear, since the loud hissing sound of the engine quite allowed this. By the way, it was for this hissing sound that the car was nicknamed the “primus stove”. What is a primus now, probably, many of you have a rather weak idea. Therefore, for those of our readers who did not manage to catch the fun times of the New Economic Policy, it should be explained that the stove is a wickless heating device that runs on gasoline, kerosene or gas, operating on the principle of burning fuel vapor mixed with air.
In its design, it resembles a blowtorch, but, unlike the latter, the flame of its burner is directed upwards. Above its burner is a ring-shaped wire stand, on which you can put a kettle, pot or pan. In addition, in those days, even rooms were heated with a stove, since there was no central heating yet, and a cubic arshin of firewood was more expensive than a bucket of gasoline. Now its device will seem primitive, but it was the cheaper primus stove that replaced the more advanced samovar, in which, by the way, not only tea was brewed, but also borscht.

Let us return, however, to NAMI-1. There was no trunk in the car, and spare wheel attached directly to the back rear seat. A tool box was installed on the footboard of the car. Since the car was intended for use in the USSR, the box was completed with a massive padlock. There were only two doors: the front one on the left, the rear one on the right. With the right steering wheel, the driver had to drive the front passenger from the seat in order to get out. Soon a couple more copies were made. These prototypes successfully made a run from Moscow to Sevastopol and back.
No differential, independent suspension rear wheels and a large ground clearance of 265 mm provided NAMI-1 with excellent cross-country ability on the roads of that time, and limited quantity details and lack of complex technical devices contributed to the fact that the car almost never broke down - there was practically nothing to break in it. After the successful completion of the run, the Spartak plant began mass production of these machines in January 1928, which lasted three years. In total, 412 cars were manufactured during these three years. In the cramped 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, with less difficulty overcoming traffic jams. Incidentally, the problem of Moscow traffic jams did not arise in the 21st century.
It started showing up in the mid 1930s. It was then that the Nepmen, who had grown rich on the pent-up demand that had accumulated over the years of war communism, began to order a wide variety of cars from abroad through Vneshposyltorg in droves. Soon the streets of Moscow and Petrograd were filled with Rolls-Royces, Mercedes, Hispano-Suises and less thoroughbred foreign auto-wonders. Among all this automobile variety, cars and carts scurried around. At the same time, mare drivers did not recognize any traffic rules.
In response to grunting from enema-like horns, they gracefully poured exquisite multi-storey mat on the drivers. NIMI-1, unlike all these Rolls-Royces, Mercedes and Hispano-Suise, was considered not a bourgeois car, but a proletarian one. The cabbies took him for one of their own, and, hearing the hiss of the Primus, politely shunned 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 per year were already considered insufficient. However, the expansion of production was hindered by the constraint of the territory located within the boundaries of a large city.
Then the plant's engineers proposed to transfer the assembly of cars to a specialized enterprise, which would receive the chassis from Spartak, and the bodies from another plant. This project promised to increase the production of cars to 4.5 thousand per year and reduce their cost. However, a licensed Ford, called GAZ-A, was on the way, and the government considered the further production of NAMI-1 to be inexpedient. To date, two intact NAMI-1 vehicles and two chassis without bodies have been preserved. One copy and one chassis are on display at the Polytechnic Museum, another NAMI-1 car is kept at the museum of the Nizhny Novgorod plant Gidromash, and the second chassis is at the Technical Center of the Moscow newspaper Autoreview.

NATI-2 1932

Number of seats - 4; four-stroke, carburetor, air-cooled engine. The number of cylinders is 4, the working volume is 1211 cm3, the compression ratio is 4.5, the power is 22 liters. With. 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 batteries that were more capacious. than the gas tank of his car. Then, in the year around 2008, according to Ford's forecasts, humanity should have switched to electric vehicles. However, reality forced Ford to remove the Model T from the assembly line and replace it with the Model A.

Moving on to the 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. but new engine was a slightly enlarged motor of the previous model. The cylinder diameter was bored from 92.5 to 98.43 mm - the center distances of the very rationally designed model T engine did not allow further boring. new connecting rods. As a result, the working volume has grown to 200.7 cubic inches (in metric measures - 3285 cubic cm). Power was 40 horsepower. many progressive solutions were also used in the design. For example, instead of wooden spokes, metal spokes were installed in the wheels, and instead of an oil clutch, a dry single-disk clutch was installed. The latter ruled out cases of a car hitting a driver.
The fact is that the Ford T car had one dangerous character trait - sometimes, due to the cold oil, the clutch turned on by itself and the driver who started the car with the crank was crushed by his own car. Therefore, in the instructions for the Ford T it was indicated: "before starting the car, turn on the reverse gear." True, since 1920, when electric starters were installed on the Ford T, the need for this paragraph of the instruction disappeared, but switching to model A, Ford decided to leave the starter and battery only as an option in order to meet the specified $ 385.

Following the same production and marketing scheme as with the Model T, Ford made a Ford AA light truck out of the Ford A passenger car as well, just as the Ford TT once made out of the 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, that 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 one 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 appearance. GAZ-A looked like typical car the turn of the 20s - 30s of the twentieth 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 "GAS". Wire-spoked wheels without threaded nipples to adjust the tension - the design had such strength and reliability.

The slightly yellowish color of the windshield indicates that it is a triplex - two layers of glass with a third laid - 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. The fuel tank cap sticks out in front of the windshield. It is located on the back engine compartment: fuel was fed into the carburetor by gravity. Thus, there was no need for a gasoline pump, which in those years was still a very imperfect device. The gas tank on the GAZ-A almost hung over the knees of the driver and passenger. At the bottom of the tank was a faucet, which the driver, leaving, blocked.
The faucet often leaked, which from the point of view fire safety posed a serious threat. There are two levers on the black ebony steering wheel next to the signal button. One is used to manually control the ignition timing (today this work is performed by an automatic machine), and the other to set a constant supply of "gas". The speedometer does not have the usual arrow - in the window of the device, the numbers printed on the drum move, indicating the speed. The numbers on the gas gauge are printed on a scale connected directly to the float in the gas tank.

Just below the tiny round accelerator pedal there was a support for the heel of the right foot - an oblong pedal appeared on cars much later.

If we were able to dismantle the entire machine to the last boat, we would see only 21 rolling bearings (in modern car there are about two hundred), of which seven are roller, and the rollers are wound from a thick steel strip. Here are the bearings crankshaft were plain bearings, and not the same as now, with thin-walled quick-change bimetallic liners, which 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, a layer of babbitt was scraped. But even the most careful adjustment did not save from the fact that after 30-40 thousand kilometers the bearings had to be filled again.

GAZ-3 - the first domestic serial passenger car with a closed body GAZ-A designs seems surprising today: a band hand brake on the rear wheels, the absence of a device for adjusting the valves (if necessary, the valve stem was cut off a little), a very low (4.2) compression ratio, due to which in hot weather, when conditions for liquid evaporation are favorable , the engine could even run on kerosene.

Two transverse springs served 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 a canvas awning and fasten canvas sidewalls with celluloid windows over the doors. In 1934, an experimental batch of cars equipped with sedan-type closed bodies was husked. Assembly on the conveyor of such bodies, which required mutual adjustment of many complex in shape, and most importantly, easily deformable parts, was very slow, and they were abandoned. But the demand for closed passenger 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 double cab 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, products, small batches of industrial goods). Therefore, the spare wheel migrated to the pocket of the front left fender. By the way, GAZ-4 postal "pickup trucks" were found on the streets of Moscow even at the end of the forties. I must say that the GAZ-A chassis was used not only for "pickup trucks" or taxis. The bodies of the D-8 armored cars were mounted on it, which went into service with 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 suburban 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, they began to replace the famous GAZ-M1 on the GAZ-A conveyor.

L-1 1933

Number of seats - 7. Length - 5.3 m. Engine 8-cylinder, displacement 5750 cm3, power - 105 hp. at 2900 rpm. Speed ​​115 km/h. Circulation - 6 pcs.

GAZ-M1 1936

This car was the most massive Soviet car of the mid-twentieth century. 62888 copies, produced at the Gorky Automobile Plant named after Molotov, 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 have probably already understood that we are talking about the GAZ M1 car, popularly nicknamed "Emka".

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 vast majority of auto journalists believe that the prototype of this car was the American Ford B of the F40 modification.

Indeed, in accordance with the agreement then in force, the American side handed over the technical documentation for the F40 car, equipped with a 3285 cc V-shaped eight-cylinder engine. cm (200.7 cubic inches), but we allegedly could not master the production of the G8 and put a forced motor from its predecessor GAZ-A on the Emka. However, if you dig deeper autohistory, it turns out a small nuance that casts doubt on the official and generally accepted version. It turns out that, having received the technical documentation for the F40 model, the Gorky designers did not even think of 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 the conversion from inch to metric would take at least a year.

However, Andrey Alexandrovich Lipgart, who had just been appointed chief designer of GAZ, was a supporter of the fastest introduction of a new passenger car model into production. He drew attention to the fact that the European branch of Ford in Germany produced a European version of the Ford B. This car was called the Ford Rheinland and had already been fully adapted by German designers for European conditions. In particular, German engine designers, instead of putting in an expensive and gluttonous "eight", improved the old Ford engine from the Ford A model. 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 the valve lift by 0.8 mm, expanded the passage 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 rigidity of the body was increased. That is why Lipgart offered to turn to the Germans and buy the 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, was leaving for Germany on a secret visit. On May 5, 1935, he met with Goering, and he, secretly from Hitler, decided to sell the Soviet Union something of what we were ready to pay 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 already on March 17, 1936, the first two pre-production GAZ-M1 samples were sent to the Kremlin. There they were examined by Stalin, Molotov, Voroshilov and Ordzhonikidze, after which they gave the go-ahead for in-line production.

True, on July 8, 1936, People's Commissar of Heavy Industry Grigory Konstantinovich Ordzhonikidze, better known to us under the pseudonym Sergo, instructed NATI to conduct official tests of three serial GAZ-M-1s: two cars were to go on a 30,000-kilometer off-road and sloppiness rally, and also one fell to become 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 finally completed only by the end of 1937.

By modern standards, the GAZ-M1 would be considered a middle-class car. The length of the Emka with a 2845 mm wheelbase was 4665 mm. The width was 177 centimeters. So this car would most likely be classified today as segment D. The car body had a frame structure. The frame consisted of two box-section spars connected by two X-shaped crossbars in front and in the middle and two rear crossbars. An in-line four-cylinder lower valve was installed on the car carbureted engine. Its displacement at 98.43 mm bore and 107.95 mm stroke was 3286 cc. see 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 km speed. Its maximum speed was 105 km / h.

The car factory produced several modifications of the Emka. After the limousine, the pickup truck called GAZ M-415 was the most popular. Its front part, including the radiator lining, plumage 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 folding sides, on which it was possible to 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 the Emka - the BA-20 armored car BA-20 - 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, the GAZ-M-1 was exhibited at the World Industrial Exhibition in Paris, but did not receive any awards there. Much more attention was given to models of Moscow metro stations and Mukhina's sculptural group "Worker and Collective Farm Girl". In the late 1930s, a decision was made to modernize the car. First of all, it was necessary to replace the rapidly aging engine. The six-cylinder Dodge D5 engine was recognized as the most suitable for production and operation in the USSR.

The preparation of the GAZ-11 engine for serial production was completed mainly in March 1940. From the same time, the production of the modernized GAZ-11-73 Emka with a new 76 or 85 hp engine began. and a working volume of 3.485 liters. I 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, other blinds on the hoods, an updated dashboard, semi-centrifugal clutch mechanism and improved shock absorbers. The suspension was equipped with a stabilizer roll stability. In this version, the Emka was produced until June 1943, when Gorky's bombing raids, which destroyed the body shop, forced it to stop production. However, from the remaining parts in 1945-48, it was possible to assemble another 233 cars, after which the release of the Emka was finally discontinued.

ZiS-101 1937

This car was created as Stalin's car, but Stalin never used this car. However, for the party and economic asset, this car turned out to be very useful. 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 fighting traffic congestion - Moscow got acquainted with traffic jams back in the days of the New Economic Policy, and even the expansion of Gorky Street and the elimination of 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-seater representative limousine Leningrad-1 (more often called L-1) by the Krasny Putilovets plant. The prototype was taken from the American Buick-97 model 1932. It was a very perfect, but rather difficult car to manufacture. The drawings were commissioned to be made by the LenGiproVATO Institute, which was part of the All-Union Automotive and Tractor Association. According to these drawings, the Putilovites made six copies, which paraded in front of the stands at the May Day demonstration of 1933. 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 of the limousine was transferred to ZiS. The work on its development was led by Evgeny Ivanovich Vazhinsky. He retained the overall design, but abandoned the knots that were difficult to fine-tune: remote control shock absorbers and from the automatic transmission that existed on the Buick. While the chassis was mastered, the car body was obsolete and looked like an obvious anachronism. Therefore, the body decided to create anew.

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

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

ZiS-101 in the film "Foundling"

The length of a car with such a body was 5647 mm, the width was 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. An in-line eight-cylinder overhead valve engine was installed on ZIS-101 cars. Its cylinder diameter was 85 mm, and the piston stroke was 127. The working volume, therefore, was 5766 cubic centimeters.

L-1 plant "Red Putilovets"

The engine was distinguished by such features as a thermostat that maintains the required temperature in the cooling system, a crankshaft with counterweights, a crankshaft torsional vibration damper, and a two-chamber carburetor with exhaust gas heating. The transmission included a double-plate clutch and a 3-speed gearbox. Second and third gears were synchromesh. When using aluminum pistons, he 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 at this power was 115 km / h, fuel consumption per 100 km of track - 26.5 liters. With a power of 110 - the engine allowed to accelerate to 125 km / h. Prototypes were demonstrated to Stalin in the spring of 1936, and serial production began in November. They produced 4-5 pieces a day, and from November 3, 1936 to July 7, 1941, 8752 cars were produced.

Despite the fact that far from all Soviet party and economic workers had enough ZiSov, and many had to drive simple emkas, 55 cars were transferred to the 13th Moscow taxi fleet. Unlike 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 lots in the center - next to the Moskva Hotel, in front of the Bolshoi Theater, near the Sverdlov Square metro station. The fare on ZiS cost 1 ruble 40 kopecks per kilometer, while on a taxi-emka only a ruble. In addition, the ZiS-101 became the first minibus: the first of them was launched along the Garden Ring. The fare in 1940 was 3 r. 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 in that year was 339 rubles.

The Moscow-Noginsk intercity route was also opened. However, taxi-chaises with open bodies were especially popular. Checkers did not yet exist then - they appeared only in 1948 at Pobedy, and taxis were distinguished from party-economic vehicles only on the basis 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 ZiSs.

The first copy of the ZiS-101, from left to right: Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks Andrei Andreevich Andreev (often confused with the director of the ZiS Ivan Likhachev), People's Commissar for 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 foreign counterparts. The subsequent modernization led to the creation of the ZiS-101A. Radiator lining changed more powerful engine, the design of the synchronizer in the gearbox is simplified and helical gears of the first gear and reverse gear are used, a single-plate clutch is developed.

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

ZiSs were also freely sold to the public. They cost 40 thousand rubles, or, respectively, 118 average salaries. nevertheless, scientists, writers and artists were happy to buy 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 in Grafsky Lane remained. Then they closed it too. Taxis were first transferred to a bus depot on Druzhinnikovskaya Street, and in the winter of 1943 to a garage on Aviamotornaya Street. 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 the 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 hp. With. 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

GAZ M1 modification with a six-cylinder GAZ-11 engine. It differed from Emka in the shape of the radiator lining and vents on the sides of the hood, bumpers with fangs (which lengthened the car by 30 mm), a new instrument panel, improved brakes, piston shock absorbers double action, reinforced with springs. Number of seats - 5; engine: number of cylinders - 6, working volume - 3485 cm3, power - 76 liters. With. 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 the Vilna region were Belarusians. The Polish troops showed almost no resistance, and the columns marched in marching order. Ahead, at the head of the column, the head of the Political Directorate of the 3rd Army of the Belorussian Front, Brigadier Commissar Shulin, was driving an emk. The road was narrow, unpaved, and therefore it is not surprising that the commissar's emka got stuck in the middle of the road. And not only got stuck, but blocked the path of the entire 3rd Army following it.

As a result of this incident, Vilna was not occupied 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, it differed little from the "emka". Only too high clearance gave out an all-terrain vehicle in it. The base for the new army passenger car was the solid Gorky "emka" GAZ-M-1, which had fairly 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 emka and the lorry, turned out to be very low-power for such a car. Therefore, in the summer of 1939, it was decided to put the 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 create anew, in fact, only the front drive axle and transfer case. For their power connection, a slightly modified cardan shaft car ZiS-101 with hinges on needle bearings. The rear closed, double driveshaft was equipped with an intermediate joint. Instead of a three-speed “passenger” gearbox, a “cargo” four-speed one from GAZ-AA was used with a power range doubled, 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, he developed a speed of 107.5 km / h, having a fuel consumption of 14 liters per 100 km.

Thanks to all-wheel drive, large engine power reserves, an increased gear ratio in the transmission, tires with a special profile and a frame raised by 150 mm, the new car climbed such slopes on the ground that not everyone can do. tracked vehicle- up to 43 degrees. This value was limited by the twisting of the rear axle shafts and the beginning of tipping back, and not by traction capabilities. On the sand, the GAZ-61-40 took a rise from a standstill to 15 degrees, from a run - up to 30 degrees, ford with the fan belt removed - up to 0.82 m, a ditch - up to 0.85-0.9 m wide, snow - deep 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 crossed 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 autumn, when the continuous rain that had been falling for three days made all the surrounding roads impassable, the GAZ-61 car left the city of Gorky for another trip. Ahead lay a dirt road, replete with steep ascents and descents. The clay, mixed with sand, that made up the road surface, got wet and was cut into deep ruts filled with water. The ditches along the edges of the road were, as it were, peculiar traps, once in which a normal car could not get out on its own. Obviously, for this reason the road was completely deserted. Suddenly, an oncoming car appeared ahead. It was a cargo tricycle with tracks put on wheels, descending very carefully down the hill.
Her driver was going to stop the car, as it was impossible, in his opinion, to pass in such a dangerous place. But suddenly he saw that passenger car turns into a ditch and easily jumps over this obstacle. Turning around in the field, the car with 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 GAZ-61 passenger car, which he first met under such circumstances. The ability of the GAZ-61 car to climb stairs is very indicative. A prototype test to overcome this type of obstacles was carried out at the cultural base of the Gorky Automobile Plant.

GAZ-61 overcomes a water barrier

From the sandy river beach, four flights of stairs led uphill at an angle of 30 degrees. The car, as you can see in the photo 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 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 remaining marshals - Budyonny, Kulik, Timoshenko and Shaposhnikov - received sedans. Army generals Zhukov, Meretskov and Tyulenev, as well as the commander of the Western Special Military District, Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General of the Tank Forces Dmitry Grigoryevich Pavlov, who soon also received the rank of army general, received cars.

Already after the start of the war, such a car was received by the commander of the Far Eastern Front, General of the Army Iosif Rodionovich Apanasenko, and on February 3, 1941, such a car was received by Commissar of State Security 1st rank Vsevolod Nikolayevich Merkulov. In July former car of the executed Pavlov went to the future marshal Ivan Stepanovich Konev. He rode it throughout the war. During the war, this car, which is now working at the Mosfilm film studio, was pierced by small fragments of both windshields. Several holes were also patched up in the roof. The car retained both its engine No. 620 and its body No. 1418. piston rings, liners, crankshaft was polished.

By the end of the 1930s, it was announced in the USSR 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 US dollar. Therefore, in the pockets of the population, the remnants of the previous paycheck accumulated, which over the months and years turned into decent amounts. Ignorant citizens did not want to carry this money to the savings bank or buy additional bonds (in addition to voluntary-compulsory ones), and the State Planning Commission had to pull this money out of their pockets for the needs of the Motherland.

It was for this that at the beginning of 1940, one of the Gosplanov 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 supply every family with a simple folk car, the cost of which did not exceed a thousand marks.

Those 990 marks that the Volkswagen cost were then equal to 2100 Soviet rubles, while the emka cost nine thousand in the USSR. Therefore, it is not surprising that at first in the Soviet Union they simply wanted to copy a German car or acquire a license for it. However, Stalin did not like the “vacuum cleaner” with an air motor, and besides, located behind him, and then he was presented with two English car. The first of them - Austin 7 - was quite cheap to manufacture. However, its construction and design were already quite backward by that time. The other, the 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 chose it. The only thing he wanted to change was to provide the body, which was a two-door on the Prefect, with doors for rear passengers.

KIM-10 in the film "Hearts of Four"

The plant named after KIM, located in Tekstilshchiki, then still near Moscow, was entrusted with setting up production. This plant was named after the Communist Youth International, the youth section of the then Comintern. The plant began its activities in November 1930, starting assembling cars and trucks Ford. Since 1933, on full power the Gorky Automobile Plant was launched, the KIM plant becomes a branch of GAZ and switches to assembly GAZ-A cars and GAZ-AA from Gorky car kits. It was on this plant that the choice of the State Planning Commission fell. The Gorky designer Brodsky redesigned the Prefect, and in the USA body stamps for this car were ordered from BUDD.

A trial batch of 500 cars, named KIM-10-50, was released by April 25, 1941. Stamps for four-door bodies were still late, and cars in the 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 equaled 1145 millimeters. Thus, the Soviet version of the car was 16 centimeters longer than the British original, 3.6 centimeters wider and four centimeters taller. The length of the wheelbase was more than that of the prototype by 185 millimeters. 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 lower valve four-cylinder engine. With a 63.5 mm cylinder diameter and a 92.456 mm piston 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 aviation gasoline B-70 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 fewer forces. However, maximum speed, which was 95 kilometers per hour for the British model, fell 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 milestone, the cars began to shake so that they steer was no longer possible.

In addition, a motor with a lower compression ratio was easier to start by hand, 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. Salon the small car was equipped with a clock and a mechanism that regulates the installation of the front seats - both of which were found only on cars of the highest class. The body of the KIM-10 had many innovations. He did not have an external step, as on other cars. The windshield was not flat, but consisted of two parts, located at an angle, a design later adopted on post-war cars. Other novelties include thin-walled two-layer bearing shells for the crankshaft of the engine, a centrifugal ignition timing device, a windshield wiper operating under the influence of a vacuum in the engine intake pipe. There was also a modification of the car with a “phaeton” roof. It was called KIM-10-51 and was released in 1941 in a small series. Her 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 Soviets. However, with the beginning of the war, all issued phaetons were transferred to the Red Army, and therefore not a single copy has been preserved.

At the end of 1960, the Zaporozhye plant "Kommunar" produced the first series of cars "Zaporozhets". The dream of a "people's car" has become a reality. The Soviet automobile industry fulfilled the dreams of both a peasant car and a car for the party elite.

Zaporozhets

Since the mid-1950s, people's requests for a compact, inexpensive "people's" car have become more and more widespread. The task of creating one was set by the state economic planning authorities for development in the period 1959-1965. It was decided to take the Fiat 600 as the basis for the future car. It must be said that the “humpback” was not a blind copy of the Italian small car. Many structural units have undergone significant changes. ZAZ 965 became a real "people's car", "starred" in such films as "Three plus two", "Queen of the gas station" and many others. A “humpback” appeared even in the cartoons “Just you wait” and “Vacation in Prostokvashino”.

The Ukrainian auto industry, having experimented on the “humpbacked” Zaporozhets, which was a replica of the six hundredth Fiat, during the years of Brezhnev’s rule released a new model, an almost full-fledged, but very compact sedan, similar in exterior to the Chevrolet Corvairс. Distinctive feature the car became large air intakes, which the people immediately dubbed ears, from which ZAZ 966 got its nickname. In later models, the "ears" were cropped, but the nickname remained. "Eared" was the first car of Vladimir Putin, a 19-year-old law student won his first car in the DOSAAF lottery.

ZIL-111

"Catching up and overtaking America" ​​was the main goal in the development of Soviet industry in the 1950-60s. This trend also applies to domestic auto industry, especially its representative segment. The first secretary of the CPSU, Nikita Khrushchev, wanted the same car as the American president, only better. By the end of the 50s, the “Stalinist” ZIS-110, which had served faithfully for 13 years, became obsolete and ceased to suit immediately for several reasons. Firstly, it did not outwardly correspond to the trends in the development of auto design, and secondly, the ZIS-110 was not a piece, it was produced on an assembly line and filled taxi fleets. It is clear that the head of the Soviet Union could not drive the same car with mere mortals. An order was given for the production of a new executive car; the result of this order was the ZIL-111. Suspiciously similar to the American Cadillac, the Zil-111 combines all the best that the automotive industry could give: an automatic transmission with push-button controls, power windows, a V-shaped eight-cylinder engine, power steering, a four-headlight lighting system and a representative seven-seater saloon. During the production of the model, only 112 cars were produced. Interesting fact: when the production of executive cars "Huntsy" began in China, the design of the ZIL-111 was taken as the basis.

"Gull"

The most beautiful car of the Soviet Union, the "Seagull" was the most massive Soviet executive car. As part of his appearance the car was a compilation design solutions American car industry, the so-called fin style, or "Detroit Baroque". "The Seagull" can be attributed to the centenarians of the Soviet automobile industry: cars were produced from 1959 to 1981. The heads of ministries and departments, the first secretaries of the republican communist parties, the ambassadors of the USSR abroad traveled on the "Seagulls". In addition, several special modifications of the car were produced: filming, semi-phaetons, the case of the production of a railway railcar based on the GAZ-13 is also known.
Immediately after the start of the release of "Seagulls", a "hunt" began for them - elegant, comfortable car seduced party functionaries, but the obsolete ZiM remained the main member carrier. A way out was found: at one of the defense plants, the front and rear parts from Zim were welded to the body of the Chaika. In practice, a camouflaged car of a high level of comfort was obtained, popularly nicknamed "Oslobyk". "The Seagull" for a long time was inaccessible to the mass buyer, after two overhauls it was supposed to be disposed of. Only in the 70s, Brezhnev allowed to make money on the "Seagulls": the cars began to be widely used by registry offices, served by Intourist, diplomatic missions of foreign countries, ministers, military parades, Soviet ambassadors abroad and stars visiting the USSR.

"Volga"

Volga should be black. The black 24th Volga was a symbol of an entire era, which is not surprising - the car was produced from 1970 to 1992. This car was an indicator of well-being and the cherished dream of every Soviet citizen. The mass sale of the Volga into private hands, however, was never envisaged: most of the cars were distributed to government agencies, taxi companies and for export. Only very wealthy people could afford the Volga, in comparison with the “popular” Moskvich and Zhiguli, nomenclature cars were very expensive. "Volga" was produced in several modifications, the most common was, of course, a sedan. There were fewer station wagons, and almost all of them went to the needs of the national economy, so for a long time they could be bought either in Beryozka chain stores for checks, or received on an individual order.

VAZ 2101 ("Penny")

VAZ 2101, "Kopeyka" - a legendary car, the most popular car in the USSR. The Italian Fiat 124 was taken as the prototype of the first Zhiguli model. True, the Italian was significantly improved, more than 800 changes were made to the Fiat design.
"One", as the people at first lovingly called the VAZ 2101, was a revolutionary car for Soviet motorists. The level of execution and assembly of cars was at a very high level. Suffice it to say that many of the changes made by Soviet designers were used later in the production of cars in Italy. "Kopeyka" was a favorite car not only in the Soviet Union, but also in the countries of the socialist bloc. In Cuba, to this day, "penny limousines" are used as fixed-route taxis. In 2000, according to the results of a survey of almost 80 thousand motorists from Russia and the CIS countries, conducted by the magazine Za Rulem, the VAZ 2101 was recognized as the “best Russian car century."

VAZ-2108 ("Chisel")

"Eight" was the first front-wheel drive Soviet car. For the domestic automotive industry, it was a revolutionary model. Before that, all Zhiguli models were exclusively rear-wheel drive. Some components and assemblies of the VAZ-2108 were developed jointly with Western companies Porsche and UTS. The amount of the contract between the Minavtoprom and Porsche is unknown. However, it is rumored that sharpening the "chisel" allowed the company to build a full-size wind tunnel to replace the wretched climate chamber. For its unusual shape, the “eight” was immediately dubbed the “chisel” by the people, however, despite the nickname, the car “took root”.

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

GAZ A (1932)

GAZ A - is the first mass passenger car of the USSR, is a licensed copy of the American Ford-A. The USSR bought equipment and documents for production from an American company in 1929, 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 a surcharge.

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

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

When adapted 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)

L1 was an experimental passenger car, represented almost exact copy car Buick-32-90, which by Western standards belonged to the upper-middle class.

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

Due to the fact that the Buick body no longer corresponded to the fashion of the mid-30s, it was redesigned at ZiS. 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)

First Soviet subcompact car, the development was based on the "Ford Prefect".

Stamps were made in the USA and body drawings were developed according to the models of a Soviet designer. In 1940, the production of this model began. It was thought that the KIM-10 would become the first "people's" car of the USSR, but the Great Patriotic War prevented the plans of the USSR leadership.

"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, but there were no complaints from it 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

Six-seven-seater passenger car big class with a "six-window long-wheelbase sedan" body was developed on the basis of the Buick Super, was mass-produced at the Gorky Automobile Plant (Molotov Plant) from 1950 to 1959 (some modifications - until 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 relies as much as possible on the units and technologies already mastered in production. "ZiM" was not a copy of any particular foreign car, neither in terms of design, nor, in particular, in the technical aspect - in the latter, the plant's designers even managed to some extent "say a new word" within the global automotive industry

"Volga" GAZ-21 (1956-1972)

The passenger car of the middle class was technically created by domestic engineers and designers from scratch, but outwardly 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 originally GAZ-M-21, later (since 1965) - GAZ-21.

By the time mass production began, by world standards, the design of the Volga had already become at least ordinary, and it no longer stood out against the background of serial foreign cars of those years. Already 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 appearance and design of the car were fairly standard for this direction, specifications were also about average. Most of the "Volga" was not intended for sale for personal use and operated in taxi companies and other government organizations).

"Seagull" GAZ-13 (1959-1981)

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

"The Seagull" was created with a clear focus on the trends of American style, like all GAZ products of those years, but was not a 100% "stylistic copy" or Packard's modernization.

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

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

Both sedans and convertibles "Chaika" were used in parades, served at meetings of foreign leaders, prominent figures and heroes, 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)

Copying American design on different Soviet factories led to the fact that the appearance of the ZIL-111 car was created according to the same samples as the "Seagull". As a result, the country simultaneously produced externally similar cars. ZIL-111 is often mistaken for the more common "Seagull".

The high-end passenger car was stylistically a compilation of various elements of American middle and high-end cars of the first half of the 1950s - predominantly reminiscent of Cadillac, Packard and Buick. The basis external design ZIL-111, like the "Seagulls", lay down the design of the models of the American company "Packard" in 1955-56. But compared to the Packard models, ZIL was larger in all dimensions, looked much stricter and “square”, with straightened lines, had a more complex and detailed decor.

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

ZIL-114 (1967-1978)

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

In total, 113 copies of the government limousine were assembled.

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 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 transporting the first persons of the country. ZIL - 115 could become a shelter in case of a nuclear war. Of course, he would not have survived 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 NAMI Automobile Institute. The first samples received the designation "Moskvich-444", and already differed significantly from the Italian prototype. Later, the designation was changed to "Moskvich-560".

Already at the very early stage of design, the car differed from the Italian model by a completely different front suspension - as on the first Porsche sports cars and the Volkswagen Beetle.

ZAZ-966 (1966-1974)

An especially small class passenger car 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, introduced at the end of 1959.

VAZ-2101 (1970-1988)

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

By agreement of the Soviet Foreign Trade and by Fiat, the Italians created 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 been subjected to major changes. V total over 800 changes were made to the design of the Fiat 124, after which it received the name Fiat 124R. "Russification" of the Fiat 124 turned out to be 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 body type sedan. It was developed jointly with the Italian company Fiat on the basis of the Fiat 124 and Fiat 125 models.

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