Soviet cars. Passenger cars "Moskvich", "Volga", "Seagull", "Victory"

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:41

The Soviet Union was considered a powerful country throughout the world. In the USSR, they reached great heights in science and medicine. It was the Soviet Union that conquered space and launched a technology race that would turn the whole world history upside down in the future. It is thanks to the best minds of the USSR that the space industry will then begin to develop. Together with space technologies, science and medicine, the automobile industry also developed in a large country. However, despite serious progress, the USSR lagged behind other countries in the automotive industry. But this does not mean at all that Soviet cars are bad. Let's get acquainted with the most famous representatives of the domestic auto industry, which today are considered retro classics.

The birth of the domestic auto industry

In 1927, the head of the Soviet Union, Stalin demanded that during the first five-year plan - from 1928 to 1932 - a powerful and competitive automobile industry be created in the country. At that time, in comparison with the countries of Europe and the USA, the auto industry was virtually absent in the country, and the USSR was not a competitor for worldauto giants. However, due to the rapid development of industrialization, by the middle of 1928, there were more than 3 million people employed in the production of cars.

When the first five-year plan ended, more than 6 million people were already working in the auto industry. Thanks to this plan, a new social class was formed in the USSR - these are workers for the automotive industry with good incomes for that time. But although a huge number of jobs were created and the standard of living grew, for many a car was a luxury even then. Soviet cars were bought only by the we althy working class. This is taking into account the fact that the capacity of car factories by 1932 reached about 2.3 million copies.

KIM: small car

Glavavtoprom in August 1938 proposes to develop and launch the production of small cars. It was planned to be set up at the Moscow Automobile Assembly Plant, created in honor of KIM.

For the development of the car, a design department was formed at the plant. The process was led by a specialist from NATI A. N. Ostrovtsev. GAZ specialists worked on the design and construction of the body. To make the development go faster, they decided to take the American Ford Perfect, which was produced at that time in the UK, as a basis. The solutions that Ford engineers used were well known to engineers from the USSR - several car models based on Ford A and AA were already produced in the country. Although the English car was taken as the basis, the body design is completely Soviet. GAZ specialists worked on it. During the process, they created two options - a model with a closedbody and two doors, as well as an open phaeton. Interestingly, the car was produced on equipment from the USA.

It was planned to connect many factories of the USSR to the production. So, frames, springs, forgings were to be manufactured at ZIS. At GAZ, the main body parts and castings were made. A huge number of various industries had to provide the assembly shop with everything necessary - glass, tires, upholstery materials, as well as all the details that simply could not be manufactured at KIM.

Exterior

The model was called KIM-10, and at that time it was a serious step for the entire automotive industry.

The appearance of the car turned out to be newer and fresher, unlike other Soviet cars. The body shape and overall design practically did not differ from foreign samples. The body of this car was very progressive for its time.

The hood opened up and was of the alligator type. In order to open it, the designers created a nose decoration. The sides of the hood served as fairings for the headlights. The doors were wide enough in size, they were additionally equipped with swivel windows. The side windows could be lowered.

Design Features

In addition to modern ideas, more conservative solutions were used at the time of the creation of this car. So, an engine with a lower valve arrangement did not have mechanisms for adjusting them. The connecting rod bearings were filled with babbitt. The thermosiphon cooling system is already outdated, but was used on KIM-10. Also amongconservative solutions - dependent suspension system, mechanical brakes. The turn signals were of the semaphore type.

Specifications

This car was made in two types of bodies - a two-door sedan and a phaeton with side parts. The car could accommodate four passengers.

The length of the body was 3960 mm, width - 1480 mm, height -1650 mm. Clearance - 210 mm. The fuel tank held 100 liters of fuel.

The engine was located in front, longitudinally. It was a 4-cylinder carbureted four-stroke power unit. Its volume was 1170 cubic meters. see. The engine gave out 30 liters. With. at 4000 thousand revolutions. The motor was paired with a three-speed manual transmission. The car was rear-wheel drive, and its fuel consumption was only 8 liters per 100 kilometers.

The history of this car ended in 1941.

Car GAZ-13 "Seagull"

The need for this car arose in the 50s. So, in the USSR they had to create a representative-level car that would correspond to the fashion trends of that time. The designers of GAZ, as well as ZiS and ZIL, developed the project. In addition, the ZIL-111 car is already outdated.

The result of the work of GAZ specialists was presented to the public in 1956. The car was launched into mass production only two years later, in the 59th. For those 22 years that this model was produced, only 3189 copies were produced. The eminent designer Eremeev worked on the legendary design of the described car. In the exterior of the car, you can tracefeatures of the American auto industry.

GAZ-13 "The Seagull" became what it was later remembered, far from immediately. In the process of working on the body, two options were created. They differed from production models in taillights, front sidelights, moldings on the wheel arches and a windshield frame.

Specifications

This car had impressive dimensions. The layout is front-engine, and rear-wheel drive. Surprisingly, even then a three-speed hydromechanical gearbox was installed on this car.

There were two engines - GAZ-13 and GAZ-13D. These are eight-cylinder V-shaped engines with a volume of 5.5 liters. But the first unit was calculated on A-93 gasoline, and the second on A-100. Also, the second motor has a higher compression ratio and a power of 215 hp. The first unit had a capacity of 195 liters. With. The design of the motor was innovative - it is an aluminum cylinder head and valves.

The engine was equipped with liquid cooling and a four-chamber carburetor. The motor, together with the automatic transmission, could accelerate the car up to 160 km. The car accelerated to 100 km in 20 seconds.

As for fuel consumption, in the combined cycle the car consumed 18 liters per 100 kilometers. The automatic transmission allowed the use of three gears - this is neutral, first gear, movement and reverse. I had to switch them using the keys on the dashboard.

Modifications

So, GAZ-13 is the base model. In the cabin at the back was installedthree rows of seats, and the prototypes differed significantly in equipment from the serial ones.

GAZ-13A is the same basic model, but a partition between passengers and the driver was installed in the cabin.

13B is a convertible, this modification was used in military parades.

13C is a station wagon. This modification did not go into the series. In total, about twenty of these machines were produced.

Subcompact car "Moskvich"-400

This is the next model after KIM-10-52. Work on the car started after the war, in early 1946. Also after the war, the plant changed its name to Moskvich. This is a people's car that should have been created before the war.

The car was made in the image and likeness of the Opel Kadett K38, which was developed by General Motors in 1938. All the equipment was taken to Germany, the stamps for the production of bodies could not be saved, so we had to create our own, Soviet ones.

This car was developed by domestic and German engineers. The cost of the car, according to various sources, is from 8,000 to 9,000 rubles. It was a lot of money, and at first only a few could afford the new Moskvich-400, but in the 50s the well-being of people increased, and a whole queue lined up behind the car.

Exterior

Opel Kadett K38 was used as a basis. Stalin really liked the car, and he ordered that an exact copy be made in the USSR. It must be said that Opel was created in Germany before the war, and in the 40s the whole structure was put togetherthe design is very outdated. Opel at that time produced more interesting models, but no one dared to argue with Stalin. Later, the appearance will be slightly updated, but this will not affect the body.

Engine

Since there was no documentation on the power unit in Germany, Soviet engineers developed a new motor. The car was equipped with a four-cylinder eight-valve unit, the power of which was only 23 liters. With. with a working volume of 1100 cubic meters. see. The motor worked with a pair of three-speed manual transmission. The power unit was created for A-66 fuel. Consumption was 8 liters per 100 kilometers at a maximum speed of 90 km/h.

GAS

A lot of different interesting models were produced at this plant. One of them is GAZ A. The history of the car begins in Detroit. It was then that old man Henry Ford decided that the Ford T was simply hopelessly outdated. And he took it off the assembly line. Instead, model A was launched. First of all, the engine was finalized - after the transformation, its power changed from 23 hp With. up to 40. The volume has grown to 3.2 liters. The car also had a dry single plate clutch.

Then Ford created an AA truck based on the passenger car A, and then the AAA three-axle machine went to the conveyor. It was this unified and generally universal car that Soviet leaders liked. Based on it, they decided to create a simple, reliable and technologically advanced Soviet passenger car. So GAZ A was born. The model was produced from 1932 to 1938.

Design

Bumper representedfailure of two elastic bands of steel. The radiator was covered with nickel, and it was decorated with the first nameplate of the GAZ plant. The wheels were equipped with wire spokes - their peculiarity is that they did not require adjustment.

Triplex glass was used for the windshield. It had a gas cap in front of it. The tank itself was located on the rear wall of the engine compartment - this is how the fuel pump was excluded from the design. Gasoline got into the carburetor by gravity.

These Soviet cars were produced in a "phaeton" type body for 5 seats. In the event of rain, a tarpaulin awning could be pulled up.

Salon

The steering wheel was black, and the material for it was ebonite. Next to the signal on the steering wheel, the designers placed special levers - with the help of the first, the ignition timing was adjusted, and the second served to supply gas. The speedometer was a drum with numbers. Below the gas pedal, a special heel support was installed.

Design Features

If you dismantle the car, you will only get 21 bearings. A band brake was also used, there was no possibility to adjust the valve, a low engine compression ratio - 4, 2. Transverse springs were used as a suspension.

A little later, this model will be replaced by the GAZ M-1 sedan, which is also based on the Ford A, but modified for off-road patency. So, they increased the strength of the body, strengthened the suspension. The voracious 3.2 liter engine was modified so that its power increased to 50 hp. s.

This GAZ M-1 off-road limousine entered the series in 1936. Releasedover 60,000 copies. It was a very successful model.

GAZ-21

These are Soviet passenger cars in the body type "sedan". In mass production, the car was launched in 56, and it continued until the 70s. This is the most successful model of the domestic auto industry.

Development began in 1952. Initially, they worked on the M21 models. L. Eremeev and artist Williams worked on the design. In 1953, the first mock-ups of the M21 were created, the Williams project did not fit. Then, in the spring of 1954, the first prototypes of the Volga GAZ-21 were assembled.

Tests were carried out, during which the cars showed good results. The new "Volga" turned out to be economical, significantly superior in terms of dynamic characteristics to the GAZ M-12 ZIM. In addition, the car had a unique design.

The first models were equipped with a lower-valve engine, its working volume was 2.4 liters. Engine power was already 65 hp. With. This is a motor from Pobeda, which was boosted at the factory. Paired with the power unit, a three-speed manual transmission worked.

The owners of the car "Volga" (GAZ-21) talked about the high resistance of the body to corrosion, about the good cross-country ability of the car. Today it is already a vintage car, and you can see its representatives in private collections.

GAZ-24

Later, in 1968, the GAZ-24 was produced on the basis of this car. The car was produced in two bodies - sedan and station wagon. At one time it was the most prestigious car. develop a modelsteel immediately after the launch of the 21st Volga. The car managed to survive three restyling, the design gravitated towards the features of American cars. But there were original features in the exterior, which gave the body a swiftness.

Vehicle specifications

GAZ-24 was produced, as already noted, in two bodies. Ground clearance was 180 mm. The engine was located in front of the longitudinal. A 2.4 liter gasoline engine was chosen as the power unit. Its power was 95 liters. With. He worked in tandem with a four-speed manual transmission. Fuel consumption - 13 liters per 100 km. With this unit, the maximum speed is 145 km/h.

On the basis of the described "Volga" then many different modifications were released. They also produced models for export. Finished production in 1985.

It must be said that Soviet cars are much more interesting than those produced today. Now everything seems uninteresting to modern people, and then each new model was a real holiday for motorists. These cars are now being filmed in films, are in museums and private collections, the ZIS-110 car is very popular abroad, including in the USA and Europe. Many motorists give huge sums for the purchase and restoration of such cars. This is real retro. And let them scold the domestic auto industry, but back then in our country they knew how to make good cars.