LAZ-695: specifications and photos. Lineup of Lviv Bus Plant

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:42

Lviv Bus Plant (LAZ) was founded in May 1945. For ten years, the company has been producing truck cranes and car trailers. Then the production capacity of the plant was expanded. In 1956, the first bus of the LAZ-695 brand rolled off the assembly line, a photo of which is presented on the page. It topped a long list of models for subsequent releases. Each new modification improved the technical parameters and became more comfortable compared to the previous one.

Magirus and Mercedes

The German Magirus bought abroad was used as a prototype for the construction of the LAZ-695. The car was studied throughout 1955, the design was considered from the point of view of technological application for conveyor assembly in the conditions of the limited capabilities of the Soviet Avtoprom. In the process of preparing the LAZ-695 bus for serial production, the exterior and all external data were borrowed from Magirus, and the chassis, chassis and power plant with transmission were taken from the German Mercedes-Benz 321 bus. German cars cost the Soviet government inexpensively, since in the west automobile equipment is written off early and replaced with a new one. "Magirus", "Neoplan" and "Mercedes-Benz" were bought for a third of the price, and at the same time all the buses were in excellent condition.

Begin production

The LAZ-695 bus, the technical characteristics of which were recognized as quite reliable, was produced for two years, from 1956 to 1958. Initially, the car was used on city routes, but it soon became clear that its interior did not meet the requirements of intensive passenger traffic, the interior was uncomfortable and cramped. The LAZ-695 bus began to run on suburban routes, this time having established itself as a comfortable and fast carrier. Its technical data fully met the tasks of operation. In addition, tourist groups rented the bus with pleasure, the car moved smoothly, the ZIL-124 engine worked almost silently. Later, LAZ-695, the technical characteristics of which did not need to be improved, served the Cosmonaut Training Center in Baikonur.

The technical requirements for the bus were somewhat specific. The astronauts had to move from one module to another, following a pre-flight training program, so the cabin was half empty of regular seats, and in their place were airplane-type chairs that you could lie on.

In addition, the interior of the bus was easily converted for the needs of an ambulance. Devices were installed in it to monitor the general conditionof the human body: electrocardiographs, blood pressure monitors, equipment for simple blood tests and much more. Such transport was serviced by a medical team of three people (similar to an ordinary city-type car).

Soviet period

Lviv Bus Plant continued to produce the model in various modifications until 2006. The car was constantly improved, and the demand for it was kept at a fairly high level. Bus prices in Soviet times were constant, and this suited consumers. Until 1991, the so-called distribution orders were distributed in the USSR, according to which vehicles, including buses, were centrally distributed. Payment for equipment was made by bank transfer, and subsequent operation, maintenance and repair at the expense of the car company.

The planned economy of the USSR assumed a phased development of the automotive industry, and city buses were at that time the first in the list in terms of demand in the national economy. Certain hopes were also pinned on Lviv models. However, a car with a five-speed transmission and continuous rows of seats did not fit into the dynamic mode of street traffic. City buses needed a specially equipped interior, as well as a power plant adapted to frequent braking and stopping. A conventional engine tends to overheat. The height of the produced model also did not fully comply with traffic standards in the city.

Reconstruction attempts

New buses coming off the assembly lineLvov plant, repeated the parameters of the basic model, and radical design changes were impossible. The LAZ design bureau made several attempts to change the interior, but it turned out to be easier to create a car from scratch than to change the technical characteristics of an existing model. Thus, all new buses produced in Lviv were sent mainly to serve suburban lines. And trolleybuses, which were produced at the Lviv Automobile Plant since 1963 (based on a bus body), ran on city routes.

First modifications

In December 1957, the LAZ-695B bus, an upgraded version of the previous model, was put into production. First of all, a pneumatic drive was installed on the machine instead of a mechanical one (for opening doors). The side air intakes for cooling the rear engine were abolished. The central air intake in the form of a bell was placed on the roof. Thus, the cooling efficiency has increased, and the dust entering the engine compartment has become much less. The changes also affected the exterior in the front, the space between the headlights has become more modern. In the cabin, the partition of the driver's cab was improved, it was raised to the ceiling, a door appeared for access to the cabin. Serial production of this model continued until 1964. A total of 16,718 cars were produced.

Simultaneously with the release of the 695B modification, the 695E model was developed with a new eight-cylinder ZIL-130 engine. Several experimental machines were assembled in1961, however, the bus went into series in 1963, while only 394 copies were produced. From April 1964, the conveyor started working at full capacity and by the end of 1969, 38,415 695E buses were assembled, of which 1,346 were exported.

External changes in version 695E touched the wheel arches, which acquired a rounded shape. From the ZIL-158 bus, the hubs of the front and rear axles were borrowed along with the brake drums. On the model 695E, for the first time, electropneumatics were used to control the doors. On the basis of version 695E, the LAZ "Tourist" bus was produced. This car was perfect for long trips.

Experiments on the introduction of automatic transmission

In 1963, the LAZ plant released another modification - 695Ж. The work was carried out in close cooperation with US, namely with the research center for automatic transmissions. In the same year, the production of buses with automatic transmission was launched. However, over the next two years, only 40 such LAZ-695 units were assembled, after which the production of the experimental model was discontinued.

The development of automatic transmission was subsequently useful for city-type buses, the LiAZ brand, produced in the city of Likino-Dulyovo, Moscow Region.

Modernization of existing models

The creation of new modifications of buses of the Lviv Automobile Plant continued, and in 1969 LAZ-695M rolled off the assembly line. The car differed from previous models with windows of modern shape and style. The glasses were built into the window opening without intermediatealuminum frames. The branded air intake on the roof was abolished, instead, vertical slots appeared on the sides of the engine compartment. Since 1973, modernized light-weight rims have been installed on the bus. The changes affected the exhaust system - two mufflers were combined into one. The body of the bus has become shorter by 100 mm, and the curb weight has increased.

Serial production of LAZ-695M continued for seven years, and during this time more than 52 thousand buses were produced, 164 of which were exported.

"Patriarch" in the LAZ family with thirty years of experience

The next modification of the base model was the bus with the index 695H, which featured wide windshields and an upper visor, completely unified front and rear doors, as well as a new instrument panel with a more compact speedometer and gauges. Prototypes were presented in 1969, but this model went into mass production only in 1976. The bus was produced for thirty years, until 2006.

Later versions of the 695H differ from the earlier ones in a set of lighting equipment, headlights, turn signals, brake lights and other lighting devices. The model was equipped with a large hatch in the front of the body; in the case of military mobilization, the buses were supposed to be used as ambulances. In parallel with the 695H version, a small number of 695P buses were produced, featuring increased comfort, softer seats and silent double doors.

Gas version

In 1985, the Lviv Bus Plant produced a modification of the LAZ-695NG, which ran on natural gas. Metal cylinders that can withstand pressures up to 200 atmospheres were placed in a row on the roof, in the rear. The gas entered the reducer, which lowered the pressure, then mixed with air and was sucked into the engine as a mixture. Buses under the symbol 695NG gained popularity in the 90s, when a fuel crisis broke out on the territory of the former USSR. The LAZ plant also suffered from a shortage of fuel. Ukraine as a whole also felt a shortage of fuel, so many transport companies in the country switched their buses to gas, which was much cheaper than gasoline.

LAZ and Chernobyl

In the spring of 1986, after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in the shops of the Lviv Automobile Plant, a special bus LAZ-692 was urgently created in the amount of several dozen copies. The car was used to evacuate people from the infection zone and deliver specialists there. The bus was protected with lead sheets around the entire perimeter, two-thirds of the windows were also covered with lead. Special hatches were made in the roof for the access of purified air. Subsequently, all the machines that participated in the liquidation of the accident at the nuclear power plant were disposed of, since they were unsuitable for operation under normal conditions due to radiation contamination.

Diesel engines

In 1993, at the Lviv Automobile Plant, as an experiment, they tried to install a D-6112 diesel engine from an energy-saturated caterpillar engine on the LAZ-695 bus.tractor T-150. The results turned out to be generally good, but the SMD-2307 (Kharkov plant "Hammer and Sickle") was recognized as a more suitable diesel engine. Nevertheless, the experiments continued, and in 1995 the LAZ-695D bus equipped with the D-245 diesel engine of the Minsk Motor Plant was put into mass production.

Dneprovsk plant

A year later, the project was radically redesigned, and as a result, the 695D11 version appeared, which was named "Tanya".

The modification was produced in small batches until 2002, and since 2003, the assembly of buses was transferred to a plant in Dneprodzerzhinsk. It was not possible to immediately establish production at the new location, since the technological processes at the two specialized, at first glance, production facilities differed significantly. The large-sized bodies of LAZ buses did not always fit into the framework of the Dneprovets welding units, and this created certain difficulties. There was even some increase in the cost of LAZ buses, which were assembled in Dneprodzerzhinsk, although the build quality was in most cases impeccable. As a result, the balance of price and quality leveled off, and the production of cars began to gain momentum.

Searching for a universal solution

The design bureau of the Lvov Automobile Plant was looking for options for new developments. Over the entire period of production at the Lviv Bus Plant, several attempts were made to create universal LAZs that could be operated both in the city and on international routes. However, the specifics of passenger transportation did not allow this. In the distantOn flights, people need comfort and a special soothing atmosphere in the cabin of the bus. On urban routes, passengers enter and exit, several hundred people visit the car per day. Therefore, it was not possible to bring the two opposite operating modes closer together, and the plant continued to produce several modifications at the same time.

LAZ today

Currently, on the roads of the former Soviet Union, you can find buses of the Lvov plant of almost all modifications. A good repair base throughout the entire period of production, starting from 1955, allowed many cars to be kept in good condition. Some LAZ models are obsolete and are used as auxiliary vehicles in various industries.

Many dismantled bodies are ownerless - with removed engines and worn out running gear. These are the costs of the automotive industry of the Soviet period, when buses were decommissioned in car fleets, and no one was interested in their further fate. The market economy dictates its own rules, decommissioned cars increasingly fall into the hands of private owners and get a second life. And since the resource of automotive equipment produced in the USSR was quite long, this "second life" can also be long.

Lviv Bus Plant is going through hard times today, the main conveyor was stopped in 2013, many subsidiaries and related companies are going through bankruptcy proceedings. The existence of CJSC LAZ will depend on the results. Perspectives onsuccessful resolution of a difficult situation are quite pessimistic. Of great importance for the successful resuscitation of enterprises is the stability of the political situation in Ukraine, but this stability is not.