GAZ-12: specifications and photos

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

The first Soviet executive car GAZ-12 (ZIM) was produced in the workshops of the Gorky Automobile Plant in the period from 1949 to 1959. The car was intended for the official use of government members, top party leaders.

Project

The development of the GAZ-12 model was carried out in a short time, there was no time to create domestic external parameters of the new car, so the American Buick of 1948 was taken as the basis. They did not copy the exterior, they used only the main contours.

Specifications

The GAZ-12 body was made bearing, all-metal, there was no structurally detachable frame. As a separate body element, only the sub-engine module was used, which was bolted to the bottom of the front end. I must say that the design bureau of the plant took a certain risk, taking the frameless version as a basis, since a six-seater car with three rows of seats required a mandatory margin of rigidity along the length, which can only be provided by a powerful frame structure made of a channel.

However, everything was decided in the best way: the necessary stockstiffness was created due to diagonal welded profiles located along the entire plane of the bottom of the car. Thus, it was possible to reduce the overall weight of the body without losing the strength factor.

But during the operation of cars with a GAZ-M-12 body, serious defects began to be detected, caused by the loss of rigidity of the supporting elements. The strength of the structure weakened due to constant vibration loads, as well as the stress arising from the rocking of the machine in the longitudinal plane. As a result, the frameless body version had to be abandoned.

Unification

Initially, the GAZ-12 was assembled by hand while the documentation for the serial conveyor process was being prepared. Mass production of the car became possible due to the high degree of unification, which, according to some indicators, reached 50 percent. Many components and assemblies were borrowed from the Pobeda M-20 model, the GAZ-51 truck and later the GAZ-53-12, which was under development at that time.

Power plant

The car was equipped with a modernized GAZ-11 engine with a cylinder capacity of 3,485 cubic meters. cm, with a power of 90 hp, with which the GAZ-12 developed speeds up to 120 kilometers per hour.

Engine, powertrain specifications:

• type petrol;
• number of cylinders - 6;
• stroke - 110mm;
• cylinder diameter - 82 mm;
• compression ratio - 6, 7;
• food - carburetor K-21;
• water cooling;
• gasoline consumption in mixed mode - 19liters per 100 km;
• recommended fuel - gasoline A70, A72.

Transmission

The GAZ-12 was equipped with a gearbox with the following characteristics:

• type - hydromechanical, synchronized;
• number of speeds - 3;
• gears - helical pairs;
• control - mechanical switching by lever drive.

Exterior

The external data of the car met the requirements of that time, the contours of the body were rounded, smooth transitions created the impression of structural integrity. This was a trend followed by all American car manufacturers, and ZIM was no exception. GAZ-12 was the first multi-seat luxury car, and, of course, the car was a source of pride for both the creators and those people for whom it was intended.

The car participated in all festive demonstrations, was exhibited at VDNKh, in the pavilion "Automotive industry of the USSR". Despite the "iron curtain" that existed at that time between the Land of Soviets and Western states, the GAZ-12 was exported abroad to be shown at car dealerships in Berlin, Madrid and Paris.

Interior

The interior of the Soviet limousine was decorated in accordance with the concepts of luxury of that period. All metal parts in the cabin were covered with a decorative pattern, and fine wood trim added an impression of luxury. The floors in the car were necessarily covered with carpets, whichcontributed to almost complete soundproofing.

In terms of luxury in the interior decoration of the 12th model, it was surpassed only by the government ZIS-110, which was never used either as a taxi or as an ambulance, but was considered the highest link in the passenger car industry in the USSR.

Sale of a car in private hands

GAZ-12 was the first and last luxury car that could be purchased at retail. The cost of the car until 1961 was 40,000 rubles. At that time, it was a lot of money, considering that the average salary of a Soviet person did not exceed 650 rubles. The prestigious car "Victory M-20" cost 16,000 rubles, and "Moskvich-401" - nine thousand. Thus, there were no queues for ZIM, but scientists and especially important artists owned this car.

In the early seventies, there was a massive write-off of the GAZ-12 from government agencies. These cars were purchased by private traders who could not buy new Zhiguli, which cost about five thousand rubles.

Today you can meet ZIM in different, sometimes the most unexpected places. Some cars have truck engines, completely unthinkable transmissions and all sorts of exotic mechanisms. Factory-fitted cars are a rarity.

New Fashion & End of Production

By the end of the 50s, the GAZ-12 model began to quickly lose its reputation. The global automotive fashion has dramatically changed direction,modernization of factory equipment for the manufacture of bodies of a fundamentally new form has begun everywhere.