Car ZIS-115 - Stalin's armored limousine

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

The era of armored vehicles for the first persons of the Soviet Union started in 1935. At this time, a gift was delivered from the USA for Comrade Stalin - an armored Packard in white. The leader did not immediately like the non-nomenclature coloring and was changed to black, thereby laying the standard for subsequent cars of the first persons.

Color is, perhaps, the only thing that did not suit Stalin, and for several years several batches of armored Packards were delivered to the USSR to serve the highest ranks of the CPSU (b). And yet, as a true "father of the people", Iosif Vissarionovich considered it a bad example that the highest ranks drive foreign cars. In 1942, it was decided to develop their own armored limousine. Thus began the history of the ZIS-115.

Armored car for the leader

Despite several prototypes successfully tested in 1946-47, the first premium-class armored car was put into service in 1948. The ZIS-115 car was produced by the Stalin Moscow Automobile Plant, subsequentlynamed after Likhachev. A limited number of copies left the assembly shop, according to the special order of the government of the Soviet Union, according to some reports, the total number does not exceed 32 units. ZIS-115 - Stalin's armored limousine got its name largely due to the fact that the leader himself was one of the first persons to whom this car was intended.

The government car of the times of the just ended war was simply obliged to embody all the strength and power of the Soviet country. According to the recommendations of the management, the ZIS-115 was supposed to become not just a comfortable vehicle worthy of the highest ranks, but an impregnable fortress capable of providing the maximum degree of security. One of the main tasks of the designers was to make sure that the representative armored car did not stand out from the general mass of transport, attracting undue attention to itself.

Regular VMS with a secret

So the ZIS-115 did not differ in appearance from the serial ZIS-110 car. Distinctive features were: an additional fog lamp-searcher on the front bumper, a flag mount, oversized tires without white sidewalls, bulging hubcaps and cloudy windows. Otherwise, the vehicles are identical, with the exception of special safety equipment, with which the designers have tried. The thickness of the ZIS-115 armor ranged from 4.0 to 8.6 mm and is capable of providing reliable protection against bullets and shrapnel. The car door could not be broken throughfrom one small arms. There are different opinions about the total mass of the car, in various sources values \u200b\u200bare indicated in the range from four to seven tons. The power unit for this heavyweight was a forced 160-horsepower engine from the ZIS-110, which accelerated this light armored car to 120 km / h with a fuel consumption of almost 30 liters per 100 km.

Features

On machines designed to operate at high speeds in the middle lane of the union, a lubricant cooling system was installed. The control was carried out using a thermometer displayed on the dashboard with a sector of limit values. On ZIS-115 vehicles intended for operation in mountainous areas, reinforced water cooling systems were installed to ensure increased operation of the water pump at increased fan speeds. The system included modified pulleys, custom fans and additional generators.

Safety

Stalin's ZIS-115 limousine had a unique reservation system for its time, which made it closer to a combat vehicle than to a passenger car. The capsule booking system was a one-piece shell sheathed with body parts. This approach allowed outwardly not to differ much from ordinary cars, without standing out in the traffic flow, the most powerful armor was hidden from the eyes of ordinary people. The armored capsule was produced separately at a military plant near Moscow under the marking "Product No. 100". Each armored hull was produced individually for a specific instanceZIS-115, as evidenced by a special accessory number, and was tested at an army training ground for penetration. The assembly of armored vehicles was carried out in a separate workshop with a special individual access system.

75mm bulletproof glass. Due to the huge weight (about 100 kg), a special hydraulic lifting mechanism was used to raise the windows, and a special lamb was used to lower them, and the glass was lowered by a maximum of half. To prevent accidental or unwanted opening of doors on the go, they were equipped with special chains. ZIS-115 Stalin was not equipped with a partition between the driver's seat and the passenger compartment. This distinctive feature from the base car ZIS-110 made the armored car more like a large sedan than a limousine. According to some information, the absence of a partition was the desire of Joseph Vissarionovich himself, motivated by the fact that he has no secrets from the people.

Comfort

Cars ZIS-115, although selectively, were equipped with air conditioners. The installation was located in the luggage compartment, the air ducts were located on both sides of the rear seats. The seats were upholstered with eiderdown, expensive fabric upholstery, and the front seats were hand-sewn with leather.

One car is good, but God saves the safer

There was no case that Stalin used the same car for trips twice in a row. License plates, which, also due to the additional headlight, were installed exclusivelyrear, always changed after every ride. None of the employees of the Kremlin garage and even the guards did not know until the last moment which of the cars would be the exit. The same was true of the route, which, as usual, could change almost at the last minute.

Legendary car

The era of Soviet armored vehicles for members of the government ended with the death of Stalin. Stalin's legendary car ZIS-115 has become irrelevant. Its release has been discontinued. Several copies of Stalin's armored cars were donated to the party leaders of the countries of the socialist camp, the rest were destroyed under the supervision of special commissions and with the signing of the necessary acts. The reasons why the decision was made to scrap the ZIS-115 are not known for certain, but according to some estimates, only eight of these unique cars have been preserved in various collections. The most common opinion about the grounds for the destruction of Stalin's armored cars is that the interest in these vehicles from the new party leadership was zero, and the transfer of such equipment to third parties was impossible, since it was classified as "secret".