While the last of the GAZ-21 Volgas came off the assembly line more than forty years ago, in the summer of 1970, for some reason they are still around, and if you visit any ex-Soviet country during the summer time, chances are good that you’ll see one in person, especially considering their new-found popularity as classic cars.
However, their life cycle rather resembles that of a brown bear: their activity reaching its peak in summertime; in winter they hibernate in their dens. Well, technically, it is spring already, but – as you can see from the photos – that’s just according to the calendar. So it is highly unusual to see one of them on the street, in this snowy, icy, salty environment, which is so unfriendly to 40+ year old steel.
It is often difficult to tell how old a particular Volga is, and not because they have been produced for many years unchanged. Quite the contrary, actually – in late 1950s and early 60s the Soviet car makers were trying to mimic the American tradition of annual restyling – although on a smaller scale.
There were different Volga models over its lifespan. This is the original, from 1956 (image: wikipedia).
The second generation from 1959 received a significantly revised front end, which somewhat resembles that on a ’55 Chevy (image: wikipedia).
Here’s the version was from 1962, with a refinement of the grille and other details (image: wikipedia).
image:zr.ru
A final restyle had been planned for ’65, but later was rejected as the car’s styling was found to be so much out-of-date by the time that no sane amount of cosmetic changes would have made it look contemporary, so the ’65 Volga looked almost identical to the ’62. Mechanical updates and improvements were also made along the way.
The GAZ-21 was powered by a rugged 2.4L OHV four, rated at 75 hp, and 80hp for export markets, with higher compression. And of course, there’s the famous GAZ-23 variant built especially for the KGB that used the 5.5 liter V8 from the big GAZ-13 Chaika. But that’s a story for another time.
All that said, today, after decades of rust, accidents and repairs, most of the Volgas have the most common and widespread, i.e., late model, trim, just like the one shown on these curbside photos. So, based on some small details, this car may be a ’65 model, a late ’56 with ’62-’65 trim, or even an early ’59 produced in calendar year 1958.
However, it is most likely that this is an original ’65 model, a GAZ-21S or YS – complete with the optional “lux” trim, no less (letters were used to distinguish different sub-models or trim levels; S meant the export sedan with high-compression 85-hp engine and “lux” trim; YS stood for 75-hp sedan with “lux” trim produced for the home market). A fresh “metallic” repaint and some traces of body work are obvious – e.g. I’m 99% sure that the rocker panels had been eaten by the tin worm and replaced at some point, based on the way they look; however, would you argue it’s not that bad for a car produced between 1965 and 1970 which is still in use as a daily driver ?
So, what exactly makes this car capable of providing it’s owner a reliable all-year-round everyday transportation on the roads densely populated by brand new Fords, Chevys, Toyotas and other modern vehicles? Well, the wheels may hold the answer, as they come from a much more recent Volga model, the GAZ-31105, which was produced in 2003-2009 and was equipped with such features as DOHC engine, power disk brakes, power steering, A/C and the like. This particular Volga actually seems to be a combination of a GAZ-21 body shell, sans the subframe, and GAZ-31105’s subframe, suspensions, engine and drive train. The first and the last cars to bear this name combined – literally! By far not a bolt-to-bolt replacement, I must say, so the amount of labor which has been invested into this car is truly remarkable.
The very top photo also makes me think about just how large and “fatty” cars have gotten today. The Volga was a large (by European standards, of course), W110 S-Klasse sized, 6-seat sedan in the 60’s, and now look at the SX-4 parked next to it, which is supposed to be a “compact” car – it seems to be almost equally wide and high, and only slightly shorter. Another thought – today the Volga, with these wheels (which look a little too small, to my taste) and aftermarket heavy-duty rear springs, has almost a crossover SUV look about it.
So, both to boost this impression and to remind you of the summertime which almost draws nigh, I’ve placed a photo of this SUV-like Volga wagon in the end of this post
Let’s think positive: over the next several months the Curbside Classics from the temperate regions of the will awake from their slumber, leave their winter dens, and be back on the roads, making all of us, CC lovers just a little happier.
More please I like the style of these cars.I’m a fan of Eastern European iron I have many happy memories of my FSO 125p. Thank you Stanislav
Those tires and wheels looked like they were taken off of a Toyota Rav-4.
Now I am going to flip this around – we see many US cars in Russia but has anyone ever imported a Russian car in the US? There is a small but curious network of Trabants in the US but I have never seen anything from Russia.
I have definitely seen some late-Soviet cars on the streets of UK and Malta, namely right-sided VAZes-2109 and Nivas, but I doubt they went any further than that.
Export trims of Soviet cars were produced in scarce amounts, severely limiting the number of possible buyers and therefore export to the US; besides, I’m not really sure if anyone in the US wanted to bear the communist badge for buying a Soviet car during the cold war.
I’d say there are not much more than a few hundred Soviet cars still running on the US land.
Volga cars were quite common in Scandinavia and Benilux countries, mostly used by taxicab companies (photo: a taxi stand in early 1960s Norway; it is reported that almost a half of Oslo’s taxicabs were Volgas at the moment). Greece was another major importer.
Canada ended up with some of these, as did much of the middle east.
These cars were really good ones. I still remember that peculiar smell from the seats they all had.
Yes indeed, the GAZ-31105’s stock wheels were almost indistinguishable from the Toyota’s.
Concerning Volga cars in the US, this website may be of some interest
http://www.volga-america.com/
There’s little doubt that a number of Russian cars have been imported in recent years. I understand that the little rear-engined ZAZ built in the Ukraine is quite cheap to buy; folks will stick one in a container for you. Murilee Martin talked about getting one awhile back.
I love this resto-modded GAZ. I imagine it would be a fun car to own, especially if it is fast enough to embarrass the drivers of newer cars.
Well it’s fast… enough ) Not spectacular, with a 2.3L engine, but still a suprise for the other drivers.
Interesting, looking forward to more, Mr. Alexeyev. In what city did you find the feature car?
It’s Dzerzhinsk I think.
Close enough )
Nizhny Novgorod, ex-Gorky. These photos were actually taken only 5 kilometers away from the GAZ plant. The gray house is where I reside.
Ah, by the way, this is the one I owned until recently; I always liked the ’59 front end – by the way, this is actually the orignal style, dating back to 1954 prototypes – the “star and bar” grille was a last minute addition.
It was rough; original 3-speed manual transmission converted to floor shifter; very foating ride thanks to the original lever arm type shock absorbers (think: GM Knee Action double A-arm IFS)
Last summer I gave it to a friend who is now struggling to restore it – with limited success so far, but he’s just not trying hard enough )
Cool car I like it my sister in law is from Volgagrad and no doubt would recognize these cars very few Soviet made cars here other than of course the Lada but I did find one in a Museum ex embassy. The powertrain upgrade is sensible Im doing the same with my Hillman its becoming a SuperMinx under the skin disc brakes ball joints instead of trunnions to make it more user friendly on modern roads, So good to see other countries old cars still alive and learn about them.
Good job on the article!
You forgot to mention that the 1st gen GAZ-21 had a bored Pobeda flathead.
Im hoping this is not the last article on what is arguably the ultimate Soviet CC.
How about a post on the Pobieda (GAZ M20)? I’ d love to gather some inside information about its real origins (1943 Opel Kapitän prototype requisitioned by the Soviets? Engine from the GAZ 11-73 minus two cylinders?) AGB
Chrysler Flathead engine (in Dodge D5 form) minus 2 cylinders – yes; as the American testers of the Pobeda have found, the pistons were interchangable with postwar Dodge engines, only needing to be machined a bit on the outside to meet the metric dimensions of the cylinder bore;
Opel Kapitaen – only the front subframe and suspension – some parts like bushings and shock absorbers (which are integral with upper A-Arms in this design) are even directly interchangable; steering knuckles and steering linkage are both very different, as well as the rest of the body structure;
AFAIK, Opel didn’t develop anything with “envelope” (Pontoon) body style up until 1950s; the Pobeda’s styling cues seem to be more in line with the American, rather than Germanic, way of thinking, so the most viable version so far is that the inspiration came from the other shore of the Atlantic ocean (it looks much like a 9/10 scale Chevy Fleetline aerosedan; would make a great “bomb” lowrider by the way). Anyway, the flat “pontoon” body sides was quite an obvious styling cue in the immediate post-war time, very soon to find it’s way to assembly lines on both shores of the Atlantic; and the rest of the Pobeda’s body just looks generic for the time.
Well, I suppose you know that the Opel line was basically designed in Detroit until the 70’s. And GM styling was definitely going the way of the pontoon (remember Buick’s Y job). They were planning a new Kapitän for 1943, which could have used these looks, only the war came in between. The Pobieda interior is really a crib from the German car (and the 42-48 Chevy). Back in the fifties, a group of US engineers examined the M20 and stated that it was just an Opel, with a different engine and a few changes, probably to comply with industrial needs. But I have to accept your better knowledge about this automobile. AGB
Well, I’ve read some of the articles about this car in the US press of the 1950s and would say that they contained quite a lot of Cold War style propaganda stuff, which is often dangerous to take seriously (in the 1970s, some of the “Voice of America” radio programs about the life in the USSR sounded like bad humor shows, people over here LOL’ed listening to them).
I also remember another article from the British “AutoCar” magazine published in about 1953, the author of which was actually sad about this fact, writing that
“The secrecy which surrounds all Russian industrial effort has led some Western commentators to dismiss the Pobeda as just another copy of Western designs, bit this does less than justice to the efforts of the Soviet designers and engineers, who have evolved an original design which, although not sensationally new, has characteristic features of its own, and seems weel adapted for use in a country where the road system is still relatively primitive and maintenance facilities are few and far between.
Some writers have said that the engine is a copy of the Jeep power unit, while, according to another commentator in the United States, it is based on the Continental P4140 engine of 1938; but who ever saw a Jeep or a Continental engine which had both four cylinders and a four-bearing crankshaft ? It has also been said that the transmission is a modification of that on the 1932 Model B Ford, but since when did the Model B Ford have an open propeller-shaft with sliding splines at the rear end ? Obviously, it is worth while to take a closer look at the Pobeda and the following description, together with the sketches which illustrate this and the second article which follows, represent the fruits of a considerable amount of research. ”
Ah here it is – sorry for the poor scan:
Yes, a four-bearing four is rather unusual!
Thanks for all the additional info; interesting stuff.
In fact, I’ve been in close contact with some prewar Opel owners in Russia, and specifically discussed this topic with them. The subframe and front suspensions are indeed very similar, but little else. Also consider that AFAIK Opel didn’t produce or develop any passenger cars after may be 1940, as it was heavily involved in the Germany’s military production for the war effort; by late 1943 the Opel Russelheim plant (which produced passenger cars; truck plant was located in Brandenburg) is reported to be almost in ruins due to heavy bombings by the Allies.
The connection between Opel’s vehicles and GM’s US market production is however quite an obvious one, e.g. Opel’s independent front suspension was essentially a scaled-down version of Cadillac’s Knee Action. But again, the unitary body of the Opel was quite different from anything GM produced in the US and actually designed by Ambi-Budd in Germany.
By the way, if you have any in-depth interest in the Pobeda, you should visit this website which has a very detailed artcile dedicated to this subject, including the Opel connections
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gaz20.spb.ru%2F&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=ru
this is an English machine translation, which is poor, but still legible
Very interesting story!
I’m always fascinated by what’s going on in other parts of the world when it comes to cars.
Your posts are very informative. I’ ve tried reading the spb.ru link but the translations are terrible and I’ ll have review them later. And I had already seen that Autocar article, back in the day. I was quite aware of the propaganda war between the two countries during the fifties but the USSR did not release much usable information for comparison. On the other side, the Opel unitary body was designed and developed in the USA, by GM and the Edward Budd Co; the German branches of both firms gave the final touches. One of the Budd’ s engineers that worked on the project was Joseph Ledwinka, a relative of Hans Ledwinka, of Tatra fame. AGB
Great article on this great car.
Indeed there were quite a few of these imported in Greece as well as Lada,
Moskvich and even ZAZ .This last one didn’t find many customers.
The Volga had a good reputation and it was a common choice for a taxi.
The same goes for the next modelGAZ 24.
Speacking of GAZ 20 anybody knows this?
Is it a”real” model or a custom job?
It certainly is a beauty.
As for me I’ll take the wagon on the last picture,thank you.
Fascinating article Stanislav, thank you 🙂 I look forward to reading more!
@Alwayslate
The pic you posted is of a modified GAZ-M-72. More info can be found here:
http://offroadaction.ca/2012/07/24/the-worlds-first-suv/