Some years ago, Mikhail Krasinets, former pilot and mechanic of the Moskvitch factory racing team, and star of Russian TV shows, began curating one of the largest automobile collections in Europe. Pictured here with a Moskvitch 400 (built between 1946 and 1954 with tooling originally used for the 1937 Opel Kadett K38), he’s since gathered over 200 now historical Soviet vehicles built between 1940s and 1990s. His exhibit occupies three hectares (seven and a half acres) of field near his home in Chernousovo village, Tul’skaya Oblast, some 200 miles south of Moscow. While the sheer number of rarities collected sets Krasinets apart from all but the richest of oil sheiks, the condition of this open-air menagerie is rather depressing. It begs the question: is his collection a museum or a junkyard?
Unsurprisingly, “Mossies” predominate in the former Moskvitch racing team mechanic’s collection
After Krasinets’ left professional motorsports, he began to collect cars. Unfortunately, his neighbors did not share his enthusiasm and began to resent him as his collection outgrew his compact urban yard. Even worse, local punks would often torch and loot his cars. He eventually decided to sell his Moscow apartment and move to a countryside estate where he could put the rest of his money into buying more cars. The first exhibits found their home in the garden of his new house but year by year, the collection grew.
Another shot of all the Moskvitches
Before long, Chernousovo village became a point of pilgrimage for old car enthusiasts. Some of them tried to trade for rare spare parts and others wanted to buy particular cars, but Krasinets resolutely refused and on the contrary, bought even more vehicles. In 2004, the collection was given official status as a branch of the local history museum, and named “Auto USSR.” While this brought some funding, the lack of any reasonable progress in restoring the cars exhausted museum administration’s patience and in 2013, they divested themselves of the controversial branch.
The GAZ model range is present too.
Unfortunately, nothing has changed since then and the exhibits of the “Auto USSR” (old Soviet cars and a few foreign-built ones) continue to rot away. It’s especially sad considering that many are quite rare (and even custom-made) examples. It’s obvious that a generous investor with serious intentions is needed.
RAF minivans were built in Riga, Latvia until the early nineties. Mechanical components were supplied by GAZ.
As a disclaimer, I am not personally acquainted with Michael Krasinets. I have never visited his automobile museum (graveyard?) and I obtained most of my information from online Russian sources. However, the preservation of these cars is a pressing matter as many of these cars will be lost to history if no one intervenes. Of course, pictures say more than I ever could…
Even the indestructible GAZ-12 “ZIM” (1950-1960) has surrendered under the onslaught of time and weather.
Visitors of the “Auto USSR” museum are allowed to enter car interiors.
This Moskvitch was built in sixties for export to Finland.
Many exhibits retain their manufacturer’s plates.
The rare Moskvitch for British market…
… with the speedometer scaled in miles per hour.
Rallye “Mossies” as reminders of Michael Krasinets’ sports career. Some of them are just painted replicas.
The Volna (Russian for “wave”), a hand built car with an untold story. The windshield is clearly borrowed from the Moskvitch.
1964 Mercedes-Benz 280SE (W108), purchased by Krasinets after selling his apartment in Moscow.
GAZ-13 “Chaika” (sea gull), this model is already known to Curbside Classic readers.
GAZ-21 “Volga,” 1st (left) and 2nd series.
The rare Moskvich 433 cargo van (1967-1976). Its 50 hp engine was not enough for ride with a full load.
A final shot of Michael Krasinets’ Auto USSR.
Original photos by:
http://antika-best.com
http://deshovec.livejournal.com
http://kushigin.narod.ru
http://petrov-bi.livejournal.com
Many of the cars that are rotting in that field deserve better (well, all of them do, but some are siply uniqe and one-of-a-kind). Krasinets has promised many previous owners of those cars that they will be restored, but now they will just rot away.
Well, truth be said – only several of “his” cars are truly unique, and most are not present on the photographs. E.g., the one-off Moskvitch prototypes from the 1970s which he umm… technically, stole from the plant (chances are high they would have gone to a car crusher otherwise, though…). I’ve attached a photo of one of them.
Some of the mass-produced cars there are notably rare as well, and would be interesting at least as a source of scarce spare parts to restore other cars of their kind.
Most other cars have been far beyond the point of no return before he acquired them, and surely are not worth restoration right now. Sadly enough, many of them were indeed pretty solid and absolutely restorable once transported to Chernousovo. No more, as anyone can see.
He is “restoring” something from time to time – his approach to car restoration is err… very unique and quite unlike what you’d normally call that.
All that said – this “collection” is impressive as it is, and adding simple things such as concrete panel paving and maybe some tents would greatly slower the deterioration of the “exhibits” – may be to the point the place would bear the “museum” moniker with some sense.
So – yes, it is not a junk yard of any kind, nothing is for sale. It’s a car cemetery where everything is slowly coming into nonexistence. The most fitting word perhaps.
That is a pretty impressive collection. I thought I’d seen everything on four wheels, but I’ve never heard of a Volna before. It’s such an odd-looking car! The styling is very simple, and that lack of detail makes it look like child’s toy.
This collection (including the Volna) belongs in the Russian equivalent of the LeMay Museum in Tacoma. If nothing else, he could start by getting those cars in out of the weather.
Volna was a one of a kind car that was built by some engineer(or some other soviet citizen), that could not get hold of a personal automobile of his own, in his garage out of fiber plastic. No wonder youve never heard of it.
Please forgive my spelling mistakes.
Thank you! Where else but CC would you find a so much variety.
+1!
He needs a shed one guy around here has 300+ British cars but all indoors rotting away he also doesnt restore them just puts em on display as found. Google British car museum Te Awanga.
The Packard look a like Chaika is interesting.I have a soft spot for Iron Curtain cars having had an FSO 125 p for 6 years.It was nowhere near as bad as you think.
Wow, that’s impressive.
Any idea how many cars?
It’s a shame they are exposed to the elements like that.
Is he delusional or does he actually believe he’ll restore all of them? But then, even if he did, out in the elements they’ll be right back to poor condition.
I like that people have enough love for these cars to go out and amass so many but it gets to the point where you wonder where their intentions lie. Is it in preservation or just in knowing that you have that many, regardless of condition?
Not sure if his family shares his passion so maybe the only salvation these cars have is in a Lambrecht style auction where people who will actually restore them might get them.
On another note, the GAZ 13 “Chaika” looks in great condition actually. Save it!
Believing he’ll restore them is also delusional.
It’s very sad to me to see the decay of these cars. Though it may sound alarmist to some, it amounts to the erasure of a culture. There are many buildings from the era which are being allowed to rot also.
In several decades, the world will understand what has been lost. I fear by that point, however, it will be too late.
I am picking up my jaw from the floor, and I have seen a lot of Soviet cars and unusual cars in unusual places in general. This collection is truly unique (meaning one of a kind) in both scale and subject matter.
Krasinets needs a wealthy sponsor. Russia has many billionaires, and there must be one who will appreciate this kind of effort. I have a 2003 British car magazine article about the Zaporozhets ZAZ-965 that includes an interview of a Moscow businessman named Grigory Berezkin who was a collector of Soviet cars and trying to start a museum for them. I wonder whether they have tried to join forces. If not, someone should connect them.
I was thinking something along the same line. There’s got to be a nostalgic billionaire somewhere.
As far as I know, severeal people have made Krasinets serious offfers on buying out some of the really uniqe cars in that field for the sole purpose of their restoration. Their offers were denied. Classic case of hoarding.
I love mix and match of styling that some of these cars have, a little bit of everything, especially in the 50’s and 60’s stuff, the thing about collecting communist cars is that, isn’t having one like having the whole series? When you’re dealing with cars that were made unchanged for decades, how many do you need?
Maybe TLC can stage an intervention and make Hoarders: Russian Car Edition. Because that’s what this guy basically is – a car hoarder
The real shame is they’re not on pavement ~ grass rusts away anything and much faster than you think .
I see many fine jewels amongst the rusted beyond salvage vehicles there .
-Nate
I’m voting museum since it’s no less a junkyard than many of the “parking lots” I saw in central Russia in the mid-90s (and if you were there, too, you know why that’s in quotes).
I’m glad to see the row of the Latvian RAF vans. That was the first private vehicle I rode in in Moscow. The driver was incredibly proud of it. I remember thinking it’s design felt like someone had reverse-engineered a Tonka or Hot Wheel with its oversized windows flat-sided exterior.
Those RAF vans remind me of the VW LT van. With a nosejob…
Moskvich Racing Team??
I’ve had a GAZ-13 Chaika in my toy car collection for years. Somebody gave it to me, can’t remember who. It’s at least 25 years old as the base plate of the 1/43 scale model says Made in the USSR. Thanks to Yuri I now know what it is. My Cyrillic ain’t what it used to be and it was all Greek to me.
There was one of these in extremely good shape just sitting behind a warehouse in North Hollywood , Ca. for many years , I always hoped someone would save it before it got trashed by the local dipsh*t gangbangers who tend to destroy anything they don’t understand .
-Nate
I think it’s more like a junkyard. Parking on grass for years the underside of the cars must have been rotten away. A museum is about preserving the objects of the past for the future generations.
Mr. Krasinets collected a huge numbers of old Russian cars but I can’t see the efforts about preserving them. This collection will be perished in a couple of years without proper maintenance. 🙁
Maybe he should get rid of the cars in hopeless condition: a smaller number of vehicles would be easier to manage.
Krasinets is infamous with Russia’s vintage auto community. The man is an ornery, delusional hoarder with an entitlement mentality. He is waiting for a wealthy investor and in the meantime refuses to do anything, like somebody owes him something just because he has these cars. He talks a lot and does nothing. He turned down several very high offers for some of the cars years ago when they were still saveable, only to let them rot. All the funding he received from the local museum he spent on personal stuff and on acquiring more cars. None of it went for restoration or even storage of existing cars. At one point, several car collectors offered to build him a shed for a few of the rarer cars, basically for free. He picked a fight with them and chased them off the property. A few collectors who initially helped him acquire some of the cars have lived to regret dealing with him at all. At this point, it is not a museum, it is a graveyard. Most of the cars are far beyond being saved. It’s really, really sad.
I bought a Moskvich 434 van around 1972 and found it powerful enough at the time. It was very strongly built, had a compound carburetor, a radiator blind (Siberia?) and easily removable body panels. £600 brand new on the road.
In the 90’s I told this to a driver in Moscow, who asked if it had all the equipment fitted, such as windscreen wipers, being an export model – – –