Time for another Miniature Curbside Classic. Today’s model is pretty unique, a Volga ambulance from the ’80s, complete with Cyrillic graphics and removable stretcher!
In the mid-Nineties, I subscribed to a very cool magazine, Collecting Toys. It included articles on all kinds of cool models, from Marx cowboys-and-indians sets, to tinplate P-51 Mustang and P-38 Corsair fighter aircraft, to original ‘Spectraflame’ Hot Wheels. In one of the issues, there was a brief article on very detailed Russian diecast cars made in the former USSR. They made Lada taxis, Volga sedans and wagons, and even Zil 115 and 117 limousines. They looked really cool, but I figured finding one would take some doing.
Thanks to ebay, I finally was able to acquire some of these models. They are very well made, and really heavy for their 1/43 size. The first ones I got were a mustard yellow Volga sedan and blue Volga station wagon, but it was not much longer before I found one of these cool ambulances.
They remind me a lot of the vintage Corgis of the ’60s, though available models were limited to Russian cars, so no Imperial convertible, Jaguar E-type 2+2 or Lotus Elan were in the lineup.
What I really like is the level of detail. The wheels have actual chromed hubcaps, and the engine block is a chrome-plated casting. The doors, tailgate and hood all open, and it has functional suspension too.
While the design of this type of Volga dates to the late ’60s, they were unchanged for years. My model has a handwritten ‘1984’ date on the inside of the box.
Even the rear attendant’s seat flips forward, just like the full-size version would. Since Russian vehicles are so unknown to us folks in the States, it’s neat to find a scale model of these. In addition to the standard wagon and ambulance, there was also an escort car version with “Aeroflot” graphics, for the Russian airline.
The baseplate was metal, like much of the rest of the model. In addition to the chrome engine block, a detailed driveshaft and leaf springs were molded in plastic. All in all, a very neat model. I’m glad I found one!
These are great; I saw the real ones on many trips to the old USSR. The logo on the side reads: “Rapid Medical Help”. BTW, this assistance was free to foreigners.
In Soviet Russia only miniature people get ambulance ride, everybody else walk or ride in 2 wheeled cart 🙂
“In Soviet Russia, ambulance does not carry you; you carry ambulance!”
Ha!
Yep, that’s the winner 🙂
That level of detail is quite stunning! Most awesome is how the right-side doors even match the assembly imperfections of the real thing lol! Seriously though, it is fantastic, I’d love to add one to my collection. Thanks for sharing the pics Tom.
I’m from Belarus. Nobody knows where is it, so take your world maps and find a little country between Russia and Poland. Ex-USSR, you know.
If it’s not a secret, how much did you pay for it?
That model costs about 35-40 USD here. Old soviet models like that wih the number (you can see “А24” on the bottom) are of a very good quality and cost from 15-20 USD for the most polular ones (like usual GAZ-2402 or VAZ-2101) up to 100-200 for the rarest ones. But did you know the funniest thing? They produce them EVEN NOW! So, you can go to a russian model shop and buy on of them! But… The quality is SO awful that they fall to pieces in a year or two!
The rarest soviet model is GAZ-3102 with the number (A38). There were produced about 500 of them (compare to the millions of others). It costs up to… TEN THOUSAND EUROS!
If you want, you can visit one of the russian model forums (the biggest, rcforum.ru). There are lots of foreigners there. You can find these much cheaper on the forum than on the eBay. Don’t think it’s an advertisment, no, i just want to help people who want these little pieces of the past.
And, if you have questions about soviet old cars or smth like that – i can answer you there C:
P.S. And yes, i know these strange Cyrillic letters and even speak russian! 😀
P.P.S. Oh, if you’re interested, i’ll show you mine.
All the collection:
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/5233/dsc03872tm.jpg
Soviet ones:
http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/8413/dsc03873jj.jpg
I got it on ebay about 10-12 years ago. I think it was about $25-30, and that included shipping from Great Britain.
You are right about the new versions of these models. The metal is very brittle. A door broke off one of the Chaika limos I have, and one of my Zil 117s literally broke to pieces, as you said. The USSR-made ones, however, are extremely well made and finished. I think my favorite one is this ambulance but the Zil 115 and Lada Niva are very cool too.
Scaled Nivas were really great. Best soviet model, I suppose. It has 78 details, that’s more than some new models have! But it’s one of the most expensive ones after 3102. There are some more cool rare models like RAF, dedicated to Moscow Olympic games 1980, with special interior.
And one interesting fact. I had 2402-escort service, as you mentioned. It had cool mirrors, great livery and an awesome thing on the roof. And.. it was stolen. As well as mine GAZ 24 police and chaika.
I never got one of the airport escort cars, but I should have. I’ll have to do a mini-CC on the Niva. I have two, a mustard yellow one and a red one with a small trailer.
By the way you have a great collection. I have one of those Moskvitch sedan deliverys (mine is red), and a Moskvitch Kombi too.
Thanks 🙂
You should find the escort one. They were done really great. Here, in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine we’ve got a partwork called Special Cars (you can google it: Автомобили на службе). So, few weeks ago they produced that escort Volga on IXO-IST forms. And… I think the soviet one is done really better. Of course, the Chinese one (all these partwork models are done in China, you know) is quite good, there are normal headlights, nice front grill and so on. But the old one has something.. oh, I don’t know how to say.
That’s a great model, I am surprised by the attention to detail considering it appears to be mid eighties soviet era. I love old USSR cars 🙂
Couldn’t resist, had to see if one was on eBay, there was. Now it’s on its way to my house. I think I may have to stop reading Curbside Miniature Classic.
You can still buy the wagon version of this in former Soviet block countries, and it is a quite practical car- a new Volvo 240 for about $8000, but with the quality of a mid-70s Chrysler or British Leyland product. Speaking to a car mad mate from Russia, he said that the wise Volga buyer will buy a 1-2 year old car, which is actually worth more than a new one, as the first owner will have had to sort out the production problems. Once sorted, they tend to be quite reliable. However, the technology is quite 1950s- with kingpins instead of ball joints requiring greasing every 1000 miles and such. Here’s a review in Ukranian- translate it with google for fun, or just look at the pics. I would say that the back seats do not look very comfortable, especially as the saloon versions are nearly limousine like in the back. However, the design is very cool in late 60s kind of way- especially with that spoiler on the roof. The seat folding mechanism is also ingenious, with both cushions rotating down. I had a Wartburg which had the same arrangement, and it made a totally flat cargo area all the way to the back of the front seats. In the Wartburg, it was over 6 feet long, and in the Volga it looks to be nearly 8 feet.
http://www.autocentre.ua/ac/Auto/Test-Drive/GAZ-4920.html
Damn…I’ve heard of “pie plate” hubcaps, but the wheels on this one have a seriously uncanny resemblance to actual pie plates.
I don’t know that they look that much alike, but for some reason, the styling reminds me of a Peugeot 504 wagon.
Very impressive little car, and at 1/43 it’s the right size for Lionel Trains. Not that I need another category of collectible doodad to find money and room for!
Tom this is such a nice model! I have it too + a dozen or so other Volgas, Moskvitches and Ladas, USSR-made, all of which I bought new in Lithuania in the mid-1990s.
You could still see quite a lot of Volga taxis in the streets of Vilnius at that time. Now they’re almost all gone. I loved them. Still do.
For those who are into these cars, the Estonian Volga Club’s homepage features some wonderful pictures. Click on “galerii” and check out the 3 “Haapsalu nostalgiapäevad” for instance.
http://www.volga.ee/
First, my cuz an i rem Voglers Mayonaise in NJ or NY state. some family names are better not as a name on the world market. studabaker…rambler …
As a kid I’ve had a blue Volga sedan and a black GAZ-13 Chaika. I don’t remember how much Volga model was selling for, but miniature Chaika was around 10 rubles in the mid ’80s. You can disassemble Volga by gently pulling off a rear bumper.
No editing with 503.
Just wanted to add that Volga that I had was a Taxi version.