Gorky Automobile Plant

The decision to build the Gorky Automobile Plant near Nizhny Novgorod was taken by the Supreme Council of the National Economy on 4 March 1929; construction began on 2 May 1930, and in January 1932 production of the GAZ-A car and GAZ-AA truck began there, based on Ford-A and Ford-AA drawings.

Various GAZ-AA-based versions soon followed: in 1933 the GAZ-03-30 bus, at the end of 1934 the three-axle GAZ-AAA truck, and a little later the GAZ-410 tipper. Production of the GAZ-55 ambulance began in 1937. The GAZ-42 producer-gas truck also deserves mention. On the GAZ-A, the GAZ-4 pickup with an all-metal cab and steel load bed and a payload of 500 kg was developed; production began in 1933. On 17 April 1935 the plant completed its 100,000th vehicle, a GAZ-A. Gorky was thus the first in the Soviet Union to master assembly-line car production, with the help of American specialists.

Production of the GAZ-M1 car (also known by the nickname "Emka") began at the end of the 1930s. Its four-wheel-drive version was designated GAZ-61. The GAZ-415 pickup was also built on the GAZ-M1.

During the Second World War the plant had to switch to military production. The GAZ-64 and GAZ-67 four-wheel-drive cars (off-roaders in today's terms), the BA-64 and BA-64B armoured cars and the T-60 and T-70 tanks were developed and prepared for production.

Of the Gorky plant's post-war products, the GAZ-51 truck and the GAZ-M20 "Pobeda" car deserve special mention. The legendary GAZ-51 stayed on the assembly line for 29 years! Naturally it was modernised repeatedly over that time. Whereas early examples had a half-wooden cab because of the post-war shortage of metal, an all-metal cab was later introduced. In the following years a number of larger or smaller design changes were made, and later examples carried the designation GAZ-51A. A number of different versions were built on the GAZ-51, notably the four-wheel-drive GAZ-63 truck, the GAZ-93 tipper and the GAZ-51P tractor unit. The first batch of GAZ-M20 "Pobeda" cars was completed in June 1946; it was the first Soviet car with a monocoque body. (to be continued)