One of the most interesting pages of Russian history of the 20th century was the chronicle of the development of the automobile industry of the USSR - an economic industry aimed at creating rolling stock and providing it to the country in all areas of its multifaceted life. In the pre-war period, this process went inextricably linked with the general industrialization of the state, and in subsequent years it became an important component of raising the national economy and creating a solid economic base. Let us dwell on some of its most significant stages.
How did it all start?
The history of the USSR automobile industry began in 1924 with the release of the first Soviet truck AMO-F-15. His prototype was the Italian car FIAT 15 Ter. The Moscow Automobile Plant AMO, founded in 1916, became the place of creation of this founder of the domestic automobile industry, and in Soviet times it was renamed and first received the name of Stalin (1933), and then Likhachev (1956) - its first director, who held this position since 1927 .
A little later, in 1930-1932, this initiative was further developed by the construction of another car manufacturing plant in Nizhny Novgorod. It was designed for the production of both cars and trucks, manufactured under license from the American Ford Motors campaign. Many legendary Soviet cars rolled off the conveyors of these first two enterprises created as part of a national industrialization program, and they became the basis for the further development of this most important industry.
In the following years, several other car factories were added to these largest automobile enterprises in the country: KIM (Moscow), YAGAZ (Yaroslavl) and GZA (Nizhny Novgorod). Now it seems unbelievable, but in 1938 the USSR auto industry ranked first (!) In Europe and second in the world (losing only to the USA) in the production of trucks. In the pre-war years, more than a million units were produced, which made it possible to equip the Red Army and enterprises of the national economy with the necessary rolling stock. The creation of a large and sufficiently equipped fleet allowed the country to succeed in implementing the pre-war five-year plans.
Car production during the war
With the outbreak of World War II, the Moscow ZIL plant (formerly AMO) was evacuated to the rear, and part of its equipment went into the creation of new automobile enterprises. So, using the production capacities of ZIL, they opened the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant - UAZ, which at that time was called UlZIS. Subsequently, it was renamed and became widely known for its products both domestically and abroad. Then at the UralZIS plant, built in the city of Miass, Chelyabinsk Region, production of the first samples of Ural trucks began.
It should be noted that during the war years, car production in the USSR was not limited only to the production of models based on domestic developments. To better meet the needs of the front, as well as to provide rolling stock of industrial enterprises evacuated deep into the country, cars were assembled from sets of components and parts supplied under Lend-Lease, a special program under which the United States provided the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition with ammunition, equipment, and medicines. and food.
Post-war priorities of the domestic auto industry
The postwar years brought with it an aggravation of relations between the former allies, who found themselves on opposite sides of the Iron Curtain, and were marked by the beginning of a general arms race. In the history of those years, episodes were noted when humanity was on the verge of a global nuclear disaster - it is enough to recall the Caribbean conflict of 1962. These circumstances largely determined the specifics of the development of the entire national economy of the USSR and the automotive industry as one of its most important components.
From the beginning of the 50s to the end of the 70s, the Ministry of Automobile Industry of the USSR, while supporting the course for the production of trucks, gave priority to those models that could equally well be used both to maintain the country's defense capability and in various areas of the national economy. These were mainly dual-purpose trucks, as well as multi-axle all-wheel drive tractors. One of the most famous developments of those years was the ZIS-164 truck, which came off the assembly line of the Stalin Moscow Plant and was the result of a deep modernization of the ZIS-150 previously manufactured.
Birth of the first ZILs and Urals
The next milestone in the development of the plant was the legendary Soviet ZIL-130 car, released in 1963, which to this day can be seen on the country's roads. In its design features, he successfully competed with the best world models of the time. It is enough to say that the car was equipped with an engine, the power of which was 150 liters. with., as well as power steering and a five-speed gearbox. A new item was the panoramic windshield washer developed by the plant's engineers.
At the end of the 50s, the country's car fleet was replenished with a new product released by Ural specialists. It was a UralZIS-355MM biaxial truck (photo below). Despite the fact that, according to its technical characteristics, this model belonged to the category of medium-duty vehicles (up to 3.5 tons), it was she who was destined to play a leading role in the development of the virgin lands of Kazakhstan, Siberia and the Urals.
Impressive stats
About how intensively the development of the production of trucks and tractors went in the first post-war decades, statistics show. According to available data, the total output of this type of product in 1947 amounted to 133 thousand units, and by the beginning of the 70s the automobile manufacturing enterprises operating in the USSR increased their number to 920 thousand, i.e. almost seven times, which exceeded the similar indicators of the leading industrial countries of the world.
No less impressive was the increase in the production of cars, which in the pre-war period received less attention due to the need to provide the country with freight transport. According to the USSR automobile industry, in 1947 about 9.5 thousand units were produced, while by 1970 this number had increased to 344.7 thousand, in other words, it had increased almost 36 times.
Emblem cars
Among the passenger cars produced in those years, the legendary Soviet car Pobeda, coming off the assembly line of the Gorky Automobile Plant under the M-20 index, gained the most fame. Its development has become a new word not only in domestic, but also in foreign automotive industry.
The fact is that Pobeda was the first model in the world of mass-produced passenger cars with a supporting body that did not have protruding elements, such as headlights, steps and wings with all their rudiments. An important distinguishing feature of this design was the lack of a frame, the function of which was performed by the body itself. The Pobedy factory was produced by the Gorky plant in the period 1946-1958, and their number on the country's roads then reached almost a quarter of a million units.
It is noted that the 50s as a whole were an unusually productive period in the work of designers and designers at the Gorky Automobile Plant. At the World Exhibition, held in 1958 in Brussels, three of their designs were awarded the highest award - the Grand Prix. These were cars: the Volga GAZ-21, which replaced the Pobeda, the Seagull GAZ-13 and the GAZ-52 truck. Later glory was brought to the plant by all-memorable Volga GAZ-24 cars.
The brainchild of metropolitan automakers
Another peculiar emblem of that era was the Moskvich-400 car, the production of which was launched at the metropolitan enterprise of the same name, opened in 1930. Its specialists, taking as a basis the German car Opel Kadett of the pre-war design, developed their own model, launched into mass production in 1947. Her first samples were released on captured equipment exported from Germany.
After 7 years, the design of the car was significantly modernized, and it began to be produced under the symbol "Moskvich-401". In the following years, new models were developed and launched into mass production, which replenished the country's automobile fleet. The most famous among them was the Moskvich-408 car, which earned good fame for its reliability and unpretentiousness.
The era of the "Lada"
In the mid-60s, the USSR automobile industry was given the task of organizing the mass production of cars accessible to wide layers of citizens, and thereby eliminating the difficulties associated with their acquisition. As part of the implementation of this project, in the summer of 1966, an agreement was signed with the leadership of the Italian concern Fiat for the construction of a car factory in Togliatti. The brainchild of the new enterprise was Zhiguli cars, which were produced in quantities unprecedented for that time. In the 70s, their output reached 660 thousand per year, and by the beginning of the 80s it increased to 730 thousand. This period is considered to be the beginning of the country's mass motorization.
Subcompacts from the banks of the Dnieper
A tangible contribution to the provision of Soviet people with individual vehicles was made by the Zaporizhzhya Automobile Plant. In 1961, it launched the production of a small car ZAZ-965, which was popularly called the hunchbacked Zaporozhets. It is curious that its design was developed by specialists of the Moscow automobile plant that produced the Muscovites, and it was also planned to establish its serial production there, but for the lack of necessary production capacities they handed over the finished project to their colleagues from the banks of the Dnieper.
In 1966, an updated and radically different model from its predecessor, known as Zaporozhets-966, emerged from the gates of the enterprise, and in the following decades more and more new developments appeared. Their characteristic feature was the air cooling of the engine located in the rear of the body. For the entire time of production, covering the period 1961-1994, almost 3.5 million cars were produced.
The contribution of Ukrainian experts in the development of the automotive industry
For several decades, the main burden on the transportation of passengers in the field of public transport was assigned to the products of the Lviv Bus Plant (LAZ). Built in the first post-war years, until the collapse of the USSR, it was one of the main Soviet enterprises specializing in this field, and in 1992 it was transformed into a joint Russian-Ukrainian enterprise that lasted 22 years.
The most famous among its products were LAZ-695 buses designed for urban routes, the production of which began in 1957. In addition, models designed to serve the ever-increasing flow of tourists every year left a noticeable mark in the history of the domestic automotive industry. These include such developments as the LAZ-697 and LAZ-699A. In 1963, the plant mastered the production of a new product for it - urban LAZ-695T trolleybuses.
The creators of the famous "Urals"
The specialists of the Ural Automobile Plant operating in the city of Miass did not stand aside. Since 1942, when the first product sample came off its assembly line, and right up to the collapse of the USSR, they developed an extensive range of machines and tractors of various load capacities and power.
In addition to the UralZIS-355M two-axle truck mentioned above, which became the legend of virgin expanses, the first three-axle Ural-375 car, released in 1961 and having increased cross-country ability, was one of the most striking achievements of that time, which made it indispensable in off-road conditions. For its development, the designers of the enterprise were awarded the diploma of VDNH of the USSR of the first degree. The high quality of the new machines was appreciated by many foreign buyers, who hastened to conclude contracts for their supply.
The next government award - the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the Ural automobile manufacturers received in 1966 for the modernization of a number of previous models and the development of new ones. Shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union, a millionth car rolled off its assembly line. In the subsequent period, the plant underwent repeated restructuring and today is part of the GAZ Group, which is the largest automotive company in Russia.
Achievements of Ulyanovsk Automakers
In one of the previous sections of the article it was mentioned that during the years of World War II, an enterprise was formed on the banks of the Volga, which later became known as the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant (UAZ). Its role in the development of the national economy turned out to be so great that we should dwell on it in more detail.
The history of this illustrious factory began in May 1944 with the release of the first prototype of a 4-ton UlZIS-253 truck. In parallel with this, his team set up the production of the GAZ-MM car, designed and manufactured at the Gorky Plant, and then transferred to Ulyanovsk to continue its mass production. It was that famous “lorry” - a car with a carrying capacity of 1.5 tons, which, having traveled along the front roads, became an indispensable assistant in the post-war reconstruction of the national economy.
In 1954, Ulyanovsk specialists launched the production of the GAZ-69 all-terrain vehicle, and after some time its modified model, the GAZ-69A. Both of these machines have become bright milestones on the road to the development of the Soviet economy of the post-war years. They turned out to be equally demanded in the Armed Forces of the country, and in all areas of the economy. It is important to note the fact that since 1956 their assembly was carried out from parts of their own production.
The factory workers' next victory (as they used to say during the years of Soviet power) was the production of UAZ-450D small-tonnage trucks and modifications of the UAZ-452D launched in 1966. These were the legendary UAZs, without which it is difficult to imagine the roads of those years. This development was awarded the VDNH gold medal. Equally successful were the cars UAZ-469 and UAZ-469B that had left the factory assembly line, which had increased cross-country ability and became a continuation of the tradition laid down in the days of the GAZ-69.
Afterword
This article contains a far from complete list of products manufactured by the automobile industry of the USSR over the years since its inception to the collapse of the country. In addition, even most of the models mentioned had various modifications, each of which is of interest by the original design and the boldness of technical thought. On the whole, the history of Soviet automotive industry is a fascinating chapter in the annals of Russian history of the 20th century.