RIA Novosti presents photos depicting the history of the domestic auto industry over the past century.
The concern, which came to be called the Automobile Moscow Society (AMO in the Russian acronym), launched production of the AMO-F-15 trucks 85 years ago.
Mass production of AMO-F-15 trucks lasted from 1924 until 1931. A total of 6,465 trucks were manufactured. Photo: 1922. Marshal Kliment Voroshilov and Chairman of the Presidium of the U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet Mikhail Kalinin testing the first Soviet automobile.
GAZ-A cars were produced by the Gorky Auto Plant (GAZ) from 1932-1936 and by the Moscow-based KIM Plant from 1933-1935.
A total of 8,752 ZiS-101s were turned out by the Stalin Plant in Moscow in 1936-1941.
In 1938, the first sports car was made by GAZ.
On June 28, 1946, the Gorky Auto Plant produced the first batch of GAZ-M20 Pobeda cars. The Pobeda was the first domestic model, not copied from a foreign design. The plant started exporting cars with this model.
The Chaika was made by the Gorky Auto Plant. It was one of the few Soviet luxury cars. The model was designed in 1957 to replace the obsolete M-12 ZIM. Heads of ministries and departments, first secretaries of the republican parties, and ambassadors were driven in Chaikas. Nikita Khrushchev presented Fidel Castro with a Chaika.
From 1959 to 1967, the Moscow-based Likhachev Auto Plant assembled a small run of ZiL-111s. This was a luxury car made in three versions – long-wheelbase sedan, limousine, and phaeton convertible.
From 1962 to 1967, the Likhachev Auto Plant produced 113 ZiL-114 cars. This luxury limousine was included in the cortege of the general secretary of the Communist Party Central Committee. Politburo members were driven in these cars.
From 1967 to 1976, the Moscow-based MZMA Plant, which was later renamed the Leninsky Komsomol Auto Plant (AZLK), and from 1967 to 1997, the Izhevsk-based Auto Plant both produced the Moskvich-412, one of the few models that lasted for about 30 years. Low price and accessible parts and service made it popular even through the 1990s.
From 1970 to 1992 the Gorky Auto Plant produced the Volga GAZ-24 car. All in all, 1,481,561 GAZ-24s of all variations were produced through 1992. No other car was produced by the plant in such quantities.
The Zhiguli was made by the Volga Auto Plant and was renamed VAZ-2101 in June 1970. This car was based on the Italian FIAT-124R
On April 5, 1977, Soviet carmakers started production of the Niva (VAZ-2121), a crossover SUV before the concept had even been invented in the West that remains popular even today. It is considered the most original and popular domestic car, and many countries have Niva fan clubs.
The VAZ-2107, produced by the Volga Auto Plant from 1982, in the Soviet Union, then Russia, was nicknamed the “Russian Mercedes” for its grille and relative comfort.
From 1986 to 1998 the Leninsky Komsomol Auto Plant (AZLK) produced the Moskvich-2141. From January 1, 1991 to the middle of 1992 these cars were sold only to people registered in Moscow and the Moscow Region. Starting in the summer of 1992, these cars were openly marketed.
