According to its owner, the 1980 model year GAZ-13 Chaika previously belonged to the ambassadorial garage, and was used by Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev during his visit to the Uzbek Soviet Republic in 1982, just several months before his death.
The car, painted a unique off-white color (unusual for Chaikas, which were mostly black), is being sold for 30 million rubles (about $520,000 US).
Leonid Brezhnev was a Soviet Ukrainian politician who led the Soviet Union from 1964 until 1982. Russians remember Brezhnev's tenure as a time of growing global influence for the Soviet Union, as well as relative prosperity and peace (which was interrupted by the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in 1979). Brezhnev was known to be an avid automotive enthusiast, and enjoyed driving himself. Foreign leaders including Richard Nixon and Willy Brandt often gifted him luxury automobiles. However, contrary to popular myths, these vehicles remained the property of the state, and not Brezhnev personally, and remained in the Kremlin garage following his death.
The GAZ-13 Chaika was introduced in 1959 and produced until 1981, when it was replaced by the GAZ-14. The second and final generation of Chaikas was removed from production in 1988. Their blueprints, assembly line documentation, stamping components, etc. were destroyed during Perestroika and Mikhail Gorbachev's so-called 'fight against priviliges'. A total of 3,179 GAZ-13s and 1,114 GAZ-14s were produced during their production runs.