Gas 20 victory was a warm car. "Pobeda GAZ M20" - the legendary car of the Soviet period

24.11.2021

Before the war, our industry produced three basic models of passenger cars - ZIS-101, GAZ-M1 and KIM-10-50. They were not independent developments, but were only a creative rethinking of foreign samples. After the war, the situation could have repeated itself if from February 3 to 8, 1943, in Moscow, immediately after the Battle of Stalingrad, a meeting devoted to the post-war directions of the development of the domestic automobile industry had not been held. At the meeting, the chief designer of GAZ, Andrei Aleksandrovich Lipgart, presented for consideration the concept of the post-war development of the model range of his plant practically at the level of the technical specification.

Everyone understood what was being created Victory car, which after the war will symbolize a new peaceful life for millions of Soviet people, and tried to lay in it as much new and unusual as possible.

The future "Victory" began to take shape ...

The experts had great doubts about the correct choice of the pontoon body shape. The front of the car has become "dull", without a radiator grille protruding forward, protruding fenders and footrests have completely disappeared. In addition, the body of the new car had a supporting structure. Previously, all the cars of the Gorky Automobile Plant were based on a frame to which the main units (engine, axles, steering, etc.) were attached, and the body was fixed on top of the frame. This design in the form of a puff cake was metal-intensive, heavy, with a high center of gravity and other disadvantages. It was possible to gain weight and reduce the height of the car by creating a load-bearing body and completely eliminating the concept of a frame - from now on, all the necessary units were attached directly to the body itself.

But the development of such a body is a large and complex work, which, without sufficient experience, cannot be carried out independently in a short time. Therefore, foreign cars were nevertheless involved as "carriers of ideas". The trophy was chosen as the model for the GAZ-M20. "Opel Captain" (Opel Kapitan) .

To save time, the "skeleton" of the body and the front suspension were copied from it practically unchanged. But outwardly, our car did not repeat the "Opel Captain" and was an independent development.

In late 1943 - early 1044, a full-size plywood sample was ready at the car factory. GAZ-M20, and by November 6, 1944 - a full-fledged running model of the car. Soon, three prototypes took part in the tests.

In the history of the domestic automotive industry "Victory" significant in that it is the first Soviet car with a monocoque body of the pontoon type and one of the first serial cars of this type in the world.

On GAZ-M20 "Victory" For the first time in the practice of the domestic automotive industry, electric direction indicators and brake lights, independent front wheel suspension, hydraulic brake drive, hinged all doors on the front hinges, an alligator-type hood, a thermostat in the cooling system, two electric windshield wipers were serially used. For the first time on a Soviet car of this class, an interior heater with windshield blowing was provided as standard equipment.

All this makes it possible to judge Pobeda as a real victory for Russian engineering. And this victory was highly appreciated: in 1949, the creators of the machine were awarded the Stalin Prize.

"To the Black Sea"

A bright and kind film, perceived today as a beautiful fairy tale with a slight touch of nostalgia. Young romantics Irina and Nikolai go by car to the Black Sea, celebrating their wedding on the way. On the way, they meet a girl-operator who asks to take her for spare parts. Alas, Nikolai stayed for a long time, and Irina at that time was in the car of her institute teacher Khokhlov. He, too, is in love with a girl and goes after the young. Nikolai sets off in search of his beloved: chases, explanations and reconciliation begin. An active participant in all the adventures was a beige "Victory" GAZ-M20.

OUTSIDE AND INSIDE


Speedometer and clock are made equally large for purely aesthetic reasons	The dashboard is barely visible on the front panel, but at the same time is always in front of the driver's eyes	Floor-mounted gear lever typical of pre-1950 cars

		The symmetry of the dashboard design relative to the longitudinal axis of the car was considered ideal on passenger cars of the 40s.


The only brake light and license plate light on "Pobeda" are combined into a block	A distinctive feature of cars produced before 1955 is a radiator grill with many horizontal moldings	Most of the trunk was occupied by a spare wheel and a driver's tool - for them, first of all, the trunk was intended, and not at all for luggage, as it is now


The rear window in the awning was installed more for the sake of form: it is almost impossible to see what is happening behind the car	The car canopy was folded manually, no additional drives were provided	When folded, the soft top was hidden under a special cover and looked very neat

		The interior of a car with a soft top is not particularly comfortable.


The supporting body of the convertible had to be additionally reinforced - most of all this is noticeable at the junction of the body sidewalls with the windshield frame	High voltage ignition coil with historically correct wire braid	The two-tone color of the body is not typical for the serial "Victory"


The partial flow oil filter is located in a separate metal reservoir	The time for transparent plastic tanks for the hydraulic system of the car has not yet come	The very in-line four-cylinder engine that literally saved the car on display in the Kremlin	Carburetor K-22A. A transparent window serves to control the level of gasoline in the chamber, but it can also be used to determine whether the fuel pump is working properly.

PASSPORT DATA

The scheme of the car GAZ-M20 "Pobeda"

Technical characteristics of the GAZ-M20 "Victory"		Weight:
Number of places	5	equipped	1460 kg
Maximum speed	105 km / h	full	1835 kg
Acceleration time to 100 km / h	46 sec	on the front axle	880 kg
Fuel consumption at a speed of 50-60 km / h	13.5 l / 100 km	on the rear axle	955 kg
Electrical equipment	12 V
Accumulator battery	6ST-50	Ground clearance:
Generator	G-20	under the front axle	210 mm
Relay-regulator	RR-20B	under the rear axle	200 mm
Starter	ST-9
Interrupter-distributor	P-23	Smallest turning radius:
Spark plug	M12	along the track of the front outer wheel	6,3 m
Tire size	6,00-16	on the most protruding part overall	6.8 m

Front suspension: independent, spring, with wishbones, double-acting hydraulic shock absorbers
Rear suspension: on longitudinal semi-elliptic springs, double-acting hydraulic shock absorbers
Steering gear: globoidal worm with double-ridged roller, gear ratio 18.2
Brakes: working - drum on all wheels, hydraulic drive
parking - drum on rear wheels, with a mechanical drive from a hand lever
Transmission: mechanical, three-stage
Clutch: single disc, dry
Gear ratios: before 1951: I - 2,820; II - 1.604; III - 1.00; reverse gear - 3.383
since 1951: I - 3.115; II - 1.772; III - 1.00; reverse - 3.738
Main gear: conical, before 1948 - 4.7; after - 5.125
Carburetor: K-22 (1946-1948); K-22A (from 1948)
Maximum power: 52 (50 HP until 1952) at 3600 rpm
Maximum torque: 12.5 kgf.m at 2000-2200 rpm

There is hardly a Russian who does not know the cars of the "Pobeda" brand and would not be able to recognize them among other cars. And this is not surprising, because it was "Pobeda" that became the first truly domestic car!

The vicissitudes of fate

The road to the popularity of "Victory" was not easy. Not only was the task for its development issued in the midst of the Great Patriotic War, in 1943, but also the deadlines were fantastically tight. Already by the November holidays of 1944, the Gorky Automobile Plant managed to prepare a full-fledged running model of the new car.
The car turned out to be beautiful and original, which in itself was not an ordinary event, since all domestic pre-war cars, in fact, were copies of foreign ones, and many post-war designs had very specific foreign prototypes. The Gorky passenger car, which received the factory name GAZ-M20, was very much out of this row, which almost had a negative impact on its fate. On June 19, 1945, at the demonstration of promising models of domestic automotive equipment in the Kremlin, organized by the People's Commissar of the Automobile and Tractor Industry S.A. Akopov, Comrade Stalin reacted negatively to the novelty, believing that the country did not need a massive powerful six-cylinder passenger car. Only the report of the chief designer of the car, Andrey Alexandrovich Lipgart, saved the day. He assured the leader that one of the presented samples had an economical four-cylinder engine. This message changed the attitude of I. V. Stalin to the new car, and he gave the go-ahead only for a car with a four-cylinder engine. And the Gorky residents' proposal to name the new car "Pobeda" reacted without enthusiasm, although he gave permission to do so. Soon the Resolution of the State Defense Committee "On the restoration and development of the automotive industry" was issued, providing for the start of production of a new car at GAZ in June 1946. The first industrial batch of "Victory" was assembled on time. But soon the rush in the design and launch of the machine in production began to affect. The quality of the first "Victories" turned out to be unacceptably low, and in August 1948 their production was suspended.
The reasons for this were good: the cars accelerated poorly, moreover, in jerks, dust and water penetrated into the cabin. The low interior height was due to the unreasonably thick sofa cushions, and the absence of a heater affected the Pobeda's comfort in winter. The service life of the car was limited by the body sagging in half and the springs quickly sinking down.
After strengthening the body, installing new springs, changing the gear ratio of the main pair (from 4.7 to 5.125), improving the carburetor and clutch drive, adding a body heater to the design and eliminating many other shortcomings, the troubles ended. On November 1, 1948, the production of "Victories" was resumed, and in a new light workshop with a modern assembly line, which significantly increased the general production culture.

Emblem
When the Pobeda car was being created, domestic car factories did not yet have established emblems, so literally each model had its own original nameplates. On the pedestal of "Victory" the letter "M" towered, in which one could simultaneously see a hint of a prong of the wall of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin and a soaring seagull - the symbol of the Volga. The letter itself indicated the name "Molotovets" (from the beginning of the 30s to the end of the 50s, the plant bore the name of People's Commissar V.M. , twentieth model ". The fill of the emblem, of course, was red - the color of the USSR banner.

Strokes for the portrait
Soon after the production of "Victory" in 1946, they started talking about its design flaws. On the instructions of the Ministry of Automotive Industry, the head research institute of the industry (NAMI) had to create an improved version of "Victory", leaving the mechanical part (engine, chassis) unchanged, but with a more comfortable and aesthetically perfect body, with improved visibility back. As a result, in 1948, NAMI built two improved Pobeda cars with a sedan body, differing in exterior trim. Experienced cars really looked "in a new way", although many technologically complex elements of the body (supporting frame, doors) remained the same.

Distant "relatives"

Motorsport
In 1951, under the leadership of A. A. Smolin, three sports-racing cars Pobeda-Sport (GAZ-20-SG1) for ring competitions were built on the basis of Pobeda bodies and units. Their body height was reduced by 160 mm, and the front and rear of the duralumin were made of duralumin, as a result of which each car weighed 260 kg lighter than the standard one. But most importantly, engines with a rotary supercharger and a power of 105 hp were installed on two of them. The maximum speed of such vehicles increased to 167 km / h. Due to technical malfunctions, the machines could not show brilliant results in 1951, and already in 1952 the use of superchargers was banned. They also introduced a restriction on the use of fairings, which did not last long, and in 1954 Pobeda-Sport cars again went to the start, albeit without superchargers. But the riders did not manage to rise above the second place.
To reduce the weight and frontal area of the sports "Victories", in 1955 they built new GAZ-20-SG1M cars with an open two-seater body, as a result of which their speed increased to 180 km / h. And already at the USSR championship in 1955, M. Metelev took first place in Pobeda-Sport cars, and V. Mosolov took second. The following year, the success was repeated.
"Pobeda-Sport" model of 1954 with an engine without a rotary supercharger. The racer M. Metelev took part in it.

Open car "Pobeda-Sport" at the USSR championship in Minsk, 1956.

Form and content

The abundance of chrome is a distinctive feature of passenger cars of the 50s - 60s.

In front of the windshield there is an air intake for interior ventilation.

On the front and rear side windows - pivoting vents and sliding windows

"Branded" chrome caps with the inscription "GAZ"

The hood of the "alligator" type - a novelty of that time on the Gorky cars

The spare wheel niche "ate" most of the trunk

The fuel filler cap did not swing to the side, but opened up

The door handles at the "Victory" practically did not protrude outward - now such a structure would be called injury-safe

The radio antenna above the windshield is a distinctive feature of the modernized Pobeda GAZ-M20V

The "drawing" of the dashboard was dominated by light colors and strict lines.

The gear lever of the "Victory" has been located on the steering column since 1950, and earlier it was located below, on the motor tunnel

All pedals of the machine are floor mounted. On the left we see the red lever of the hand brake, and on the right, under the dashboard, - the foot button for turning on the starter

A three-band tube radio - an unimaginable standard equipment for the interior of a middle-class passenger car at that time

Modifications of the GAZ-M20V "Pobeda"

The modernized passenger car GAZ-M20V "Pobeda" was mass-produced in 1955-1958 instead of the previous model GAZ-M20 "Pobeda" (1946-1955). A total of "Pobeda" two series produced 241,497 (according to other sources - 236,820) copies. GAZ-M20V "Victory at the Gorky Automobile Plant was produced with only one closed body type" sedan ", in contrast to the earlier version, which was also made with an open body convertible. In addition to the base model, the plant produced various modifications of it. The most famous are taxis and all-wheel drive (4x4) all-terrain vehicles, as well as those produced in small batches, mainly for service in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the KGB, GAZ-M20D cars with forced engines and even GAZ-M20G - with a six-cylinder GAZ-12 engine.

GAZ-M20 sanitary
Factory versions of Pobeda ambulances did not exist - their alteration was usually arranged at the places of operation, for which special documentation was sent to various workshops and repair bases. But the alteration was not massive - the cramped body of the "Victory" was of little use for accommodating a retractable stretcher.

GAZ-M20V
Van with an all-metal body. These cars were converted in small numbers in auto repair plants from ordinary sedan cars that had served their time in a taxi or as a company car. Nobody demanded beauty from these cars, the main thing is that they could transport small consignments of cargo in their weatherproof body. They also did not differ in durability, so the age of Pobeda vans turned out to be extremely short-lived.

GAZ-M72 (1955-1958)
On the recommendation of NS Khrushchev, a four-wheel drive version of the "Victory" was created especially for the chairmen of collective farms and responsible workers in agriculture. Before him, nowhere in the world had an all-wheel drive car with a closed comfortable monocoque body been created.

GAZ-M20V pickup
At GAZ, GAZ-M20 trucks with a pickup body were not mass-produced, and the transformation of a sedan into a truck with a pick-up body usually took place in the process of repairing a passenger car. The car was equipped with a homemade covered top made of boards and dermantine.

GAZ-M20V cargo-passenger van
This unusual car was built at one of the motor depots of the USSR Ministry of Health for official needs, having made the rear part of the body from wood. In the back, they made a flat floor and a large swing door at the back. And in place of the rear passenger sofa, there are seats that fold into the floor, which, if necessary, could accommodate two people.

All my story has come to an end!) Thank you all for your attention and patience!)

Next time I will tell you about GAZ-21 "Volga" See you))

An unusual car slowly drove up to the store near the bus station, stopping with a characteristic soft creak of Volgovski brakes. While the owner was buying something in the store, people who were waiting for their minibuses were looking at this unusual car with interest. The children were especially impressed. Still, now it's not every day you can see "Victory".

In the late 80s, during my childhood, "Pobeda" was still often met on the roads, not as often as the "twenty-first", but once a week it was definitely possible to meet it. Then there were fewer and fewer of them, and now, when the children ask what kind of car it is, not all of their young parents can give the right answer. Forgotten "Victory", people of the older generation remember about it, or we, the people in the subject, carried away by oldtimers.

For its time, the GAZ M-20 was a technical breakthrough and a victory for the Soviet passenger car industry at the same time. The production of the car began in 1946, ready-made running samples for review were presented to the party leadership of the USSR in 1945, in fact, immediately after the victory of the country of the Soviets in the Great Patriotic War, and the main development was carried out since 1943, although initially the process of creating a new Soviet "car for everyone "Went away in pre-war times, at the end of the 30s. The chief designer who worked on the car was Andrey Aleksandrovich Lipgart, the legendary Soviet auto-designer, Doctor of Technical Sciences. The lead designer of the project was Alexander Kirillov. Such designers simply could not get a bad car.

According to one of the legends surrounding the car, it was originally planned to call it "Rodina". But when Stalin examined the pre-production samples, and asked about the name of the future car, having heard "Rodina", he asked - how much do you plan to sell "Rodina"? The creators of the machine, as they say, understood the "hint".

Wooden model of the 1944 model, note that the rear doors open against the course.

And the victory consisted in the fact that a modern passenger car by world standards began to be produced in the USSR just a year after the end of the catastrophic war, after which the country was completely ruined financially, and many cities, many industries barely began to rise from the ruins. Now it is difficult to even imagine the full scale of the work done by many people who created this car. The Party's task was accomplished.

The load-bearing body of the "pontoon" type, without protruding wings was just entering the automotive fashion even in the West, the aerodynamic performance of the Pobeda body remains at its best even today, and not all cars, even of the 80s, can boast of this. the front suspension was independent, on levers, a spring was an elastic element, the rear axle was suspended on springs. There was a heater inside the car, although the device was necessary, but the predecessors of "Pobeda" were absent, and there were elements of the present at that time luxuriously - a radio receiver and a clock were installed on a regular basis. Even by European standards, it was considered chic, available only in premium cars. For the first time, standard direction indicators appeared on a Soviet car, although the rules of those years, as well as low traffic, fully admitted the absence of direction indicators in the design of the car. They were turned on with a two-way toggle switch, and there were indicator lamps on the dashboard.

Under the hood of the "alligator" type there was a four-cylinder low-valve gasoline engine with a volume of 2.1 liters and a power of 52 hp, until 1952 - 50 hp. The gearbox was a mechanical three-stage with synchronizers at the second and third speeds, but the synchronizers were simple, single-cone, and therefore, when shifting to a lower gear, double squeezing with re-gasification was not at all superfluous, the gearbox resource was a great shore. Fuel consumption was low for his age, 11-13 liters per 100 km, but acceleration to 100 km / h took forever - 45 seconds, and it was acceleration to almost the maximum speed of the car, which was 105 km / h.

Hydraulic single-circuit drum brakes were also an innovation on the Soviet passenger car, previous GAZ models were with a mechanical cable drive of the brakes. There was no vacuum brake booster on the car, and it was necessary to press on the pedal with considerable effort, but the steering wheel, despite the absence of a hydraulic booster, rotated surprisingly easily. The steering wheel is huge by today's standards, but there was enough room in the cabin.

But visibility was the weak point of the car. A tiny salon rear-view mirror, through a tiny rear window, did not inform the driver much about anything, there were no side mirrors in the standard equipment, but the traffic was small then, now, of course, you can't drive in a big city with heavy traffic.

At one time, there was a myth about the tinned bodies of the first editions of "Victories". It was a myth, "Pobeda" had neither tinned nor galvanized bodies, but there were cases when stamping defects at the plant were leveled with solder, and when, when repairing bodies, craftsmen found places processed with solder, they gave rise to this myth. But at the same time, the good corrosion resistance of Pobeda bodies should be noted.

Many design solutions later migrated to the Volga GAZ-21.

During production "Pobeda" was modernized several times. The first series was produced from 1946 to 48 and had many complaints, which were corrected in the second series, which was produced from 1949 to 1954. The third series has undergone a kind of restyling - a new radiator lining has appeared, three chrome bars instead of five thin ones, popularly referred to as "vest", the model of the radio has changed, it has become more economical.

From the second series, the production of a modification for a taxi began, and also from 1949 to 1953 a version with a folding soft top was produced, only about 14 thousand of such cars were produced, most of them were exported, and now they are the rarest collectible items.

The car was exported to Western Europe, Austria, Belgium, as well as Romania, Hungary, Finland, Bulgaria, and was in great demand there as an inexpensive, comfortable and reliable family car.

The majority of Soviet citizens could only dream of this car, even though it was on the free sale, because it cost astronomical money at that time - 16 thousand rubles. More affordable was the archaic "Moskvich" -401, for which the average Soviet family could collect the amount necessary for a purchase in two years. But even at such a high price, the demand for a car inside the USSR was stable and often there were even queues. But at the same time, in the 50s, any resident of large cities of the USSR could afford to ride this car as a taxi passenger.

A lot of cars have survived to this day in different conditions, and in varying degrees of "grooviness". The car is popular with both restorers, collectors and customizers, becoming the basis for various deep tuning options. It also happens that some owners still use the car as the main one for their trips, collecting the admiring glances of others along the way.

The works of illustrator Pyotr Pereshivailov, artist Alexei Bychkov, as well as photos from archives and open sources were used as illustrations.

In the mid-40s, the Gorky Automobile Plant began to develop a rear-wheel drive car with a fastback sedan body, which later received the name GAZ-M20 Pobeda. "Pobeda" became the first car in the USSR, which was equipped with electric turn signals and windshield wipers

Initially, the GAZ-M20 was planned to be called "Motherland", but an incident occurred with this name, when the car was shown to Stalin, he asked with a grin "Well, how much is our Motherland now?" The name was immediately changed, and the GAZ-M20 became known as "Victory".

The prototype of the car was the German Opel Kapitan model of 1939 with a pontoon-type body. The design of the German "Captain" was completely rethought by the talented artist Veniamin Samoilov, who later created the final drawing of the future "Victory". As a result, the car received a streamlined design without protruding fenders, with recessed headlights.

In terms of design, the GAZ-M20 Pobeda was at one time ahead of many Western counterparts until the early 50s. The car had an independent front suspension and, as standard, was equipped with a stove with a windshield blower function.

Since the beginning of the 50s, a large number of cars were exported, the production of passenger cars increased in the country, which led to a shortage of high-quality sheet metal. Due to the lack of steel sheet, it was decided to make cars with a folding fabric roof, so a convertible was born on the basis of "Pobeda".

The GAZ-M20 Pobeda car was on the assembly line for 12 years, its production was discontinued in 1958, but in Poland this sedan-type car continued to be produced until 1973, but under its own name “Warsaw”.

Design and construction

GAZ-M20 received a 4-cylinder engine with a capacity of 50 horsepower, although it was originally planned to install a 6-cylinder GAZ-11 engine, thanks to this engine, the car could accelerate to 105 km / h

Pobeda has been modernized several times, for the first time a year after the start of mass production in 1947. This year, the rims of the headlights have become chrome-plated, the radiator grille has changed (it has become, as it were, "three-story", its lower part goes behind the side lights) and the side lights. However, the design of the "Victory" was still "raw" and its production was suspended for one year. The main disadvantages of the first cars were an uncomfortable fit, an imperfect exhaust system and a flimsy body.

In 1949 the model returned to the assembly line, from that moment the production of the so-called "second series" began. "Victory", which has been produced since 1949, did not repeat the shortcomings of its predecessor, the car received an improved exhaust system, a carburetor, and the body was also strengthened. In appearance, the "second series" could be distinguished by the radiator grill, which was now two, and not "three-story". Car wheels with stamped discs without holes had a wide width for those years, fastened with five nuts on studs. In 1950, the car received a gearbox from ZIM (they had previously installed an outdated one from Emka) and a new muffler. And 2 years later, in 1952, the engine was modernized, its power increased from 50 to 52 horsepower.

The "third series" of GAZ-M20 Pobeda cars appeared in 1955 after another modernization of the car. The new car received new, more attractive upholstery and a new steering wheel with a ring signal button. A radio was included as standard. The radiator lining has also changed once again, on which a new emblem has appeared. The engine was once again modernized, now its power was 55 horsepower.

Modifications

GAZ M-20 "Pobeda"

A car with a fastback sedan body, equipped with a 4-cylinder engine with a capacity of 50 and 52 horsepower. The first series of the car was produced from 1946 to 1948, from November 1, 1948, "Pobeda" received a heater and blowing the windshield, from October 1948 new parabolic springs. In 1949, the production of the second series began, which from October of the same year received a new thermostat, from 1950 a new more reliable watch, from November 1, 1949 the model was assembled on a new conveyor, and from October 1950 it received a new gearbox from ZIM with a lever on steering wheel and about the same time - a new water pump. A total of 184,285 cars were produced, including the GAZ-M-20V.

GAZ M-20V "Pobeda"

The modernized "Pobeda", the third series of the car, was equipped with an engine with a capacity of 52, and later 55 horsepower. The car received a new design for the radiator grille, radio, new upholstery, steering wheel.

GAZ M-20A "Pobeda"

Car modification for taxi service. The body is a fastback sedan, a 4-cylinder engine with a capacity of 52 horsepower. A total of 37,492 copies were produced.

GAZ M-20 "Pobeda - convertible"

According to some reports, it is believed that this modification had its own index "M-20B". The car with an open body sedan-convertible had rigid safety arcs, was equipped with a 4-cylinder GAZ-M-20 engine with a capacity of 52 horsepower. Only the upper part of the roof was folded, and the sidewalls remained rigid. This convertible tarpaulin top had a negative impact on aerodynamics, as the top speed was reduced by 5 km / h compared to the fastback, and fuel consumption increased from 11 to 11.5 liters per 100 kilometers. A total of 14,222 copies were produced.

GAZ M-20D

Modification for the needs of the MGB with an engine boosted to 57-62 horsepower by increasing the compression ratio.

GAZ M-20G (M-26)

The GAZ-M-20G car, according to other sources, the M-26 was produced from 1956 to 1958 specifically for the needs of the MGB (KGB). In fact, it was a high-speed version of the same "Victory", which was equipped with a 6-cylinder engine from "ZIM" with a capacity of 90 horsepower.

GAZ M-72

Four-wheel drive passenger car with a frameless monocoque body based on the M-20 "Pobeda" with a chassis from an army jeep GAZ-69. This car can be considered one of the world's first comfortable SUVs. Externally, the SUV differed from the rear-wheel drive model by increased ground clearance, mud flaps on the rear wheel arches and 6.50-16 tires with a herringbone tread. Produced from 1955 to 1958, during this time 4677 off-road vehicles rolled off the assembly line.

GAZ M-73

A prototype of a compact two-seater four-wheel drive vehicle, which was planned as a traveling vehicle for collective farm leaders. It was equipped with an engine from a Moskvich-402 car with a capacity of 35 horsepower. It did not go into mass production.

In addition to these modifications, there was a modification with bodies such as a van, a pickup, a stretch, as well as a 4-door front convertible, there were also sports modifications ("GAZ-Torpedo" and "Pobeda-Sport" with a forced engine, fairings and a two-door body)

Work on the creation of a fundamentally new passenger car began at the Gorky Automobile Plant during the war years. Supervised the design of the car, which was originally planned to be called GAZ-25 "Rodina", chief designer Andrey Alexandrovich Lipgart. It was assumed that the car would have two options: with a four-cylinder and six-cylinder engine, but in the end, it was decided to leave only the version with four cylinders, as simpler and more economical. In June 1945, the finished prototype was demonstrated to Joseph Stalin, at this demonstration the launch of the model into production was approved, and the name GAZ-M-20 Pobeda was assigned to it.

The official launch of the conveyor took place, as planned, in June 1946, but it was, in fact, piece production using a bypass technology. The development of the mass production of "Pobeda" went very slowly, largely due to the fact that the car was significantly different from everything that was produced by the Soviet auto industry so far. In 1946, 23 were made, in 1947 - 601, and in 1948 - 4549 cars. For some time in 1948, production was even suspended to refine the design of the machine.

GAZ-M-20 "Pobeda" had a load-bearing body (the first among Soviet cars) of the "fastback" type with a sloping rear end. It was one of the first bodies of the so-called "pontoon" type in the world - without protruding fenders and steps. Under the hood of the car was a four-cylinder engine with a volume of 2.1 liters and a capacity of 50 liters. with. It was combined with a three-speed unsynchronized gearbox, which received second and third gear synchronizers in 1950.

The cost of the car was about 16,000 rubles, "Moskvich-400", for example, cost half the price.

In 1948, the production of the modernized "Pobeda" of the second series was launched. She had an improved suspension, and a heater appeared in the cabin.

In 1949, a cabriolet version with an opening fabric roof top appeared; it was 500 rubles cheaper than a closed car. At the same time, specifically for taxi companies, they began to make a modification of the GAZ-20A.

The car of the third series (GAZ-20V "Pobeda") entered the assembly line in 1955. This car could be recognized by a different design of the radiator grille. The modernized engine became a little more powerful (52 hp), and a radio was installed on the car.

The production of the GAZ-M-20 ended in 1958. A total of 241,497 cars were made, including the all-wheel drive GAZ-M72 (4677 cars) and a convertible (14222 cars). "Pobeda" was exported to Finland (where it was very popular with taxi drivers), other Scandinavian countries, Belgium, Great Britain. In 1951, a licensed version of the car under the Warszawa brand was produced in Poland.

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