GAZ

The Gorky Automobile Plant is the oldest and largest car factory of the Soviet Union. Its history began on 4 March 1929, when the Council of People's Commissars decided to build it. Construction was carried out together with the American Ford Motor Company, and on 29 January 1932 the first vehicle — the GAZ-AA one-and-a-half-tonne truck — came off the line.

Later in 1932 the plant added the GAZ-A passenger car, and in 1936 the legendary M-1 “Emka”. By the end of the 1930s GAZ was building 68% of all Soviet vehicles. During the Second World War the plant switched to military production: GAZ-64 scout cars, BA-64 armoured cars, T-60 and T-70 tanks and self-propelled guns.

After the war the plant created a string of famous models. In 1946 it started building the GAZ-51 truck and the M-20 Pobeda, one of the first production cars in the world with a body free of protruding wings. The GAZ-12 ZIM state car followed in 1950, and in 1956 came the GAZ-21 Volga, which became a symbol of the Soviet motor industry.

The GAZ-13 Chaika government limousine appeared in 1958. In the 1970s the GAZ-24 Volga became the country's most popular upper-class car. The ten-millionth vehicle left the line in March 1981 and the fifteen-millionth in December 1991. In November 1992 the plant became the joint-stock company GAZ.