UAZ

The Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant is best known for its off-roaders and light commercial vehicles. It was founded in 1941, when equipment from the ZIS plant in Moscow was evacuated to Ulyanovsk at the start of the war. During the war years it built ZIS-5 trucks for the front.

After the war the plant became independent and in 1954 began building the GAZ-69 off-roader under licence from GAZ. In 1966 it launched its own UAZ-469, one of the best Soviet military off-road vehicles. It became a byword for reliability far from paved roads and was exported to dozens of countries.

Alongside it the plant built the UAZ-452 van, nicknamed the “loaf” for the shape of its body. In its many versions — ambulance, crew-cab, panel van — it is still built today with barely a change, prized for its durability and for how easily it can be repaired in the field. The UAZ became part of everyday rural life across the Soviet Union and Russia.