UralAZ

The Ural Automobile Plant was the Soviet Union's largest producer of heavy multi-axle off-road trucks. It was founded in 1941 in Miass, in the Chelyabinsk region, when the Moscow ZIS plant was evacuated there. In 1944 it built its first vehicle of its own, the legendary ZIS-5V.

The plant became independent in 1946 and was tasked with developing a new generation of heavy off-road trucks. In 1961 the first Ural-375 came off the line: a 6×6 truck with a 180 hp ZIL-375 petrol engine. This three-axle machine became the basis for a long line of military, civilian and special versions.

The Ural-375 served the Soviet army and the armies of the Warsaw Pact, and worked on the oil and gas fields of Siberia. In 1977 the diesel Ural-4320 arrived and became the workhorse of the army and the oil industry. Ural trucks are still used by the Russian armed forces and in the remotest parts of the country.