Gorky Automobile Plant: History

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History of the Plant

GAZ history started in the period of rapid industrial development. The Gorky Automobile Plant was built by people who came from every part of the vast country. Construction and personnel training were carried out in close cooperation with the Ford Company (USA).

Over the decades, a few generations of Nizny Novgorod automakers have been creating simple and reliable vehicles which won a good reputation among users both in this country and worldwide.

BEGINNINGS (1929-1941)
The history of GAZ Open Joint Stock Company (former Gorky Automobile Plant) started in 1929 г.

On March 4, 1929, the USSR National Economy Council adopted a resolution followed by signing a decree on the construction of the plant.

On April 6, 1929, a resolution on siting the future plant near Nizhny Novgorod was approved.

On May 31, 1929, the USSR National Economy Council and the Ford Motor Company signed a technical assistance agreement for setting up mass production of Ford-A motor cars and Ford-AA trucks. Process and structural design was carried out in the USA mainly by Russian engineers in close collaboration with the Ford Motor Company. The architectural and building project was designed by Austin & K.

On May 2, 1930, in the environs of Nizhny Novgorod a foundation was laid for the future automobile plant. Due to the well-thought-out project, high managerial competence and personal commitment it only took 18 months to build the plant.

January 1, 1932. The automobile plant was commissioned.

January 29, 1932. The first NAZ-AA truck came off the assembly line.

In December 1932, the Plant launched the GAZ-A medium car. GAZ

The first GAZ-A and GAZ-AA vehicles were manufactured using Ford drawings. However, they were somewhat different from their American prototype models: the Russian versions were fitted with a reinforced clutch housing and steering gear. Combining Ford ideas with their own solutions, GAZ designers managed to create quite a few versions based on the one-and-a-half-ton truck.

April 17, 1935 was a great date in GAZ history, which saw the 100,000th vehicle come off the assembly line. It was the GAZ-A motor car.

Thus, in the 30s, the first ever in the USSR assembly-flow production was mastered with technical assistance provided by US specialists.

In the late 30s, GAZ became the country’s leading automaker and produced 450,000 vehicles. It mastered the manufacture of 17 models and versions and its total output accounted for 68.3% of all vehicles manufactured in the USSR. The first plant director S.S.Diakonov (1898-1938) played a key role in making this happen.

GAZ IN WAR YEARS (1941-1945)
The Great Patriotic War called for GAZ production to be reoriented to manufacture weaponry. Within a short time, GAZ designers and process engineers completed the development and preproduction of new vehicles: GAZ-64 and GAZ-67 off-road vehicles, BA-64 and BA-64B armored carriers, T-60 and T-67 battle tanks. Apart from trucks, the plant launched the production of self-propelled guns, ammunition and a wide variety of military equipment.

"All for the front, all for the victory" was a slogan of the wartime, showing how hard GAZ workers served on the home front. Doing their utmost to accomplish front order assignments workers stayed in workshops for days.

The enemy’s destructive air raids in the summer of 1943 failed to dishearten the plant workers. Within 100 days and nights, under the direction of I.K.Loskutov (1990-1982), they restored 50 structures and repaired 9,000 units of equipment.

In 1941 alone, GAZ one-and-a-half-ton trucks ran a total of 40 million kilometers on the lifeline across the frozen Lake Ladoga. Over 500,000 people were evacuated and a total of 361,000 tons of various cargoes was delivered including more than 271,000 tons of food and fodder, 32,000 tons of ammunition and armament, 35,000 tons of petroleum, oil and lubricants and 23, 000 tons of coal.

Paying tribute to GAZ workers’ exploits during the war years, the government awarded the Plant the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of the Patriotic War, I Class.

NEW OBJECTIVES (1945-1970)
GAZ With the war still raging, the Gorky Automobile Plant started developing new models of trucks and motor cars which in the postwar years replaced virtually the entire lineup of the plant. Such rapid upgrading demanded a tremendous effort to convert the production. It’s noteworthy that it only took a year to install and reinstall as many as 4,036 equipment items.

GAZ-51 truck was the first in the newly launched lineup. It went into mass production in January 1946.

GAZ M-20, the famous Pobeda (Victory), was the second to be launched, its first batch assembled in June 1946.

This car was to become a major landmark in the history of both domestic and world automotive industry.

GAZ M-20 was famous, above all, for its unique shape of body which featured a very low wind drag of just 0.34. The car design started a new trend in the motor fashion of the time taken up by many world automakers in the following 2-3 years. Pobeda was the first Soviet car to have an integral body and the world’s first production vehicle with a "wingless" body shape. The car also featured an independent front suspension, hydraulic brake gear, front-hinged doors and a V-shape windshield. Its comfortable interior fitted with a heater easily accommodated five persons. Each car was also fitted with a radio for added comfort.

GAZ-21 Volga launched in late 1956 is a special, classical car for us. GAZ

For many the “twenty one” was the symbol of a whole era. Advanced for its time, Volga still has a lot of fans. Moreover, there has been an increasing interest in the car in the recent years. GAZ-21-based fancy hot rods as well as its production versions tend to catch our eye on the roads, testifying yet again to Volga ranking among the most durable cars. It made a good taxi, too.

1959 was a year of the plant’s new flagship, GAZ-13 Chaika (Seagull). The car exterior design was influenced by models produced by US automakers, the auto trend setters of the time.

Chaika design is undoubtedly of interest due to a variety of technical innovations applied. It was fitted with an 8-cylinder V-engine of 195 hp, quad carburetor, steering booster and hydroshift transmission. The car featured a push-button selection of speed and a power antenna. The body accessories included: electric windows, windshield washer, scanning multirange radio, fog lamps etc. Alongside the base sedan model, small batches of GAZ-13A limousines and GAZ-13B cabriolets were produced.

In recognition of GAZ designers’ achievements, GAZ-21 Volga, GAZ-13 and GAZ-52 Chaika were awarded the Grand Prix at the World Auto Show in Brussels in 1958.

GAZ The 60s was a period of renewal of the current truckline. GAZ-52, GAZ-53А and GAZ-66 trucks and their versions formed the third generation line of GAZ trucks. They were fitted with newly designed powerplants including the powerful V-8 engines. GAZ-53A load-carrying capacity was increased to 4 tons, its durability dramatically extended.

The late 1970s saw the third generation of luxury cars launched. GAZ14 Chaika was designed under the supervision of A.D.Prosvirin by N.A.Yushmanov, V.N.Nosakov, S.V.Volkov, Y.I.Dokukin and many other designers. The fine 7-seat representative car was famous for its high-tech features and the comfort of US highway “dreadnoughts”. GAZ-14 was fitted with an 8-cylinder V engine of 220 hp enabling a top speed of 175 kmh. Among limousines GAZ car was the most lightweight and compact (some GAZ-14 models had a bulkhead). With its additional variety of innovations, GAZ-14 Chaika was sort of a testing ground for new design features, materials and technologies for future production vehicles.

RECONSTRUCTION (70s, 80s)
The 60s and 70s saw a large-scale reconstruction of the plant.

The foundry shops were the first to undergo re-equipment. The gray and malleable cast iron shops were expanded, new equipment was installed, the country’s first precision investment casting shop (No.6) was set up (1962) and an automated mold casting line was commissioned, also the first in the country. New plants were erected: the diemoldmaking plant (1967), the gearbox plant (1968) and the truck axle plant (1972).

In 1971, the Gorky Automobile Plant was awarded the Order or Lenin for achievements in setting up mass production of new trucks and cars for the national economy.

The plant’s reconstruction and technical upgrading started back in the 60s and the 70s continued on a still larger scale in the 80s. The reconstruction of the 80s is the most dramatic in the plant’s entire history. The first expansion stage project alone provided for construction of engineering buildings with a total area of 700,000 m², including the diesel powerplant building of 250,000 m². This building was started in 1984 and ended in the commissioning of the engine plant in 1993. Dieselization of trucks was the plant’s key technical policy in the 1980s.

In 1980, GAZ was awarded the prestigious international prize “Golden Mercury for its great contribution to the development of the automotive industry and international trade.

In March 1981, the 10,000,000th GAZ vehicle came off the assembly line; in December 1995, it was the 15,000,000th vehicle.

In November 1992, the Gorky Automobile Plant was transformed into an open joint stock company. N.A.Puguin was elected President of OJSC GAZ.

Historical models of 1929-1941