GAZ-M20
| GAZ-M20 'Pobeda' | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | GAZ |
| Also called | Kaengsaeng Achimkoy (North Korea) |
| Production | 1946–1958 (in Poland - until 1973) |
| Assembly | Gorky, Soviet Union |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Executive car |
| Body style | 4-door sedan fastback/cabriolet |
| Layout | |
| Related |
|
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 2.1L M-20 I4 |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 2,700 mm (106.3 in) |
| Length | 4,665 mm (183.7 in) |
| Width | 1,695 mm (66.7 in) |
| Height | 1,590 mm (62.6 in) |
| Curb weight | 1460 kg |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | GAZ-M1 |
| Successor | Volga GAZ-21 |
The GAZ-M20 "Pobeda" (Russian: ГАЗ-М20 Победа; Победа, Victory) was a passenger car produced in the Soviet Union by GAZ from 1946 until 1958. It was also licensed to Polish Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych, as FSO Warszawa. Although usually known as the GAZ-M20, an original car's designation at that time was just M-20, for "Molotovets" (GAZ factory bore a name of Vyacheslav Molotov).
The first sketches of similar-looking cars were completed by Valentin Brodsky in 1938 and by Vladimir Aryamov in 1940, which revealed a growing tendency towards streamline car design in the Soviet Union. Aryamov's two-door coupe GAZ-11-80 greatly resembled the later Pobeda. The first Pobeda was developed in the Soviet Union under chief engineer Andrei A. Liphart. Originally intended to be called "Rodina" (Homeland), the name "Pobeda" (Victory) was a back-up, but was preferred by Joseph Stalin. The name was chosen because the works started in 1943 at Gorky Avto Zavod (GAZ, "Gorky Car Plant"), when victory in World War II began to seem likely, and the car was to be a model for post-war times. The plant was later heavily bombarded, but work was unaffected. Styling was done by "the imaginative and talented Veniamin Samoilov". The GAZ-M20 Pobeda was the first Soviet car not copying any foreign design and moreover introduced a new vogue in automobile design; only the front suspension and, partially, the unitized body were influenced by the 1938 Opel Kapitän. It was one of the first cars to introduce ponton styling with slab sides, preceding many Western manufacturers. The M20 was the first Soviet car using entirely domestic body dies; it was designed against wooden bucks, which suffered warping, requiring last-minute tuning by GAZ factory employees. The first prototype was ready on November 6, 1944 (for an anniversary of the October Revolution). The first production model rolled off the assembly line on June 21, 1946. It was also the first Soviet automobile to have turn signals, two electric windshield wipers (rather than mechanical- or vacuum-operated ones), four-wheel hydraulic brakes, an electric heater, and a factory-installed AM radio. The car came to be a symbol of postwar Soviet life and is today a popular collector's item.
...
Wikipedia