GAZ-M20 Pobeda

An early mockup for the Pobeda GAZ-M20

The GAZ-M20 "Pobeda" (Roushie: ГАЗ-М20 Победа; Победа means "Victory") wis a passenger caur produced in the Soviet Union bi GAZ frae 1946 till 1958. It wis an aa licensed tae Pols Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych.

History

The first Pobeda wis developed in the Soviet Union unner chief engineer Andrei A. Liphart. "Pobeda" means "victory"; an the name wis chosen acause the model's first tests wur done in 1943 at Gorky Avto Zavod (GAZ, "Gorky Car Plant"), when victory in Warld War II began tae seem likely. The plant wis later hivily bombarded, but wirk wis unaffectit. The first prototype wis ready on November 6, 1944, an efter it gained approval the first production model rolled aff the assembly line on Juin 21, 1946. The caur wis a successfu export for the USSR, an the design wis licensed tae the Pols FSO factory in Warsaw, whaur it wis biggit as the FSO Warszawa beginnin in 1951. A few wur assembled in Pyongyang, North Korea.

Equipment

The Pobeda haes 2.1 litre sidevalve straucht-4 ingine producin 50 hp (37 kW) an tap speed o 105 km/h (65 mph). The Pobeda wis the first Soviet automobile tae hae turn signals, twa electric wipers, an electric heater, an a biggit-in AM radio. The caur came tae be a seembol o postwar Soviet life an is the day a popular collector's item. A tot o 235,997 Pobedas wur produced includin 14,220 cabriolets.

Variants

In 1949-53, 14,222 M-20s wur biggit wi 4-door convertible body (o 'cabrio coach' type), but sales wur poor an the GAZ niver returned tae the idea o mass-producin a convertible. In 1955-57, several thoosans wur biggit wi a fower-wheel drive seestem adaptit frae contemporary Soviet military vehicle (GAZ-69) for cross-kintra traivel (designatit GAZ-M-72). Roushie references credit thir as possibly bein the first comfortable aff-road vehicle wi a closed unitized body.

Photo gallery

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Freemit airtins

• Main Russian Pobeda site bi Artem Alekseyenko (in Roushie)
• Pobeda bi Jelle Jan Gerrits.
• Estonian Pobeda Club Forum
• Pobeda the SUV-version