The Volga (Russian: Волга) is an executive car that originated in the Soviet Union to replace the GAZ Pobeda in 1956. Their role in serving the Soviet nomenklatura made them a contemporary cultural icon. Several generations of the car have been produced.
Despite the continuous modernisations, GAZ found it increasingly difficult to keep the ageing design competitive in a market economy. GAZ CEO Bo Andersson decided to discontinue the Volga range in 2010.
Second generation, the GAZ-24, GAZ-3102 and GAZ-3110
Development of the planned replacement for the GAZ-21 Volga began in 1961. At the time, the North American automotive industry was perceived as the global leader in design and innovation, and it inevitable for its Soviet counterpart to look up to it. Despite Nikita Khrushchev urging his country to "catch-up and overtake America", the Soviet command economy could not afford to match the American convention of altering the car for every model year, nor were its centralised factories physically capable of doing so. Thus a more conservative measure was taken, where a typical car would last 7–10 years on the conveyor, typical of Europe. GAZ-24 Volga was planned to have such a lifetime, lasting through the 1970s. However, even before its 1968 première, it was already behind schedule and as the USSR slipped into the Era of Stagnation, following Alexey Kosygin's 1965 Soviet economic reform, the car was to become an iconic feature of that era, both aesthetically and technically. Developed in the mid-1960s, and after the initial production run lasting more than a decade and a half it would go a series of modernisations and facelifts, and despite unsuccessful attempts to find a replacement (GAZ-3105, GAZ-3111 and the Siber), the car would finally be retired in 2009 - 40 years after the first series began production.
First series - the GAZ-24 (1964–1985)
Design of GAZ-21's replacement began in the early 1960s, and original sketches showed an evolution from the contoured body of the early 1960s to the more angular and rigid profile. The M24 was to introduce the popular measure economy of scale into the model range, where the same body would house different powertrains, mechanics and interior trim, and hence could me marketed as separate cars (platform sharing). GAZ hoped to employ this on the new Volga and a range was drawn where the entry model would carry the traditional, though modernised, four cylinder engine and manual transmission (the prototype appeared with a 120 hp (89 kW; 122 PS) 2,990 cc (182 cu in) V6). The first running GAZ-24 model with an approved body exterior (chassis No. 7) appeared in September 1964. At the same time, two cars (with chassis No. 7 and No. 8) were presented in the Kremlin, where they received the approval of the country's top leadership. After that, in the period up to the summer of 1966, about 12 copies of pre-production machines (from No. 7 to No. 18) were built. In the summer of 1966, the last of the pre-production chassis (No. 18) was built to patent the body shape. The act of accepting the machine for industrial production was signed in the autumn of the same year, however, the first machines in small batches began to be assembled in the autumn of 1967.
Despite its more imposing appearance, the GAZ-24 was in fact 75 mm (3.0 in) shorter in length and 120 mm in height, yet its wheelbase was extended by 10 mm. The lower body waist line, allowed the window area was to be increased, whilst using thinner linings in doors, roof and other body panels, notably increased interior space. The combination of this progressive design and a lower clearance gave it a much lighter and more elegant aura.
The car was powered by a 2,445 cc (149.2 cu in)[44] ZMZ-24D engine, an evolution of the ZMZ-21A. Retaining the basic OHV configuration, it now ran on 92 RON gasoline (while the ZMZ-24-01 could use commonly available 76 octane, and the 24-07 could use liquid propane). The cylinder block was die cast, instead of the slower coquille for the 21A. The engine featured a twin-choke carburettor, with a higher compression ratio, producing 95 hp (71 kW; 96 PS) at 4500 rpm and an even more impressive 186 N⋅m (137 ft⋅lbf) of torque at 2200–2400 RPM. Transmission was now fully synchronised four on floor layout. The brakes were improved, with a hydraulic vacuum servo unit (a licence-built Girling PowerStop), as well as an independent parking brake (rather than transmission brake of the GAZ-21). At the same time, certain features were retained for their proven reliability, like the kingpin front suspension and recirculating ball steering.
The car was built in several modifications and these were now indicated by numbers rather than letters. The sedan version was called GAZ-24. GAZ-24-01 was the taxi, which included a robust artificial leather interior and a slightly modified ZMZ-21A engine to run on 80 RON petrol. GAZ-24-02 was the estate wagon, introduced in 1972. Unlike the GAZ-22, it was serially assembled on a reserve conveyor, rather than out of sedan side panels. The rear, fifth, door was now a single unit that opened upwards instead of sideways. The car could seat eight people, due to a third row of seats in the cargo section. To allow maximum cargo volume and functionality, the seats in third and second rows were split (rather than a single bench) and could be folded independently of each other. GAZ-24-03 was the ambulance version of the -02. GAZ-24-04 was the taxi estate, with the powerplant and interior trim of the -01. In 1977 a GAZ-24-07 conversion kit was introduced for taxiparks. The GAZ-24-24 was the successor to the GAZ-23 "Chaser", with an identical V8 and automatic gearbox from the Chaika. Yet, unlike the -23, given the purpose of the car, even less effort was put in to differentiate it from standard vehicle due to costs. For example, the automatic selector was masked under a standard shifting lever. A small batch of export cars for countries with left-hand traffic was called GAZ-24-54 (less than a thousand examples built). GAZ-24-76 and -77 were export versions to Benelux countries, who would retrofit the cars with Indénor diesels and a more luxurious trim such as vinyl roof. Five experimental vehicles were built on the chassis of GAZ-69 4×4, called GAZ-24-95, one of which was known to be personally used by Leonid Brezhnev.
Source: Wikipedia