GAZ-51

The GAZ-51 (nickname Gazon) was a Soviet truck manufactured by GAZ. Its first prototypes were produced before the end of World War II, and the truck ended up using a heavily modified version of the Studebaker US6 cab, which was supplied to the Soviet Union in large quantities with the Lend-Lease agreement, although the chassis was completely new.

A 2.5 ton 4×2 standard variant was joined in 1947 by almost identical 2 ton 4×4 GAZ-63. Both variants were powered by 70 PS 6-cylinder 3485 cc engines. GAZ-63s was manufactured with some changes until 1968 and production of the GAZ-51 continued until 2 April 1975. The trucks were also manufactured under Soviet license in Poland (as the FSC Lublin-51), North Korea (as the Sungri-58) and China (as the Yuejin NJ-130).

History
Design of the GAZ-51, which was originally called GAZ-51-420 (and not GAZ-11-51, as is sometimes claimed) according to the “chassis model number - body model number” system, copied from Ford, began in February 1937. The concept of the vehicle was formulated extremely clearly: a simple and reliable universal truck, assembled from the best components of the time, well-proven and tested by world practice.

In June 1938, production of components began, in January 1939, assembly began, and already in May the first car entered road tests, which ended in July 1940. In the summer of 1940, a prototype GAZ-51 (with a new cabin and lining) was exhibited at the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition in Moscow among the best examples of Soviet mechanical engineering.

Successful tests allowed the plant to begin preparations for mass production of the GAZ-51 in 1941, but the Great Patriotic War began. A number of GAZ-51 units (engine, clutch with centrifugal weights that increase pressure on the pressure plate, gearbox, cardan joints on needle bearings) were by that time assembled by the plant and found wide application in other cars produced in those years.

In 1942, the carrying capacity of the designed GAZ-51 was raised from 2 to 2.5 tons by strengthening individual units and increasing tires - there is a legend that this was done on the personal instructions of Stalin, but this has not been confirmed and may be fiction.

Production resumed in 1943. The rapid development of technology during the war years made inevitable adjustments to the design of the GAZ-51. Leading designer A.D. Prosvirnin radically reconfigured and modified the truck, and essentially only the name remained from the pre-war GAZ-51. The accumulated experience in operating six-cylinder engines on combat vehicles has made it possible to significantly improve the engine and the systems that serve it. GAZ-51 prototypes used the same cab as the retired Studebaker US6 truck, but the latter trucks did not have the same cab, although the styling remained relatively the same. The reason for this may be that GAZ wanted to develop a completely new car rather than directly copy another. The project included a well-proven hydraulic brake drive in world practice, and designed a more modern and comfortable cabin and lining. The tire sizes were increased, the vehicle's load capacity increased - to the optimal 2.5 tons, it was possible to achieve even greater (up to 80%) unification with the all-wheel drive version of the truck - GAZ-63 , which was designed in parallel on adjacent layout boards, and in terms of the engine - with the four-cylinder engine of the future "Pobeda".

In May and September 1944, two new models of the GAZ-51 were built (with different hood design options), and in June 1945, two more, finally developed (pre-production) ones were built. Confidence in the high quality of the new truck design allowed the plant to immediately begin preparations for its production. On June 19, 1945, the GAZ-51, along with other new Soviet cars, was shown to members of the government in the Kremlin and received full approval.

Production
The plant set up production of the car very quickly - the wartime experience had an impact. Already at the end of 1945, an initial batch of two dozen vehicles was produced, and in 1946, even before the completion of tests, the country received 3,136 production trucks of the new generation.

In 1947, the creators of the GAZ-51, together with the chief designer of the plant, A. A. Lipgart, were awarded the Stalin Prize.

Since the late 1940s, the assembly of the GAZ-51 was additionally organized at the Irkutsk (1950-1952) and Odessa (1948-1975) plants. In a short time, the GAZ-51 became the most common car in the country. In 1958, the annual production of GAZ-51 reached its peak - over 173 thousand. The truck was produced for 29 years - a rather rare longevity. The last GAZ-51A rolled off the assembly line on April 2, 1975 and was sent to the factory museum. The total circulation of “lawns” was 3,481,033 copies, including 11,418 cars produced at the Irkutsk Automobile Assembly Plant.

Polish production of Lublin-51 trucks lasted from 1951 to 1959 and amounted to 17,479 units.

In 1958, production of the GAZ-51 (under the name “Seungri-58”) began at the Tokchon Automobile Plant in the city of Tokchon.

Design
The progressive layout of the “lawn” (the engine and cab were moved forward, which, with a relatively short base, made it possible to have a fairly long platform) has become traditional for trucks with a bonnet layout.

The car's engine was a further development of the GAZ-11, which at one time was created on the basis of a Dodge power unit (in turn, a former version of the Chrysler lower-valve engine), the production license for which was acquired by the plant back in 1937. Despite being quite old, by American standards, (the engine went into production back in 1928), it was also quite advanced in design for the 1940s (its variants were installed on passenger cars of various branches of the Chrysler company until 1959 inclusive, on pickup trucks - until the early 1960s, and for various types of commercial vehicles and stationary installations - until the mid-70s), which was especially noticeable in comparison with the archaic Ford A type engines that were in production at GAZ in those years.

Many technical innovations used in the car were later used by Soviet automakers on other cars. These include wear-resistant engine cylinder liners made of special cast iron, chrome-plated piston rings, radiator shutters, a pre-heater powered by a blowtorch, and an oil cooler, the use of which dramatically increased the durability of the engine, and thin-walled bimetallic crankshaft liners (steel-babbitt, instead of filled with babbitt bearings without liners, and later steel-aluminium).

On the GAZ-51, for the first time in the USSR, and quite successfully, such solutions that later became generally accepted as an aluminum block head, plug-in valve seats, adjustable mixture heating, double oil filtration, closed crankcase ventilation, easily removable brake drums, and much more were used. These advanced technical solutions for those years were later used by other car factories, in particular, when modernizing the ZIS-5 and ZIS-150 cars, and the rear axle of the GAZ-51, brought to possible perfection, was later almost completely repeated on the three-axle ZIS-151.

The machine has been constantly modernized over the years. Its improvement was carried out by leading designer B.I. Shikhov. The power supply system was improved, the wooden cabin first became combined (in 1950), and then all-metal. In 1954 it began to be heated. The car's own weight decreased from year to year, dropping by 1962 to 2296 kg. On the GAZ-51A, the production of which began in 1955, the platform was enlarged, folding side walls were installed on it, and a more reliable and effective hand brake was installed. For the first time in the country, a hydraulic vacuum brake booster was used on the GAZ-51P truck tractor.

The GAZ-51 engine also turned out to be quite resilient and durable. Mastered (in an early version) back in the early 1940s, it, in addition to GAZ trucks up to their latest models, was used for many years (boosted to 90 hp by installing two carburetors and equipped with a fluid coupling) on GAZ-12 passenger cars, buses, tractors, special vehicles and was produced until 1989.

The design of the GAZ-51 influenced the design of other trucks - the Kutaisi KAZ-150 and the Ural UralZIS-355M. But since the 1960s, GAZ, for the sake of fleeting fashion, moved away from this successful stylistic decision, although to some extent it was revived in the design of the cabs of the GAZ-3307 family of trucks. Even after production ended in 1975, the legacy of the GAZ-51 continued. The rear axle of the GAZ-63 (GAZ-51 variant) was later used in the GAZ-53, and then in the GAZ-3309 until the end of the 2010s. Some parts are also used in the GAZon Next truck, but are heavily modernized.

FSC Lublin-51
In December 1948, a decision was made to begin production of trucks under the license of the GAZ-51 model at the pre-war Lilpop, Rau i Loewenstein plants in Lublin. The agreement with the Soviets was signed on July 22, 1950. According to initial assumptions, the plant's annual production was to be approximately 12,000 copies, but at the end of 1950 the production capacity was increased to 25,000 pieces per year. The first copy of this truck was assembled on November 7, 1951, from parts supplied by the licensor.

Modernizations were carried out during production. A new type of carburetor with a vacuum-controlled saver was used, the vacuum wiper drive system was replaced with electric motors and a fully metal cabin was put into production.

Despite the modernization, it was not possible to eliminate the basic drawbacks of this vehicle: too low load capacity for a truck and high fuel consumption. Production ended in June 1959, after 17,479 units had been produced.

Various versions of bodies were mounted on the chassis of the FSC Lublin-51 model, such as a cargo box, van bodies produced by Zakłady Budowy Adżużu Samochodowych in Nysa, bodies for traveling cinemas, repair workshops and sanitary bodies type N-243, produced by Zakłady Budowy Adżużu Samochodowych in Nysa (Jelcz).

The model was replaced by the Polish developed FSC Żuk delivery vehicle. A total of 17,479 examples of the FSC Lublin-51 were produced.

Variants

 * GAZ-11-51: Precursor of GAZ-51.

Original version

 * GAZ-51: Standard production version. Produced 1946–1955.
 * GAZ-51B: Dual-fuel (LNG and gasoline) version. Produced 1950-1956.
 * GAZ-51D: Shortened version (for dump body). Produced from 1958.
 * GAZ-51DU: Export version.
 * GAZ-51DYu: Export version for tropical climates.
 * GAZ-51I: Cowl-chassis version (for buses). Produced 1950–1973.
 * GAZ-51IU: Export version.
 * GAZ-51IYu: Export version for tropical climates.
 * GAZ-51K: Ambulance chassis (for GAZ-653 and later PAZ-653). Produced 1951-1957.
 * GAZ-51KYu: Export version for tropical climates.
 * GAZ-51M: Cab-chassis version (for fire trucks). Produced 1948-1967.
 * GAZ-51N: Troop/cargo carrier version, with an extra fuel tank and GAZ-63 body. Produced 1948–1975.
 * GAZ-51NU: Export version.
 * GAZ-51Zh: LPG-powered version. Produced 1954–1963.
 * GAZ-51ZhU: Export version.

Modernized version

 * GAZ-51A: Modernized GAZ-51. Produced 1956–1975.
 * GAZ-51AS: Farm truck version. Produced 1956-1975.
 * GAZ-51AU: Export version. Produced 1956–1975.
 * GAZ-51C: Farm truck version. Produced 1956–1975.
 * GAZ-51P: Tractor-trailer version. Produced 1956–1975.
 * GAZ-51PU: Export version.
 * GAZ-51PYu: Export version for tropical climates.
 * GAZ-51R: Passenger and freight taxi version. Produced 1956–1975.
 * GAZ-51RU: Export version.
 * GAZ-51S: GAZ-51A with an additional fuel tank. Produced 1956-1975.
 * GAZ-51SE: Version with shielded electrical equipment.
 * GAZ-51ShM: Lengthened version (for van bodies). Produced 1956-1965.
 * GAZ-51T: Cargo taxi version. Produced 1956–1975.
 * GAZ-51V: Export version.
 * GAZ-51Yu: Export version for tropical climates. Produced 1956-1975.

GAZ-63 variants

 * GAZ-63: 4×4 version. Produced 1948–1968.
 * GAZ-63A: Version with front-mounted winch.
 * GAZ-63AU: Export version.
 * GAZ-63D: Tractor-trailer version (for dump trailers). Unlike the GAZ-63, the GAZ-63D had dual rear wheels.
 * GAZ-63E: Bus chassis (for PAZ-659 and PAZ-663)
 * GAZ-63EU: Export version.
 * GAZ-63P: Tractor-trailer version (for semi trailers). Like the GAZ-63D, it featured dual rear wheels but lacked the PTO of the GAZ-63D.
 * GAZ-63PU: Export version.
 * GAZ-63Ye: Version with shielded electrical equipment.
 * GAZ-63AYe: As GAZ-63Ye but with front-mounted winch.
 * GAZ-63YeU: Export version of GAZ-63Ye.
 * GAZ-63U: Export version.
 * GAZ-63V: Prototype modernized version of GAZ-63. It featured larger wheels, a lowered loading platform, a parking brake, shielded electrical equipment, rear turn signals and a coolant overheat warning indicator.
 * GAZ-63AV: As GAZ-63V except with a front-mounted winch, a canvas topped cab, all metal body with stretcher mounts, a canvas loading compartment cover, a new instrument panel and unshielded electrical equipment.
 * GAZ-63Yu: Export version for tropical climates.
 * GAZ-66: Prototype improved version of GAZ-63. It featured wheels and axles from the BRDM-1 and a new, more modern cab (designed by B.B. Lebedev); this cab was also intended for the GAZ-52.
 * GAZ-66A: Prototype replacement for the GAZ-63. The chassis, engine, cab and suspension were from the GAZ-52F, the loading platform, transfer case and winch from the GAZ-63, axles from the GAZ-63V and wheels from the BAV 485.
 * GAZ-66P: Prototype tractor-trailer, based on the GAZ-66A and intended as a replacement for the GAZ-63P.

Other variants

 * GAZ-51AZh: Prototype dual-fuel (LPG and gasoline) version. Produced in 1963.
 * GAZ-51PZh: Prototype LPG-fueled tractor-trailer version. Produced in 1956.
 * GAZ-51F: GAZ-51 with experimental stratified charge engine. Cancelled due to complexity and numerous malfunctions.
 * GAZ-51Shch: Prototype version with an alkaline iron-nickel battery. Produced in 1958.
 * AP-41/GAZ-41: Prototype halftrack based on the GAZ-51. Produced 1949-1953.
 * GAZ-93: Dump truck version (built by OdAZ). Produced 1951–1958.
 * GAZ-93D: Crop truck version. Produced 1954-1956.
 * GAZ-93A: Modernized GAZ-93 (built by SAZ). Produced 1958–1976.
 * GAZ-93B: Version with a larger all-metal dump body, replacement for GAZ-91D. Produced 1956-1958 at OdAZ, then transferred to SAZ in 1959.

Literature

 * Andy Thompson, Trucks of the Soviet Union: The Definitive History, Behemoth Publishing LTD, 2017. ISBN 978-0992876951