GAZ-A

The GAZ-A is a passenger car that was mass-produced by GAZ from 1932 until 1936. It was the first passenger car to be produced in the Soviet Union and is a near-exact copy of the Ford Model A from 1930. To the local population, the car was nicknamed "Gazik".

History
The cooperation between the Ford Motor Company and Russia dates back to the year 1909. Ford was an important supplier of passenger cars and commercial vehicles such as tractors and trucks, especially in the 1910s and 1920s. Tens of thousands were imported into the Soviet Union because their vehicle industry was underdeveloped. The first five-year plan of 1928, which generally contributed greatly to the development of the Soviet industry, also envisaged building a domestic automobile production. In 1929, an official contract was signed with Ford, which provided that the USSR every year should buy large quantities kits for Ford models to them in the newly built Nizhny Novgorod Automobile Plant, short NAZ (from 1933 GAZ) assembly. Vehicles were also assembled at the KIM plant in Moscow.

As early as the beginning of 1931, the Soviet government stated that the projected quantities were significantly too large. The Great Depression hit Ford, but not the Soviet Union, significantly fewer kits were needed.

By the end of 1932, the factory in Nizhny Novgorod had been brought up to a level where it was able to produce automobiles. The first cars left the halls on the 8 December 1932. At about the same time, the production of the GAZ-AA began. This was a truck that was built on the same chassis and took over many other vehicle parts from the car. The drawings for the vehicle were still from Ford.

By 1935, 100,000 vehicles had been built in the new plant, mostly trucks. In the same year, the contract between Ford and the Soviet Union was dissolved by mutual agreement. In 1936, production ended after 41,917 copies in favor of the successor GAZ-M1.

Variants

 * GAZ-A: Main production version. Produced 1932-1936.
 * GAZ-A-Aremkuz: Third-party conversion of GAZ-A to a closed four-door by the Aremkuz plant in Moscow.
 * GAZ-AA: Pickup truck version. Produced 1932-1938.
 * GAZ-4: Pickup truck based on the GAZ-A. Produced 1933-1936.
 * GAZ-6 "Pioneer": Two-door sedan, based on the GAZ-A. Produced 1933-1936.
 * GAZ-AAAA: Prototype three-axle car based on the GAZ-A. The cab was from the GAZ-AA while the rear drive was from the GAZ-AAA. The two side-mounted spare tires could rotate to make it easier to overcome obstacles.
 * GAZ-TK: Three-axle car based on the GAZ-A. Produced 1936-1938