How to copy: how the Soviet auto industry duplicated Western cars

While the Soviet Union was catching up with and overtaking America in heavy industry and rocket science, there was one industry in which the USSR was noticeably lagging behind - the automotive industry.

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And in order not to lag behind too much, the USSR often “copied” the models of its capitalist rivals, writes "Present Tense".

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The Chaika was one of several Soviet cars that were largely copied from Western models.

Фото: Depositphotos

The first GAZ truck rolled off the assembly line in the USSR in 1932. Three years earlier, the American industrialist Henry Ford signed a contract with the not yet fully fledged Soviet Union to create a plant in Russia. Therefore, GAZ can be considered a licensed copy of the Ford truck.

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The new GAZ-AA trucks have become the Russian counterpart of Ford. Partnership with the American concern was beneficial to both parties: the USSR received modern production and training technologies, which Moscow later used in other industries, and the contract for 30 million dollars made it possible for Ford to enter the previously unknown market.

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The elegance of the American Buick 1935 also did not escape the eyes of Soviet engineers.

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The design of the Soviet “limousine” ZiS-101 was taken directly from Buick.

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Opel Kadett. It is believed that even before the outbreak of World War II, Stalin personally tried to establish the production of this car in the USSR, but the plan was realized only after its end.

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In 1946, the first analogue of Kadett, the Moskvich-400, rolled out of the Moscow Small Car Plant. By this time, people with average incomes could already afford a car in the West. In the Soviet Union, the first cars were mainly available only to officials.

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In the photo - Ford Super Deluxe Woody 1947 of the year. It is great for riding in dry, sunny weather on the California coast. But you can try to ride on its counterpart in the conditions of cold autumn and winter in Russia

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Soviet designers “drew inspiration” not only from the United States. The playful Italian Fiat 600 has gained popularity throughout Europe. Within five years of its release in 1955, more than a million cars were sold.

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In 1961, the ZAZ-965, an adapted copy of the Fiat, appeared in the Soviet Union. Soviet engineers even installed rear-hinged doors on it, which in the West are called “suicide doors.” By the 1960s, an increasing number of ordinary Soviet citizens were able to purchase passenger cars, albeit after a long wait

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“Drive a Prinz and be a king” is the advertising slogan for the NSU Prinz 4, which was produced in West Germany from 1961. In half a minute he could accelerate to 97 kilometers per hour

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Ten years later, the ZAZ-968 appeared on Soviet roads. And for the side air intakes, people called it “eared” or “Cheburashka”

Фото: Depositphotos

The Italian Fiat 124 received the prestigious Car of the Year award in Europe in 1967. But real fame for the model came a year earlier, with the signing of the “deal of the century”, when Fiat and the USSR agreed to create one of the largest car factories in Russia.

Фото: Depositphotos

Fiat made a deal with the Soviet government to establish a plant in Togliatti, named in 1964 after the Italian communist Palmiro Togliatti. The Zhiguli (export name Lada) was modeled after the Fiat, but with thicker steel and a higher lift for Russian roads. The famous car was produced for almost 18 years, and Tolyatti - home of AvtoVAZ, the country's largest automaker, which is controlled by the French Groupe-Renault - remains the center of automotive production in Russia today

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