300 km journey to the Tula region, Chernsky district.
Far, far from Moscow, at the farthest end of the Tula region, is the village of Chernousovo, where Mikhail Krasinets, a former auto mechanic and test racer, has been living for more than 10 years. Here, in the open air, his collection of old cars is collected ...
We went on this trip with svintuss , due to the presence of a small, but very serious off-road equipment. And judging by the reviews, it was definitely impossible to understand what to drive there - one report mentioned that the Mazda passes without question in dry weather, another report said that even a parquet all-wheel drive is not enough ...
I had plans for the Tula region for a long time. There are caves, quarries and hilly terrain, after all - the Central Russian Upland. But it was decided to leave all these places for later, and move towards the main goal - the museum, especially since we left only at lunchtime. On the way we stopped at the glorious city of Tula.
I will not fill in the report with photographs of Tula, I will mention only one wonderful institution.
The most padonkaff fast food in the city is Podkrepizza. We gladly rushed to this institution, but we were very disappointed when we did not find the words "hellish, patstalom and zachot" on the menu :) And the food is tasty and cheap. And in general, mine is the only place in the city where you can eat.
From Tula to the goal - approximately 100 kilometers remain.
1. The method of driving on the GPS is simple - where the arrow points, we go there. In this case, the arrow points through the field, a kilometer long. What about us boars? More speed - less holes.
2. On the way we collected daisies with a bumper.
3. Buried a couple of times in an impenetrable forest or ravines, we decided to storm the target without returning to our original positions. Those. here.
High Resolution (1200x800 px) can be taken
4. As a result, we saw beautiful landscapes, overcame a couple of special stages and went to the museum from the side where normal people do not go.
Upon arrival, we immediately met Mikhail Krasints, who gave us a very interesting tour, showed us all the available cars. The museum is a mixed bag. On the one hand - a unique collection. On the other hand - a bunch of auto junk in the open. Mikhail has ambitious plans for the restoration of all cars. There is one problem - he will never be able to do all this alone, and in principle he is now looking for assistants who are interested in this.
A chic museum in Chernousovo, with the light hand of geocachers, is better known as the "Autopastoral" cache.
For those to whom this place is not "bayan": Automobile Plant named after Lenin Komsomol,
having begun its history in 1929, by the end of the 20th century it ceased to exist as an automaker.
However, there were people who, in one capacity or another, were associated with the plant ...
One of them, Mikhail Krasinets, a tester, athlete (auto mechanic of the Avtoexport-Moskvich racing team, rally driver of Moscow club teams, who drove Moskvich cars from 1982 to 1991, began to collect his collection of cars near his home in Moscow under the name "Historical Automobile Club RETRO- MOSKVICH". However, the exhibits of the collection began to be subjected to acts of vandalism. In order to avoid losses, Mikhail took his cars to the village of Chernousovo, Tula Region, standing on the steep bank of the Chern River ...
Over time, Krasinets made sure that his collection was recognized as a state museum - he became a branch of the Chernsky Museum of Local Lore, and the collector became the director of his own museum. The museum-collection has changed its name several times, but in general it can be described as a collection of cars that Soviet people drove and worked from 1946 to 1991. At the same time, the products of the AZLK, GAZ, and ZIL plants stand out ...
To date, Mikhail's collection includes about 300 samples of automotive equipment...
Seeing the guests who had arrived, Mikhail himself came out to us. It was noticeable that despite the early hour, the elderly man was very pleased with our visit - according to him, we are the first here since November last year. Without delay, he began to give us a tour of his museum, telling us in great detail and interestingly about each exhibit - what it is, how he got it, all sorts of interesting historical details associated with each specific car ...
Krasinets does not live alone. He has assistants who, like him, are slowly restoring cars and together with him are making plans for how healthy and beautiful a museum can be arranged here, which will become much more famous than it is now ...
But all Krasinets' plans run into a financial issue. Nobody is interested in his museum. The entire budget is the museum director's salary of 5,700 rubles + pension. Although, being a bore and stingy, I logically remembered another apartment in the center of Moscow, which is probably rented out, but these are just my assumptions and I'm not used to counting lave in someone else's pocket...
Most of the collection is very rare (and even existing in a single copy) cars. For example, this is not Pobeda, but an all-wheel drive GAZ-M-72 - a car on the chassis of an army jeep GAZ-69. It can be considered one of the world's first comfortable SUVs...
Or this all-wheel drive Moskvich-402 modification of the M-410 ...
Police cars are presented in a separate row in the museum. Michael talks about them with special love and respect...
Behind the main exhibits, in high thickets of grass and bushes, there is a storeroom of the museum with cars in very poor condition. At first, Mikhail was very worried that we would only shoot dead, rusty equipment, giving grounds for a misinterpretation of his collection. Therefore, I will explain right away - yes, this is not a museum on Rogozhsky Val or a museum of Vadim Zadorozhny with lacquered, in a state of "immaculate" cars. This is different. This is a historical collection of vehicles, 99% of which had to end their lives in a metal processing plant. But it was saved, bought for 1,000 rubles, 3,000 rubles, 5,000 rubles from old grandparents and taken away on its (!) move here. And those who are interested in automotive history can come here and see live the equipment that our grandfathers, grandmothers, fathers and mothers drove and worked on in the middle of the last century...
Photo for my parents. The same 412th only in a piercing gray color was once the very first car in our family, presented by my mother's parents for a wedding ...
Right-hand drive re-export "Moskvich", brought from England. Particularly attentive viewers will see that the speedometer is graduated in miles per hour ...
Technician" or rally team escort car...
And the war machine itself ...
Roll cage, mechanical "grandfather" of the navigator's on-board computer, push-button start, 9-speed gearbox, carbon fiber sports buckets...
Another sports "Moskvich". Krasinets' dream is to prepare several combat Moskvichs, to clear a race track in the fields with a bulldozer in winter and organize rides for those who wish ...
Looking at this burgundy stool on wheels, everyone remembers the classic film "Operation Y" ...
In addition to domestic cars, there are several foreign cars in the Krasinets collection ...
At the most valuable cars (such as this "Seagull"), Mikhail himself removed some elements of the interior and exterior decor in order to avoid plunder ...
Indeed, a whole separate house is the material base of the entire museum. According to Mikhail, parts and spare parts are collected here, which are enough to restore each car in the collection to the state of "fresh from the assembly line" and still remain. I completely believe...
And this is what a Moskvich jeep could look like. Only one sample remained from the experimental project, and even that kind people burned it. when Krasinets kept the collection back in Moscow...
We left this museum with mixed feelings. On the one hand, the collection is impressive - a lot of cars on the go (despite the unpresentable appearance), you understand that they were salvaged from scrap metal and are the object of desire for many other, much more wealthy collectors. On the other hand, you understand... not only hopelessness, but, let's say, small chances of implementing Krasinets' plans. If suddenly a miracle happens and the collector finds a sponsor, it will be just wonderful, but it seemed to me that as soon as Mikhail ceases to exist - a fanatic who is hopelessly in love with cars, to which he devoted his whole life, the museum will cease to exist - everything will be stolen, sold and sawed .. .
So hurry up. Perhaps in 10 years there will be just a field here.
Slowly making your way along the broken dirt road through the fields and lifeless villages of the Tula region, you see how dozens, hundreds of silhouettes of old cars gradually appear in front of you. In the rays of the setting sun, against the backdrop of a dreary Central Russian landscape, Muscovites, Zhiguli, Volga, Zaporozhets, Rafiks, ZILs and other cars that filled the roads of the country decades ago stand in orderly rows in front of you. The collection of more than 320 exhibits was assembled by enthusiast Mikhail Krasinets.
The Auto-USSR Museum of Retro Cars is located in the tiny village of Millionnaya (the village of Chernousovo is often indicated), with several houses, about 9 kilometers from the village of Chern, which is on the M2 Crimea highway. A short route to the Krasinets Museum passes through Ugot: at first the road is a battered concrete slab, and then it turns into an ordinary dirt road, in some places with deep ruts.
01
It will also be possible to drive here in dry weather on a 2-wheel drive car with a clearance of 150 mm or more, but if it rains, you can sit down firmly on the descent to the bridge over the river. We were lucky with the lack of rainfall: on a graceful Infiniti QX70 we got to the place without incident. There is also an easier, but slightly longer path through the villages of Donok and Bredikhino.
02
03
A significant part of the collection appeared in 1993, when the auto mechanic of the AZLK racing team, Mikhail Krasinets, sold the apartment and moved to Chernousovo with his wife. “Money from the Moscow apartment scattered in three months. At that time, we actively bought cars for $150-200 from demolished garages that ended up at the construction site of the Third Transport Ring,” Mikhail says.
04
The museum is conditionally divided into two unequal parts: most of the cars are on the field, and the smaller, but the most valuable part is located on the inner territory of the Krasinets house. “Here, a new acquisition,” Mikhail reports with undisguised joy, pointing to a blue penny, “we bought a VAZ 21011 of 1976 for 11 thousand rubles.”
05
Cars are purchased exclusively with donations from museum visitors, and every last ruble goes to replenish the collection. Krasinets admits that there was a period when there was nothing to eat at all. Okay, friends helped. But Mikhail is above these domestic and social problems: "I want the museum to be preserved, like Lev Tolstov's Yasnaya Polyana."
06
Obviously, there is not enough time or effort to maintain a huge collection, and storage in the open has a bad effect on the condition of cars. “I have not been working for two years, after being fired from a neighboring museum. I look forward to when they start accruing a Moscow pension, then there will be more opportunities to deal with cars, ”says Mikhail.
07
One of the most notable cars from the Auto-USSR museum in the photo reports of travelers is the “police” GAZ M-20. But, in fact, this car is civilian and did not previously belong to government agencies: “We found this “Victory” with partners in one of the Moscow courtyards in 1998. The inscription "ORUD Militsiya" has already been made by myself, with a brush. He did the same with one of the 21st Volga, painting it like a rally car. From some other exhibits, I also made copies of famous cars.”
08
Krasinets is especially proud of two "Seagulls": GAZ-13 and GAZ-14. The first executive car, the design of which is made in the style of "Detroit Baroque", was produced in the USSR from 1959 to 1979, and a total of 3189 cars were produced. Luxury sedan with V8 engine under the hood and automatic transmission. The limousine, of course, sank, and the paint peeled off, but even in this state, the "Seagull" looks impressive. The interior is generally beautiful - the interior has not been preserved in the worst condition. Krasinets offers to sit behind the wheel.
09
10
The second "Seagull" - GAZ 14. The limousine, of course, is not as elegant as the "thirteenth", but there were fewer of them: from 1977 to 1988, approximately 1120 cars were produced. Naturally, Mikhail immediately calls the serial number of this car. Krasinets can talk about each car in his collection for hours. “Here, look,” Mikhail says, opening the hood, “a beautiful 8-cylinder engine with two carburetors in a Soviet car.”
11
12
Behind the "Seagulls" in an even row, according to the date of production, "Victory" and "Volga" are lined up. There are several rare "twenty-first" from the initial series with a star on the grille. There is also a unique all-wheel drive GAZ-21 with a front axle and springs nearby. And next to it is a Moskvich 420A cabriolet with an Opel steering wheel. These were put on "Moskvich" until 1953.
13
Here is the only remaining Moskvich 3-5-5 in the world. The model was built in the amount of three copies for state testing. A fairly wide car, a spring suspension, a 1.7-liter engine and an original gearbox with gear ratios matched to a more powerful engine. This prototype, in theory, was supposed to turn into "Moskvich 2140", but it did not happen.
An interesting story of the appearance of the rare Moskvich 3-5-5 at Krasinets. The car stood in the backyard of the AZLK museum, and in 1994 they already wanted to cut it into metal. However, then it was possible to agree with the director of the museum on the transfer of the sedan to Mikhail in exchange for a used engine from the Volga. Mikhail Krasinets, of course, had such an engine, and after a while the exchange took place. But this is rather an exception to the rule - Krasinets rarely barter something, and, moreover, does not sell anything from his collection: “Everything that got into the museum remains in the museum. There is still something to sell here, but I will never do this, ”Mikhail sums up.
The unique integrity of Krasinets resulted in the fact that many cars located outside his courtyard, on the field, were simply overgrown with grass. How can one, well, maybe with one assistant, keep track of such a huge fleet of vehicles? Many exhibits were looted (headlights, body and interior elements), which makes it all look sad, even frightening. The pattern is simple: the farther from Mikhail's house, the more deplorable the exhibits are.
14
Here, in the field, there are no less rare and significant exhibits than in the collector's courtyard. For example, a sports car Moskvich-2140SL "Rally" by racer Sergey Shipilov, bought by Krasinets in the late nineties for a couple of hundred dollars.
Perhaps the open-field part of the display looks more like a grandiose art object than a museum, like the famous Old Car City cemetery in Georgia - a very popular place with tourists, where the entrance costs $ 25. As for the Mikhail Krasinets Museum, the payment system here is the same as in: pay as much as you think is necessary. There is no fixed fee.
15
16
17
It's great to have all sorts of photo shoots here. There is a long-legged blonde or a brunette with a heavy look at hand - it will come out great. And the Lego cars given out for bonuses at the Shell gas station turn out great. As they say, who cares what! The scope for flight of fancy is limitless.
18
The Auto-USSR Museum and Krasinets personally are often criticized even by his close friends, not to mention ardent envious people. The main claim is that Mikhail destroys the rarest cars in his churchyard without restoring them. On the other hand, many if not most of the cars in his collection would have already been destroyed, scrapped in the nineties. Decide for yourself what it is: a museum, an art object or a vintage car cemetery.
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
How can I get to. Maps are based on Google Earth
The option is short, but difficult to pass in rainy weather
Option for any cars, but longer
Special thanks to Victor Borisov for the tip to the museum
In the Tula outback, in the small village of Chernousovo, there is one person who is known to everyone in the district for his immense love for domestic cars. He is known as an excellent auto mechanic and high-class test driver, but Mikhail Krasinets became famous for his own museum of domestic cars. Mikhail began collecting cars 10 years ago and now his collection includes several dozen domestic cars. What is most offensive, there is simply nowhere to store them, so they slowly rust and turn into scrap metal. Sad…
A story with a photo under the cut...
The museum is located 280 kilometers from Moscow, at the far end of the Tula region, on the high bank of the Chern River, not far from the village of Chernousovo.
Mikhail Yuryevich Krasinets, former race car driver and mechanic of the AZLK rally team. After leaving the sport, he began to collect old cars. Mikhail put the first copies of his collection on a scale of 1:1 in the courtyard of his Moscow apartment, which quickly turned into problems - automobile "pensioners" began to be attacked by local children. The last straw for Mikhail was the "favor" of the city authorities, who took half of his collection to the dump on election day. Mikhail and his wife sold their apartment in Moscow and left with their cars for the dacha, which became their new home. It is noteworthy that, according to Mikhail, most of the cars reached their destination on their own. A few years ago, the local administration granted Mikhail's collection the status of a museum (the branch of the Chernsk State Museum of History and Local Lore named after M.A. Voznesensky - the AUTO-USSR Museum in Chernousovo) and officially transferred to him for use three hectares of land, on which there are more than three hundred open-air cars. Mikhail was appointed director of the museum and is paid a salary of about five thousand rubles.
I can't help but say a few words about getting to the museum. my wife and I got to it only on the third attempt. My first mistake was trusting the navigator Navitel, who led us to the goal through the village of Bredikhino. After several kilometers along a dirt road, we ran into dilapidated buildings, and then ... Further on, a ravine, although the navigator was sure that there should be a road here. We return back to Chern.
1. The road to the highway in places, as after the bombing. And there is beauty all around.
We turn under the sign for Efremov, we drive along the main road.
The second mistake was the turn to Bortnoye. Chevrolet Lacetti off-road test drive failed. By the way, without a serious SUV, it’s better not to go along this road at all.
2. Pilot error. They sat on their belly in a rut. We've arrived.
On the other hand, it's better than getting bogged down in the mud and then swimming out of it. As the saying goes: the better the jeep, the farther to follow the tractor.
3. Russian roads. And we are talking about nanotechnology.
It was necessary to go, as Mikhail later said, the only way more or less suitable for non-drive cars - through the village of Kozhinka, then turn right to the village of Donok and from there, across the field, to the village of Chernousovo. It turns out a detour of fifteen kilometers, but otherwise it can happen like ours.
When I returned to Moscow, I found a more detailed map of directions on the Internet, which would be very useful at the time of the trip.
Well, a general overview map of the area.
I had to get out. Before the trip, I found several numbers of Mikhail on the Internet: 8-903-035-58-15, 8-903-038-98-92. Both numbers, when dialed, turned out to be “not subscribers”. According to the navigator, the target was about two kilometers away. My wife went for help to the museum on foot, and I decided to try my luck in the nearby houses. In a more or less decent house, the owner was not on site, and in the nearby dilapidated buildings of the century before last, there was no smell of a car. Other eccentrics who decided to go this way were also not expected. Half an hour later, his wife called and handed the phone to Mikhail, who delighted with the news of the rescue - his friend Sergei had already left in a gas truck to help.
4. Serious technique. At first I thought that the car was from Mikhail's arsenal. But no, the car is personal - Sergey.
Sergei looked at what was happening with a smile and was surprised at my determination to drive a puzoterka along such a road. They pulled me by the "tail", back. At the same time, the ribbon cable broke three times - the car was dragged almost dragged on its belly until it was pulled out of the rut. It was clear that it was unrealistic to drive forward on this road in my car, and there was no time to take a detour through Kozhinka - more than 20 km. The clock showed the beginning of the fifth, daylight hours in October are already short - at seven in the evening the sun sets. Sergey kindly offered to give me a lift to the museum, since the direct road is short. I left the car on a hill in front of the ill-fated bridge.
5. The second approach to the projectile.
7. I strained in vain - difficult, for me, the section was completed one-two-three. Technique!
After such moments, you feel like an inferior person in a passenger car. Ahead was an uphill climb with angles of inclination in different planes of about thirty degrees, and all this happened at a decent speed with slips on the ground that had not dried out after recent rains. Natural rollercoaster.
I don’t know much about old cars, but I forgot to ask Mikhail the meaning of the shamanism he saw. Gazik intermittently stalled and ceased to start. At the same time, Sergei pointedly reported that the car "does not want to go." Then he went out, twisted a plug from the cap of the right front wheel, twisted something with a four-sided wrench, twisted everything back, and ... the car started and drove!
8. Apparently the heart of this car is not in the engine compartment, but in the wheel.
The fact that we finally reached the goal pleased us, but, unfortunately, we did not have much time left. I had to get back to my car before dark.
Michael turned out to be a very open and sociable person. Immediately after the meeting, he enthusiastically began a tour of his museum and spoke in detail about each item in his collection. Realizing that Mikhail could tell until the next night, and in addition to impressions, he also wanted to bring photographs with him. I asked Mikhail to take a short break and give me some time to shoot while the light allowed.
11. Looks like a cat.
12. Help at home.
13. Next year, the inscription will become historical, like the car itself.
14. These cars do not have ABS, ESP and xenon, but they have a soul.
16. Blind.
When restoring cars, Mikhail basically uses only native spare parts.
21. Platform "reserves" - there are "repetitions" from which you can take parts.
22. Homemade car made by the hands of our craftsmen. Body made of fiberglass.
23. Export version for England.
24. Museum security.
25. The places here are beautiful.
26. Rare copies: Muscovites 410 and 411. High suspension, all-wheel drive. SUVs.
27. Mikhail conducts a tour for regular visitors. The guys came from Orel.
Where is the damn invalid?
Do not be noisy. I am disabled.
30. "GAZ-13" - "Seagull". V8 engine with a volume of 5.5 liters and a power of 195 hp.
According to Mikhail, there are only five "Seagulls" left in Moscow
31. The owner of the collection.
34. "Moskvich-423" - the first domestic production car in the USSR in the back of a station wagon, was produced in 57-58.
As a result of visiting this museum, I had an ambiguous impression. On the one hand, what has been taken away strikes the imagination with its volume. The very fact that a person has devoted himself to these cars, left the capital for the sake of them, and has big plans for the future, cannot, in any case, cause indifference. On the other hand, Mikhail is not able to solve all problems alone, both in terms of money and time. Without sponsors and assistants, he cannot realize his plans. It's not even about the restoration of cars, but about their elementary preservation. Now they rot in the open air and in a few years, if everything is left as it is, they will turn into rotten buckets. And some cars remained in a single copy.
In general, the situation with old cars in our country is extremely deplorable. Unfortunately, in our country such things are considered trash and are mercilessly taken out to the trash. And in the light of the latest programs for the disposal of old cars, in a year or two it will be almost impossible to find a retro car in any condition. And our children will learn the history of the country not from museum exhibits, but, at best, from pictures in books. In this regard, Mikhail plans to complete the collection next season and concentrate all his attention on restoration work.
Officially, this place is called the Auto-USSR vintage car museum, but in reality it looks more like a car cemetery. This collection, which currently has more than 320 vehicles, will turn 20 next year. This largest open-air car museum in Russia is located in the village of Chernousovo, Tula Region, just 300 kilometers from Moscow.
2. Mikhail Krasinets, a former professional car mechanic for the Moskvich racing team, became interested in collecting cars in the late 1980s. At first he collected a collection in Moscow, in Sokolniki, but when the cars no longer fit in the yard, he sold his apartment and moved to the Tula region.
3. The open-air museum appeared in 1996. For almost 20 years, Mikhail managed to collect a huge collection of cars produced in the USSR.
4. According to Mikhail, at the moment he has 320 cars in his collection and about 60 more models remain to be assembled.
5. The basis of the collection is made up of cars manufactured by AZLK - numerous Muscovites in all possible modifications, including the rarest right-hand drive models.
6. Mikhail actually saved most of the cars from destruction, they were going to be cut into scrap metal.
7. Outdoor storage does not have the best effect on the condition of cars, but in general, over the past 10 years, the condition of cars has not become worse. On the contrary, some of them were repainted, albeit with an ordinary brush with oil paint.
8. Mikhail is an incredibly passionate person, he can talk for hours about each car from his collection.
9. There are also the rarest exhibits, such as this Buick Eight, produced from 1931 to 1935.
10. Mikhail has a huge number of envious people, mainly from the environment of restorers-collectors. They believe that Mikhail destroys cars and does not give them to anyone.
11. Here a logical question arises, why should Mikhail give his cars to someone? These are his property, he bought them with his own money.
12. The collection is constantly replenished, he either buys some new exhibits or changes (he has many identical models).
13. Of course Mikhail has problems with management. He managed to collect a huge collection of cars, but he can’t manage it.
14. Yes, and keep track of all the cars is extremely difficult. And also unscrupulous visitors, including the same restorers who come to steal valuable details from some of the exhibits.
15. Imagine what it's like to own a collection of 320 cars by yourself. Helpers sometimes appear, but unfortunately they do not stay for a long time.
16. It is likely that many are intimidated by the colossal amount of work.
17. Mikhail and his assistant Sergei are trying to put the government ZIM in order.
18. The state does not finance the museum, Mikhail actually lives and continues to collect cars on donations from visitors.
Although, of course, here you need to at least gravel the site and make sheds, because. the scorching sun, rain and snow are merciless to the bodies, rubber bands and glass of cars.
Getting to Mikhail is very simple: from Moscow along the M2 highway (Crimea) to the village of Chern. Then turn left onto Lenina Street and drive according to the scheme. The route marked in red is suitable for crossovers only in dry weather (the descent and ascent to the bridge over the river near the village of Ugot becomes impassable during rains). The green route is accessible even for passenger cars, but it is slightly longer. The exact coordinates are 53.397936 36.922462.
In fact, it is worth seeing all this with your own eyes and personally getting to know Mikhail. I'm sure you'll like it!
