The history of the AMO-F15 car began with the assembly of the Italian truck FIAT 15 Ter. This truck was assembled by the Moscow AMO plant from 1917 to 1919, after which, taking it as a basis, in 1924 the production of the first Soviet truck called AMO-F15 was launched. Although the Italian was taken as the basis of the car, significant changes were made to its design.
In January 1924, the AMO plant began preparing its own production, by this time the plant had 163 drawings received from Italy, as well as 513 drawings already made at the AMO plant in previous years. In addition, there were two reference copies of the FIAT 15 Ter, which were stored in a special room.
Vladimir Ivanovich Tsipulin was appointed chief designer. His closest assistants were: E.I. Vazhinsky, who prepared working drawings, B.D. Strakanov - was engaged in the revision of the design of parts FIAT 15 Ter, I.F. Herman - carried out body work, N.S. Korolev was in charge of assembly. G.N. Korolev (at that time the director of the plant), technical director S.O. Makarovsky and chief engineer V.G. Sokolov.
On the night of November 1, 1924, the first AMO-F15 car was assembled, and by November 6, 10 cars of the last pre-production batch had been assembled. The next day, these 10 red-painted trucks took part in a proletarian demonstration on Red Square in Moscow, and on November 25, at noon, three trucks from the top ten (No. 1, 8 and 10) set off from Red Square to the first for Soviet vehicles test run along the route: Moscow - Tver - Vyshny Volochek - Novgorod - Leningrad - Luga - Vitebsk - Smolensk - Roslavl - Moscow. The success of the rally confirmed the sufficient level of quality of AMO products, and in March 1925, serial production of AMO-F-15 cars began.
In 1925, 113 AMO-F15 trucks were manufactured, and in the next year, 1926, already 342 copies. Production gradually increased, and by 1931, 6971 copies of the AMO-F-15 were made.
The design of the AMO-F15 car has been modernized twice during the entire production period. So in 1927, the car received a more comfortable cab with a hard top and a “dry” clutch, and the steering mechanism was simplified. In 1928, the power system was simplified, the car received an electric starter, headlights and a signal.
The AMO-F15 car was in mass production until November 1931, buses, ambulances and fire engines, passenger cars and armored cars were produced on its chassis. In seven years of production, just under 7,000 cars were produced.
Design and construction
Truck cab 2-seater with solid seat. The steering wheel was located on the right and too close to the seat, but the only door for access to the cab was on the left side, therefore, it was extremely uncomfortable to sit in the driver's seat. Also, due to the steering wheel being too close to the seat, the back and legs quickly got tired of the drivers, and the spine also hurt.
As a power unit, a 4-cylinder in-line carburetor engine with a vertical arrangement of cylinders and a lower arrangement of valves was installed on the AMO-F15 car. The power of this engine was 35 horsepower at 1400 rpm, and the maximum speed of the motor was 1700 rpm. To cool the engine, a liquid (water) was used, which was driven by a centrifugal pump (pump). The lubrication system is under pressure, with a gear pump.
The gas distribution mechanism is a bottom-valve, with two valves per cylinder, located on the left side of the block. The intake and exhaust valves were interchangeable. The camshaft was driven by a gear.
The cylinders of the AMO-F15 engine were cast in one block along with the cooling jacket and did not have a removable head. At the same time, a cover was attached to the top of the cylinder block, after removing which, it was possible to clean the shirt from scale. The cylinder block was attached to the top of the aluminum crankcase, which was equipped with paws for attaching to the frame at four points. The lower crankcase was cast from aluminum alloy. Pistons - cast iron, connecting rods - steel, tubular. The crankshaft was steel, forged, with inclined cheeks (on early machines, the crankshaft had straight cheeks and was cut from a solid piece), mounted on three main bearings. The axis of the crankshaft was shifted by 10 millimeters with respect to the axes of the cylinders. A starting handle was mounted on the toe of the crankshaft, and a large-diameter cast steel flywheel was mounted on the shank, the eight spiral spokes of which were in the form of fan blades and created a flow of cooling air through the radiator. Such an arrangement of the fan (behind the engine) with a front-mounted radiator required a special, sealed casing and a tight (without gaps) fit of the hood sides to the frame.
The engine ignition system is from a Bosch magneto, sitting on the same shaft with a centrifugal pump (pump) of the cooling system.
Power system - carburetor "Zenith No. 42". Depending on the season, it was recommended to regulate the power system by replacing the jets in the carburetor.
The fuel was low-octane motor gasoline. Until 1928, the engine was powered by fuel from a tank located under the driver's seat using a vacuum apparatus. Later, the power system was simplified - gasoline was supplied by gravity from a tank mounted on the front shield. Fuel tank capacity 70 liters. The fuel range when driving on the highway was about 300 km.
As mentioned earlier, the AMO-F15 truck was significantly different from its Italian prototype.
The main differences between AMO-F-15 and the Italian prototype:
- The diameter of the engine flywheel was reduced by 80 mm in order to increase the clearance (for FIAT - 590 mm, for AMO-F-15 - 510 mm) while maintaining its weight.
- The mass of pistons and connecting rods has been reduced, the shape of the piston pin and its fit have been changed.
- The radiator area has been increased to compensate for the reduction in the diameter of the flywheel that served as a fan and to prevent overheating.
- They changed the shape of the hood (due to an increase in the area of \u200b\u200bthe radiator) and simplified the design of the shutters of its sidewalls.
- Wheels with wooden spokes have been replaced with more durable forged discs.
- The Italian carburetor was replaced by Zenit No. 42, produced by the 4th State Automobile Plant.
- The design of the clutch has changed.
- The gas tank was moved from the front shield under the driver's seat, while instead of gravity fuel supply, a forced one was introduced using a vacuum apparatus (in 1928, this decision was abandoned, returning the "native", FIAT system).
- To simplify the repair, it was possible to separately dismantle the onboard platform, driver's booth, sidewalls and dashboard.
The car also had its drawbacks. The drivers complained about the build quality of the cars, frequent failures of the differential, poor installation of electrical equipment (open wiring quickly frayed and closed), short-lived brakes with cast-iron pads, which lasted a maximum of 2-3 months, increased wear on the dual rear wheels, caused by the lack of a gap between their slopes, frequent breakdowns of the springs, low-quality batteries, the inconvenient location of the hand brake (outside), which had to be reached "a mile away", the strong draft of cold air (in winter) to the driver's feet due to alignment flywheel and fan in one piece. Drivers of sanitary AMO-F-15 complained of severe shaking while driving, which became unacceptable when transporting patients.
Modifications
- Bus- a bus built in 1926 on the chassis of an AMO-F15 truck. Serially produced for 5 years from 1926 to 1931.
- fire truck- serial production from 1927 to 1931.
- Staff car- a car for the needs of the army, designed for 7 passengers. Serially produced from 1926 to 1931.
- Ambulance- an ambulance built on the AMO-F15 chassis. Serially produced from 1925 to 1931.
- BA-27- An armored car based on the AMO-F15 was mass-produced from 1927 to 1931.
More than 90 years have passed since November 1, 1924 is considered to be the birthday of the Soviet automotive industry. It was on this day that the first Soviet light-duty vehicle AMO-F-15 was assembled at the plant of the Automobile Moscow Society (AMO).
Many articles have been written about the history of this truck and its modifications, it is mentioned in many books telling about the history of the automotive industry of the USSR and the history of the now defunct successor auto giant AMO, known in the last years of its existence as ZIL (Likhachev Plant) ). Images of the car "AMO-F-15" and its modifications can be periodically seen on postcards, pocket and wall calendars, plaques, table medals, match labels, badges, even honored to be placed on postage stamps.
Plastic wall plaque
Multiple badges with amo
Table medals
Stamps
Naturally, specialists who create copies of cars on various scales could not stand aside and ignore the AMO-F-15 and its ancestor FIAT-15ter. I came across many modifications of this car, created by pupils of the "Houses of Children's Creativity" and "Station of Young Technicians" in various scales and from a wide range of materials: tin, paper, plasticine, wood, etc. The Progress Moscow toy factory produced a set of plastic parts, by assembling which one could get a very good copy of AMO-F-15 in 1/24 scale.
Box and set of parts for assembly copies of "AMO-F-15" on a scale of 1\24.
Assembled "AMO-F-15" in 1/24 scale and one of the models"AMO-F-15" in 1/43 scale.
The Orel publishing house, from the city of Kharkov (Ukraine), produced paper modeling kits, by gluing which you could get copies of the AMO-F-15 cargo model of 1924 or the AMO-F-15 bus with surround headlights and turning wheels in 1/25 scale.
"AMO-F-15" in 1/25 scale,publishing house "Orel"
I will not dwell on these models in detail, but will focus on the 1/43 scale copies. And I'll start with scale models produced industrially.
At the moment, it is known that the first to create a copy of the car "AMO-F-15" was the team of the production association for the processing of plastics "Kzyl-Tu" (translated from the Kazakh "Red Banner"), located in the city of Alma-Ata, the capital of the Kazakh SSR. From about the end of the 70s of the last century, the association's employees offered three modifications to collectors at once: of course, a copy of the first AMO-F-15 truck, model 1924,
"AMO-F-15" model 1924 made of blue plastic
"AMO-F-15" model 1924 made of yellow plastic with a box
a copy of the bus on the AMO chassis, the prototypes of which began to be created in 1925 in Moscow 
Bus on "AMO" chassis in early and late box
and a copy of a light staff car on the AMO chassis, whose few prototypes were produced in very small batches from 1925 to 1927.
Staff car on the chassis "AMO"
All scale models of "Kzyl-Tu" were made of colored plastic with a good degree of elaboration, had opening elements and were completed with a metallized imitation of the radiator grille, headlights, horns, glazing (made of transparent plastic), imitation of the chassis (springs, universal joint, rear drive axle), spears of wheel tires made in separate parts and mounted on rims. The produced miniatures were packed in cardboard boxes with a window protected by a transparent blister.
Remarkably, for the assembly of these scale models, not only the staff of the production association was involved, but also students of the sponsored school. The circulation of released models is not known for certain, but today copies of AMO cars from Kyzyl-Tu in a collectible condition equipped with a factory box are very rare and highly valued among collectors, perhaps because most of these plastic AMOs died in sandboxes former USSR. And the production association itself no longer exists, and the Asyl shopping center is located on the site of its parent enterprise, and The Kazakh SSR became the state of Kazakhstan.
The next enterprises that began to produce a copy of the AMO-F-15 car were the production association (PO) Elekon, located in the city of Kazan - the capital of the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and the Roslavl Auto-Aggregate Plant - a branch of the ZIL automobile plant. The most likely version is that the release of these models was timed to coincide with the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Soviet automobile industry, which was widely celebrated in the USSR. Specialists from Kazan began to produce a copy of the AMO-F-15 truck of the 1924 model, and in Roslavl they decided to produce a copy of the AMO-F-15 truck of the 1927 model. The scale models turned out to be very different and, of course, this depended both on the capabilities and experience of the developers, and on the possibilities and limitations of using the existing production facilities on which the release was carried out. Elecon employees already had experience in creating and manufacturing scale models; by that time, they had been producing excellent copies of KAMAZ trucks for several years, i.e. the processes for manufacturing components for scale models made of plastic, rubber and metal were tested and mastered, there was appropriate equipment and personnel to carry out a very important stage - the final and high-quality assembly, by the way, at the last stage, women mainly worked, who, as you know, are more patient than men and perfectly cope with monotonous and painstaking work. That is why the copy of "AMO-F-15" from the software "Elecon" turned out to be of very high quality and it can be called one of the best scale models of the USSR, both in terms of the degree of copying and the degree of elaboration.
"AMO-F-15" from the Elecon software, released in 1986, there is metallization on the headlights, it is no longer on the emblem located on the radiator
The model consisted of more than 40 parts, and the cabin with front fenders and a frame with a crankcase were made of metal, the rest of the details were an onboard body, rims, a radiator grille (by the way, like the hood, it didn’t match the prototype a bit in shape), footboards, interior elements and others were stamped from plastic, which added to the openwork of the model and increased the degree of its correspondence to the original. The tires of the wheels had a believable tread and were of course made of rubber. The first copies of AMO-F-15 from Elecon software had chrome plating on the headlights and the AMO emblem located on the radiator grill of the models, a dashboard and an imitation oiler on a copy of the differential, then the chrome plating disappeared, and some other details disappeared. The models had different colors - completely blue, completely red, with a red or blue cabin and a red body and others, the rims were white, red and even brown. Packed in a cardboard box with a transparent blister window.
Various color solutions "AMO-F-15" from PO "Elecon"
The scale model AMO-F-15 of the 1927 model from Roslavl turned out to be much rougher than the Kazan one, but it was the only copy of the AMO with a hard top. Moreover, it was produced by specialists who previously did not have experience in the production of such products, but who had access to the real prototype of "AMO-F-15" in 1927, located in the lobby of the plant management of the ZIL automobile plant in Moscow until 2010. I don’t know where he is now, perhaps he ended up in some kind of museum, I don’t want to think that he was put under pressure.
The model from Roslavl was assembled from slightly more than two dozen parts, most of which were cast from metal. Plastic was used for the manufacture of wheel tires, horn and interior elements only. The first options had a flat, unfinished bottom.
Then there were options with a metal cardan, 
and a little later with plastic, imitations of the crankcase silencer and rear axle also appeared.
The first batches of copies of the "AMO-F-15" sample of 1927 were painted red, a little later models appeared in blue. The packaging also changed over time, both solid cardboard boxes and blister-window transparent boxes were produced. Models from the first batches had bronze sound horns and hood locks, later the horns became plastic, and the locks were poured along with the cab.
The release of models at the ZIL branch in Roslavl lasted until the middle of 1994, but despite the fact that they were produced for more than 10 years and in a fairly large circulation, many collectors learned about their existence by chance, talking in clubs or looking at the collections of their colleagues. The fact is that products from Roslavl were sold mainly in Smolensk and the Smolensk region, and they got to other regions of the former USSR as a result of the efforts of the collectors themselves, thanks to exchanges or the sale of small lots.
The situation was different with the products of the Elecon software. Models "AMO-F-15" of the 1924 model from Kazan were sold in many parts of the country, and their production continued until 2005. In addition to the onboard version, since 1991, tankers began to be produced on the AMO-F-15 chassis (with the inscription "Kerosene" the cab is blue, the tank is blue) and the Mail vans that do not have real prototypes (models were produced in blue, red and other colors ) and an ambulance (produced in a white color scheme with a red stripe and crosses on the van). Moreover, for the last two models, a new cardboard box with a transparent window was released, since these old models were no longer included in height.
Tank truck on the chassis "AMO-F-15"
Mail van. Please note that the van itself is blue, there is metallization on the headlights and the emblem on the radiator - a model from the first releases
Mail van. Late release. Please note that the van itself is blue, there is no metallization on the headlights and the emblem on the radiator, there is no imitation oiler
on a copy of the differential
Van "Mail" in red, the wheels have become even simpler, the design of the box has changed
WITH anitary car
on the chassis "AMO-F-15"
Interestingly, Zinovy Lakhterman, one of the well-known members of the REASON workshop from Kyiv, took part in the development of the details of the imitation of the van, which was inserted into the onboard platform of the model. One of the reasons why such a good model as the AMO-F-15 was discontinued in Kazan was its fragility, unfortunately, it did not tolerate transportation well, so wholesalers increasingly refused to buy it and returned the marriage to Kazan. To date, the Elecon Production Association, according to some reports, has completely stopped the production of scale models, since, judging by the reports published in a number of periodicals, the management of KAMAZ OJSC, and the trademark owner of the ZIL automobile plant, began to demand through the court from the production association to compensate losses for the use of symbols used by Kazan specialists in the production of copies of cars. Therefore, there is a high probability that the model history of Elecon software will end here, but perhaps someone will invest in this production and a new one will begin, but under a different brand, for example, we'll see.
Unlike Russian manufacturers, companies involved in the production of scale models at the production facilities of factories in the People's Republic of China (PRC) do not close production, but only increase it. This is evidenced by a wide range of scale models produced by many companies around the world in this country. The employees of the Italian publishing house “De Agistini” did not philosophize when they decided to release a series of scale models of the “Auto Legends of the USSR” and “Car in Service” series and ordered the production of copies of cars from the PCT (IST) company, which has good experience in this matter. In June 2012, a copy of the AMO-F-15 model of 1927 was released under number 87 in the Auto Legends of the USSR series.
The specialists who were responsible for filling the series correctly judged and decided to release a model of this particular car. As a result, collectors and fans of automotive history were able to put on their shelves an improved model compared to the one previously produced in Roslavl, but still, the masters from PCT (IST) did not reach the level of Kazan "AMO" a little. The copy made in China, as well as the scale model of the Elecon software, is very attractive, has no distortion in proportions, the cabin is made of metal (with more accurate glazing), the rest of the parts are made of plastic. As a disadvantage compared to Kazan products, the copy of PCT (IST) has a worse bottom, there is no “AMO” inscription on the emblem located on the radiator, the “AMO” signs on the model seem superfluous, but it is painted green - the color in which The USSR was mainly painted trucks. Alas, neither the specialists of the Elecon software nor the plant in Roslavl released the green version of AMO. The circulation of "AMO-F-15" of the 1927 model from PCT (IST) amounted to 120,000 copies, the model was packed in a transparent blister, and sold together with a magazine that revealed the history of the prototype of this model. By the way, a 3D model was used as a prototype photo in the magazine, you can read more
The next continuation of copies of the family of cars was the model "AMO-F-15" "Ambulance", released in November 2012 at number 32 in the series "Car in Service" of the same publishing house "De Agistini". 
The manufacturer of the model was the same PCT (IST) company, and in fairness I would like to note that new molds and dies were created for its manufacture and absolutely not used previously developed in the production of "AMO-F-15" from the "Auto Legends of the USSR" series. The prototype of the model was the car of the Ivanovo-Voznesensky Gubzdrav, a black-and-white photo of which is known to many enthusiasts who are passionate about automotive history. The body is made of metal, the bottom and all other parts are plastic. The bottom has a different shape than the "AMO-F-15" from PCT (IST), but its elaboration also leaves much to be desired, again the plates with the inscription "AMO" are fixed on the model, which were absent on the prototype. However, it is clear that the Chinese experts tried to make this copy better than the previous one. The copy of "AMO-F-15" "Ambulance" has a more carefully designed radiator grille (the emblem with the letters "AMO" appeared on it), rims, slightly different headlights, an imitation of side curtains on the cab, decals were applied to the body. The circulation was 80,000 copies, it was packed in the same way as "AMO-F-15" from PCT (IST) in a transparent blister and sold together with the magazine.
At the moment, a copy of "AMO-F-15" "Ambulance" closes the list of AMO car models in 1/43 scale, produced in an industrial way. But we hope that it will not be the last, and fans and admirers of the history of this USSR car will replenish their collections with copies of its new and historically reliable modifications. You can get acquainted with conversions and handmade models
Rice. A. Zakharova, ZR 1984 No. 1
The first Soviet truck. It was in production from November 1924 to November 1931. Buses, ambulances and fire engines, light staff vehicles and armored cars were produced on its chassis. In 1927, the basic model was redesigned (hardtop cab, improved electrical equipment and clutch). In just eight years, 6400 machines were manufactured.
One of the best preserved specimens (today there are four of them) stands in the ZIL factory museum. There is also one AMO-F15 in the repository of the Polytechnic Museum in Moscow.
Load capacity - 1500 kg; number and working volume of cylinders - 4 and 4396 cm3; valve arrangement - lower; compression ratio - 4.0; power - 35 l. With. at 1400 rpm; number of gears - 4; wheel suspension - dependent spring; tire size - 880 X XI35 mm; length - 5050 mm; width - 1760 mm; height - 2250 mm; base - 3070 mm; curb weight - 1920 kg; speed - 42 km / h; operating fuel consumption - 20 l / 100 km.
The plant of the Automobile Moscow Society (AMO) began to be built in 1916, but the enterprise really started working after the 1917 revolution. Trucks were repaired at the nationalized AMO, engines were made for the first Soviet tanks, and spare parts were produced.
In 1924, the team began manufacturing AMO-F15 trucks (). The first ten cars left in the AMO column for a festive demonstration on November 7, 1924.
"X-ray" AMO-F15, ZR 1974 No. 11
On August 2, 1916, the laying of the plant of the Automobile Moscow Society (AMO) took place in Tyufeleva Grove near Moscow. He was supposed to give the first cars in the spring of 1917. Its production capacity was then determined at 750 one and a half ton FIAT-15-Ter trucks and 750 Hotchkiss passenger cars. But at first, only 150 FIAT trucks from Italian parts were assembled in the AMO buildings.
The first Soviet-made trucks - ten AMO-F15 vehicles - were built by the plant by November 7, 1924. Already in 1925, the Amovites produced 113 cars, and in 1926 - 342. Thus, in 1926 they produced more cars than the Russian-Baltic Carriage Works could do at one time (150 cars per year).
Two reference samples of FIAT-15-Ter trucks were carefully preserved at the plant until 1924, as were the Italian blueprints. The design of this truck was somewhat modernized by AMO engineers, but in general it remained "Fiat". An involuntary proof of this is the index of the AMO-F15 model, where the last letter indicates its origin from FIAT, and the number is the designation of the Italian model.
On March 15, 1924, the then director of the AMO plant, G. N. Korolev, signed an order to begin preparatory work for the production of trucks. The first batch was intended to be assembled in August 1924. But production was not ready for this. TSUGAZ (an organization similar to our former Minavtoprom) decided to produce the first 20 cars by November 7, 1924.
Instance No. 1 was assembled at the factory on November 1, 1924. Ten trucks were ready for the holiday. Their production was very expensive - the labor intensity of one machine out of this dozen amounted to 7 thousand man-hours! By the way, only 1224 people worked at the plant at that time.
The first car in the convoy along Red Square was not driven by fitter N. S. Korolev (he drove the second truck), but by engineer V. I. Tsipulin. He held a position roughly corresponding to the chief designer, and, according to I. A. Likhachev, who became director of the AMO in December 1926, then at the plant "no one knew the car, with the exception of Tsipulin." Unfortunately, this prominent specialist was arrested at the end of the thirties, like many of his colleagues at the plant, and shot. And the driver's seat in a scarlet truck with the inscription "1st AMO 1st" turned out to be vacant for a long time.
Serial production of AMO-F15 trucks was only started in March 1925. The top ten cars were indeed made at AMO, with the possible exception of ball bearings, carburetors, spark plugs, magnetos and tires. But they were received from Russian factories. So this car can be considered a domestic production, but ... not a domestic design. In the future, AMO (from October 1931 - ZIS, and from June 1956 - ZIL), like our other plants, often took as a basis "the best examples of foreign equipment": "Avtokar" and "Buick", "Packard" and International...
On October 1, 1931, after an extensive reconstruction, he was the first in the country to begin the mass conveyor assembly of trucks. At that time, none of the factories that produced trucks in Europe had yet decided on this, and the merits of AMO to our automotive industry are undeniable.
But the heroic efforts of the AMO team could not compensate for either the outdated technology or the outdated design model of 1915. With the first five-year plan, modern equipment and new modification models that he mastered came to the AMO. And along with the new equipment, the production of a new car began.
AMO-F15 on the cover of the first issue of "Behind the wheel", 1928 No. 1
Bus on AMO-F15 chassis.
The Moscow AMO plant mounted bus bodies of its own production on the chassis of this truck. They had a wooden frame and sheathing and were produced in three versions, depending on the location and number of seats and doors. These machines were mainly used in small towns.
Years of release - 1926-1931; number of places: for sitting - 12 or 14, total - 20.
length - 5100 mm; width - 2100 mm; height - 2500 mm
curb weight - about 2800 kg; the highest speed is 42 km / h.
Rice. A. Zakharova, ZR 1985 No. 3
The first Soviet trucks AMO-F15 in 1924 on trials. From machines of a later release, they differed in the shape of the radiator.
Photo from Motor magazine, 1925
Photo ЗР 1991 №8
Serial AMO-F15 of 1926 (it was also equipped with a retractable fabric top of the cab) in one of the Siberian villages.
Photo sent by a reader of the magazine
Photo ЗР 1991 №8
AMO-F-15 (1924−1927), car of the first industrial series. Developed on the basis of the Italian Fiat 15 ter with significant modifications, since the Fiat 15 ter was produced from 1913 and by 1924 was obsolete. Note that only the first 10 vehicles were painted red, but in general all AMO-F-15s were produced green :)
AMO-F-15 (1926), sanitary. One of the many special machines based on the classics.
AMO-F-15 (1926), postal. Another version with a "custom" body.
AMO-F-15 (1927−1931), a variant of the second industrial series. This car, unlike the first series, has a hard top, as well as a number of other design improvements.
AMO-F-15, staff car. A passenger car made in a small batch (very, by the way, rather big because of the truck chassis), the body is the work of Ivan German, the first designer of AMO.
AMO-F-15 (1926−1929), fire truck of the Promet factory based on the AMO. Such cars were built at Promet and at the Miussky plant 308 pieces, some have survived to this day.
AMO-2 (1930−1931). This is not our development, but assembly kits for the American truck Autocar Dispatch SA, purchased overseas. 1715 cars were made.
AMO-3 (1931−1933). Modernized AMO-2 with a large number of components already of the Soviet design. Changed headlight brackets, wing shape, electrical equipment and so on. Subsequently, it was renamed ZIS-3, but was produced after that for a very short time.
AMO-4 (1931−1933). Long-wheelbase modification of AMO-3, designed for the installation of bus bodies and fire equipment. The picture shows the bus AMO-4 "Lux".
AMO-4 "Torpedo" (1933). Several such machines, developed under the leadership of Ivan German, were made to service resort areas.
AMO-4, fire truck lighting. As already mentioned, various fire trucks were also built on the basis of AMO-4.
AMO-6 (1931). The penultimate car, still bearing the name AMO, however, only in the prototype format. It went into production in 1933 already as the ZIS-6. A total of 21239 such machines were manufactured. The same thing happened with the AMO-5, which went into production as the ZIS-5 (unfortunately, there were no pictures of the AMO-5 prototype).
AMO-7 (1932). And this is the last AMO, an experienced truck tractor for a 5-ton trailer, which existed in several (from 2 to 5) copies.
It was renamed 9 years after its foundation, in 1925, and not into ZIS, but into ... GAZ! More precisely, in the 1st State Automobile Plant. The Gorky Automobile Plant did not yet exist at that time, and therefore there were no “overlays” in the abbreviation. At the same time, the “brand” was still the name AMO.
After another 6 years, in 1931, it was renamed ZIS, the Stalin Plant, and after de-Stalinization, in 1956, it was renamed ZIL, the Likhachev Plant. AMO remained only a name in history - but a significant name for the Soviet automotive industry.
By 1916, the Russian government understood the need for mass production of trucks, as it became clear that the war could not be won without its own automobile industry. The Main Military Technical Directorate signed a contract for the construction of 6 plants, including AMO (Joint Stock Moscow Society). It was supposed to produce a truck "15-ter" of the Italian company "FIAT" with a carrying capacity of one and a half tons, which proved to be very good during the Italo-Turkish war of 1911-1912.
The Italian car had four cylinders and a power of 30 horsepower at 1300 rpm., The maximum speed was 45 kilometers per hour. But the revolution of 1917 made its own adjustments, and only on the night of November 1, 1924, a team of mechanics assembled the first car. The car was made in the image and likeness of the Italian FIAT-15-ter, but from domestic materials and by the hands of Russian workers. And already on November 6, the 10th truck left the gates of the plant.
On November 7, 1924, workers and engineers of the plant participated in a festive demonstration, where all the assembled trucks were presented. The car was equipped with a four-cylinder engine (4396 cm3, 35 horsepower, at 1400 rpm) with magneto ignition and water cooling with a centrifugal pump. To pass air through the radiator, a flywheel was used, the spokes of which were shaped like fan blades.
A prerequisite for the normal operation of the cooling system was a snug fit of the hood sides to the frame. The four-speed gearbox was located separately from the engine, the gear lever was located behind the right side of the cab (the steering wheel on the AMO-F15 car was located on the right). Mechanical shoe brakes acted only on the rear wheels, the rear axle beam and the propeller shaft casing were one unit.
The car was distinguished by a rather large ground clearance (225 mm.). One of its features was that the axle shafts of the rear wheels made an angle of 178 o. Since the rear axle beam was not rigid, it deformed under load and the angle between the axle shafts became even 180 o. The car did not have an electric starter, lighting, horn or air filter. So, the engine was started with a crank, acetylene lights were used for lighting, sound signals were given by a horn with a rubber pear, and the roof of the car was soft and folding.
With a curb weight of 2000 kilograms, the carrying capacity was 1500 kg., The speed reached 42 km / h, and fuel consumption was 30 liters of gasoline per 100 kilometers. It is worth emphasizing: all parts, except for ball bearings and magnetos, were domestic and were made by hand: beams of front and rear axles, frame beams were forged with hand hammers. A cranked ox blank (a thick metal plate) was placed on the machine table. The scriber drew the contours of the shaft on the plate, and then these contours were drilled. Then the workpiece with pointed traces of drilling was turned.
The steel sheets of the cab cladding, hood and fenders were hammered in by hand. At the assembly of the car, its frame was placed on the goats and, in turn, individual parts and mechanisms were fixed on it. From one operation to another, from workshop to workshop, the frame moved on the shoulders of workers and on horse carts. With the development of production, and also taking into account the peculiarities of operation in Russia, the samples of 1924 were already noticeably different from the prototype. In particular, so that the flywheel does not cling to the bumps in the road, its diameter was reduced, the shape of the radiator was changed - its area was increased to prevent the engine from boiling on long climbs or when driving through mud and sand.
Instead of crumbling wooden wheels with spokes, the car was equipped with stamped disc wheels, a Zenit-42 carburetor was installed, the location of the gas tank, the shape of the steps were changed. In the second series (issue of 1927-1928), the cab received a hard roof, a sidewall, and a rear wall that protected from the weather; parking brake levers, gear shifts were moved to the cab; the steering mechanism is simplified, the six-disk dry clutch is replaced by a “wet” one with 28 pairs of disks.
The third series (1928-1931) already had an electric starter, a sound signal and lighting; the supply of gasoline to the carburetor was simplified: instead of a vacuum apparatus, gasoline was supplied by gravity (the gasoline tank from under the seat was moved to the front panel). Lightening the connecting rods, pistons and flywheel, replacing the carburetor made it possible to increase engine power by 17%. The radiator cooling surface has been increased to 11.5 meters (3 meters more than that of the Fiat), which prevented water from boiling in extreme heat and on long climbs. Reducing the flywheel diameter by 80 millimeters increased the ground clearance and improved the vehicle's patency.
"AMO-F15" had electric headlights, pneumatic tires, cardan transmission, stamped disc wheels, rare for trucks of that time. Thus, the changes made have significantly transformed the Fiat-15-ter taken as the basis. "AMO-F15" proved its reliable qualities at numerous motor races. For example, in November 1924, three cars successfully completed the Moscow-Leningrad run and back, and less than a year later, after the release of the hundredth car, AMO-F15 already participated in the international Leningrad-Moscow-Tbilisi-Moscow run.
They covered 4284 kilometers without breakdowns and finished first. In 1926, on the basis of the truck, the production of buses, postal vans and even original cars was started. In the design of the latter, the truck chassis was completely preserved, up to the double slopes of the rear tires. You can imagine how strong, suitable for heavy-duty work, this combination of a truck chassis with a light, open passenger body turned out to be! For eight years, the AMO plant (now ZIL) produced about 6 thousand AMO-F15.
