It is no coincidence that I say "shortly". The history of the truck is known to many and, frankly, is typical of many Soviet cars.
In 1926, American businessman Henry Ford decided that the United States needed new truck and he can make good money from it. Therefore, in 1929, Ford-AA began to travel along the roads of that country. We will talk about the technical side of the truck a little later, for now we just note that in 1930 this car appeared in the Soviet Union. The Soviet side purchased 72,000 car kits, a license for production and - just walking - a plant for the production of these machines. By 1932 the factory in Nizhny Novgorod was launched, and the production of our GAZ-AA has already begun. The "Lorry" is a little different from the Ford: in addition to the reinforced clutch and some other changes, the truck got an air filter, which, for some very American reasons, was absent from the Ford. However, outwardly it was still the same "American". And yet, a connoisseur can easily distinguish a real gas “one and a half” from a Western ancestor, although less sophisticated motorists will not see these differences. But we were lucky: the copy that is in front of us today is the most GAZ, and the quality of the restoration can only cause admiration. Well, let's take our hats off to the restorers and take a closer look at the car.
Shine and poverty of the "one and a half"
In order to avoid throwing stones at the author, we note that over the entire period of its production, the GAZ-AA has changed more often than Michael Jackson over the last twenty years of his life, so the remarks that “the “lorry” actually has wooden doors, and the headlight housings are black, not chrome" are not accepted. Our copy is the most complete, even, if you like, rich version of the performance. There were, of course, simpler ones, especially during the war. The essence of this does not change, "one and a half" - it is a "one and a half". Only our copy is also beautiful - again, because of its "luxury" performance.
The first thing that catches the eye of a modern car enthusiast is the wide wings that turn into the door steps. Exactly the same stood on the passenger GAZ-A. Thanks to them, the cabin looks wide, although in reality there is very little space in it. But from the outside it looks very good, elegant and a little light. Let's open the sides of the hood and see what's inside.
Initially, the GAZ-AA had a 40 hp engine. The compression ratio is impressive - 4.25. On our car there is a later GAZ-MM engine - almost the same one was installed on the passenger "emka", GAZ-M1. Strictly speaking, we have before us not GAZ-AA, but GAZ-MM. However, all the difference between them is in the motor, which has become 10 “mares” more powerful (50 hp). This power unit is known for its monstrous unpretentiousness, and if something could kill it, then only the extremely low qualifications of drivers and maintenance personnel of that time. However, there are pluses: during the war, there are cases when, after the failure of the babbit liners, they were quite successfully replaced by a piece of a leather officer's belt. With such "liners" the car could drive some more distance to the place of a better repair. The absence of high-voltage wires on the candles is noteworthy - instead of them there are narrow metal plates. All this in order not to forget that "daddy" Ford is a cheap car, and expensive wires do not suit her.
We have already said that the Ford did not have an air filter. It is on GAZ-AA, but this does not mean at all that it was on all GAZs - sometimes it was not put here either. By the way, sometimes a lot of things were not put on this car, both before the war and during it. The main thing was to drive the volume, so they put what was available. Well, if there was nothing, then they didn’t install anything, so there are cars without air filters (which, frankly, didn’t drive for a long time), with one headlight, without power windows or other spare parts that do not affect the main functionality in any way.
Contrary to popular belief, the absence of some spare parts does not mean that the car must be in military modification. This is just an occasion to remember that the main thing was the implementation of the plan for the production of trucks. Military GAZ-AA differed, first of all, in rectangular welded wings, the absence of gable rear wheels(there was one wheel at the back) and one headlight instead of two. Another unfortunate consequence of the release of a huge volume of products was the disgusting build quality of the car. It’s good that the design often made it possible to forgive many flaws in the assembly, so even poorly assembled cars were still able to drive.
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The car doesn't have a fuel pump. Fuel tank is located where the usual cars for us should have a dashboard: in front of the faces of the driver and passenger, with a neck in front of the windshield. Gasoline from it flows by gravity into the carburetor with an upward flow, the design of which does not allow excess fuel to enter the cylinders, and from there to the crankcase. The domestic K-14 carburetor is one of the differences between GAZ and Ford, where the American Zenith was installed. By the way, about fuel. In GAZ-AA, you can pour gasoline, and in hot weather - and kerosene: it will go, and nothing will happen to it. But high-octane gasoline "one and a half" will not eat. More precisely, it will cause "heartburn": it burns longer, burns out where it should no longer burn, so it cannot be filled in any way. Changing the shape of the combustion chamber to use at least the 80th gasoline would lead to an undesirable departure from the original, so another solution was found: the use of a mixture of gasoline with aviation kerosene. The car drives on such a cocktail, and how!
Another sign by which the “one and a half” can be distinguished from the “American” alien to our spirit is the relay-regulator. Ours is rectangular, Ford's is round. If you choose a GAZ-AA for yourself, pay attention to this so that they don’t slip a Ford on you.
Six-volt electrical equipment, with a mass on the "plus" - then it was the norm. But what deserves attention is the generator. He, of course, produces D.C.. And if the relay regulates the voltage, then the driver had to change the current strength manually. To do this, there was a third brush in the generator, which, after removing the cover, had to be moved each time, depending on the number of consumers turned on. Of course, few people had the desire to monitor this factor, so usually the current was set to the maximum once and for all. Hence - the frequent boiling of the electrolyte in the battery and the periodic failure of electrical equipment. Keeping track of the battery is also not too much fun, given that it is hidden under the bottom of the cabin, and only a qualified gynecologist can easily get to it. When you read on the Internet that this very equipment was the weak point, do not believe it too much. Almost everything was in order with him, in contrast to (I repeat now, for the life of me!) the technical literacy of the drivers.
Separate words deserve the brakes. But such words cannot be voiced here, it is illegal. I will say this: there are really no brakes. And this is taking into account the fact that on our car they are on each wheel, and there are modifications where they are only at the back. On military vehicles, for example, they were never on the front axle at all. Yes, and on those where they were, the front brake mechanisms were often removed: their mechanical drive did not differ in reliability, but there was little sense from them. Fortunately, the speeds were not high then, and 20-30 km / h, rarely 40 (although according to the passport - all 70!), Allowed to somehow stop. The assistant who sat next to the driver could help out: if he wanted to live, he would grab a healthy lever hand brake and pulled over. In this case, GAZ-AA stopped a little faster. The brake drive of the rear wheels is also very peculiar: under load, the traction began to spread the pads, regardless of the desire of the driver, which did not add any agility to the car. Again, the same assistant who was sent under the car to turn the adjustment of the length of the rods helped.
And now a few words in defense of the system. The fact is that our people could not afford to load only one and a half tons into a one and a half ton truck. It’s not in Russian somehow, so the “polundra” usually drove with an overload, which could not but affect both the effectiveness of the brakes and the condition of the frame, which is also often criticized for insufficient strength. In vain they scold. First of all, you don't need to load so much. And secondly, the “one and a half” frame is much more interesting design than it seems at first glance. And the dog is buried here not somewhere, but in the transmission.
There is such a foreign phrase - torque tube. In Russian - "pipe of the cardan shaft." If it’s completely in Russian, then this is a system in which the cardan is placed in a closed pipe, which is a longitudinal thrust. Torque pushed the car into the frame through this mechanism. The design is controversial, but it was like that, and there is no getting away from it. For this reason, it is impossible to put an ordinary cardan shaft: without a pipe, force breaks the rear semi-elliptical springs. The push tube arrangement was typical of many American cars of the time. Thus, the frame also performed the functions of a spring as a suspension element. Hence the seeming excessive softness of the chassis, which became a good reason to accuse her of unreliability. If you overload, then you can break the BelAZ, and the frame has nothing to do with it. And by the way, the GAZ-AA has one front spring, and it is transverse.
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Behind the wheel of a "one and a half"
It's time to get behind the wheel. Oh, I do not envy the drivers of this car! There is less space for the driver and passenger than you might imagine. I thought for a long time where to attach the left leg. Did not invent.
But for the right foot, next to the microscopic button of the "pedal" of the gas, there is even a small platform. How convenient to put a foot on it, I did not understand, but it is.
The instrument cluster is not so stunning in its beauty as in the originality of the solution. The fuel gauge is an ordinary float (the gas tank, as we have already said, according to by and large and there is this one dashboard). A speedometer with a fixed needle, but a rotating drum, marked in kilometers per hour. Why am I talking about kilometers? Because it is the only metric value in this car. All other sizes are in inches.
A peculiar impression is made by the view from the cockpit. It seems that the edge of the hood is visible, and the edges of the wings, but still it’s hard to feel the dimensions. Apparently, the point is the excessively wide plumage of the cockpit. The rear-view mirror (there is only one) helps to experience the feelings of Stevie Wonder at a concert: you know that there is something around that makes your heart flutter, but you don’t see what exactly. On the gear lever - a small "dog" that prevents involuntary inclusion reverse speed. How it can be turned on by accident - I do not understand. But Americans are Americans for that, to come up with such a trick. Under the steering wheel there is an ignition advance lever: there is no centrifugal mechanism in the distributor.
The starter pedal is located a little inconveniently, the foot must be brought behind the steering column, but the gas pedal is under the heel. Let's go, let's go!
We touch, of course, from the second speed. It's easy - much easier than turning the steering wheel. Turning such a steering wheel is a titanic work. Maybe it would be a little easier with a larger diameter rim, but in the case of installing an enlarged steering wheel, there would be no room for the driver at all. You have to turn this one, but there is a feeling that you are turning not the car, but the ground under it. The entire planet, the entire globe. The turning radius pleases: it is small, and you can turn the truck on a patch without any undue torment.
The GAZ-AA car, a "lorry", pre-war and wartime, has been produced at the Gorky Automobile Plant since 1932. The prototype of the model was the 1930 Ford AA, which was purchased by the Soviet Union under a license agreement. This is how the "one and a half" GAZ-AA appeared, which was subsequently modernized many times. The design of the car was simple and reliable. At that time, it was in its infancy, and a relatively inexpensive license to manufacture a truck turned out to be very useful.
The possibilities of the Gorky plant in terms of technical equipment were high, so they decided to start production at GAZ. It is characteristic that the car, produced under an American license, quickly switched to providing domestic components. It was easier to develop any unit on the spot than to order it overseas and wait months for deliveries. Thus, the process of assembling the "lorry" has become technologically advanced thanks to the efforts of Soviet engineers.
Modernization
The GAZ-AA lorry went into mass production in January 1932, and the assembly shops of the Gorky Automobile Plant immediately showed a high rate of truck production. 60 cars left the assembly line per day, and at the same time there was still the potential for acceleration. Soviet version differed from the American model in a number of ways. Instead of a tin one, a cast clutch housing was installed, a worm gear was reinforced, and an air filter was installed on the carburetor. The body was immediately redesigned, the onboard version was made according to domestic drawings. Later, Soviet designers developed a unique dump truck version of the "lorry", which differed in that the body did not need to be overturned. The cargo slid under its own weight along a specially designed bottom of the body. It was enough to open the tailgate.
Chassis
Design rear suspension"one and a half" was original and unusual. Semi-elliptical springs were located in a special way, in front of the rear axle beam, so that their cushioning action took on a lever character. Thanks to this design, the rear suspension became compact and much more technologically advanced compared to full elliptical leaf springs. But this design had one drawback - when braking, the spring blocks took on multiple loads and often failed. The ladders loosened, and the spring sheets began to move relative to the longitudinal axis.
wooden cabin
The GAZ-AA lorry has been assembled entirely from Soviet-made components since 1933. The cabs of the first cars were made of wood, and starting from 1934, a metal module with a canvas roof was installed on the car.
The technologically advanced GAZ-AA truck was designed on a frame-type chassis with spring suspensions. The complete absence of shock absorbers made the car unstable and hard. Nevertheless, the car successfully completed the tasks of transporting goods and rarely broke down. The GAZ-AA engines were distinguished by their unpretentiousness and high maintainability. They could run on the lowest grade petroleum products, low-octane gasoline and even kerosene in the hot season.
Flaws
The weakest point of the "lorry" was the starter and battery. Their service life barely reached six months, then the unit failed, and battery had to be repaired. Usually the car was started with a crank.
Another significant problem in operation of GAZ-AA there was a severe shortage of tires. It got to the point that the car was equipped not with four wheels, as it was supposed to according to the passport, but only with two, which caused the load capacity of the car to drop.
And yet the "one and a half" was the most massive Soviet car during the prewar and war years. The GAZ-AA chassis was also used for modified developments - these were ambulances, various tanks, light and acoustic installations, mobile repair "bats", anti-chemical, hygienic and sanitary auto laboratories, radio stations and early warning radio systems, charging and lighting stations and aviation starting units.
Update
In 1938, the GAZ-AA lorry received a new GAZ-MM engine with a capacity of 50 hp. s., which was previously installed on the Molotovets-1 car under the designation GAZ-M1. In addition to the upgraded engine, the "lorry" was equipped with an improved steering mechanism and a cardan shaft. The chassis was spring-loaded, without shock absorbers.
Since the "one and a half" is a technological machine, and its production was launched in a short time, the model became indispensable in the national economy of the USSR. At that time, the carrying capacity of a car within 1.5 tons was considered quite sufficient. During the harvest season, hundreds of vehicles were driven onto the fields, which quickly took out the crop for processing, and then returned to their fleets. The car "one and a half" was considered universal vehicle. He was infallible and unpretentious.
Car "one and a half", specifications
Machine layout: front-engine, rear-wheel drive.
Dimensions and weight parameters:
- vehicle length - 5335 mm;
- height - 1870 mm;
- width - 2030 mm;
- ground clearance, ground clearance - 200 mm;
- wheel base - 3340 mm;
- curb weight - 1750 mm.
Power point
Has the following characteristics:
- engine brand - "GAZ-A";
- type - gasoline;
- configuration - four-cylinder, in-line;
- working volume - 3285 cubic meters;
- maximum power - 40 l. With.;
- torque - 1200 rpm at 165 Nm;
- cylinder, diameter - 98.43 mm;
- compression ratio - 4.22;
- piston stroke - 87 mm;
- cooling system - water;
- block head - cast iron;
- cylinder block - cast iron;
- number of cycles - 4;
- maximum speed - 70 km / h;
Transmission - mechanical, four-speed gearbox.
"Lorry" - universal machine
In addition to the usual ones, the Gorky Automobile Plant produced a dump truck modification of the GAZ-C1. The principle of operation of this machine was quite unusual. The cargo in the body was initially located so that its mass pressed on the tailgate, which was locked with a simple stopper. The loader or driver opened the lock, and the mass of building material fell out under its own weight. Then the empty box was locked again.
"The road of life"
A huge number of books have been written about the participation of the GAZ-AA car ("one and a half") in the war of 1941-1945. But the most important historical route, which cruised legendary car, there was a "road of life" laid on ice Lake Ladoga. It was the only way to connect besieged Leningrad with the outside world.
Only light GAZ-AA could pass through the ice. A military "lorry" with darkened headlights carefully passed the distance under the fire of German artillery, delivering food to the besieged city. Many cars went under the ice, but still the city was not saved in last turn thanks to the dedication of the legendary "lorry".
After the start of the Second World War, the Gorky Automobile Plant began to produce military trucks in a simplified version. There was a shortage of cold-rolled metal, as well as a lack of a number of components. The military "lorry" did not have doors - canvas screens were installed instead, the front fenders were made of ordinary roofing iron. The brakes were only on the rear wheels, one headlight illuminated the road. The side walls of the body did not recline.
End of production
Only by 1944 did it take on a normal shape, wooden doors, front brakes, a second headlight and folding side boards appeared. After the end of the war, the "lorry" was again produced in large quantities, since the country needed transport. GAZ-AA production continued until 1956. And on the roads, these cars could be found until 1960, until the outdated car was replaced by the GAZ-51.
City of the future
The first five-year plan for the development of the national economy of the USSR for 1928-1932 marked the beginning of a grand industrialization program. The plan provided for the construction of more than one and a half thousand large facilities - hydroelectric power plants, metallurgical plants, automobile and tractor plants. All these projects required transport, so one of the strategic objectives was to organize mass production trucks. By the end of the 1920s, trucks in the USSR were mass-produced by two automobile plants: the Moscow First State Automobile Plant (former AMO) and the Yaroslavl Third State Automobile Plant. However, their capacities were sorely lacking, since both enterprises were created on the basis of pre-revolutionary industries. So, by the time the first five-year plan was launched, there were only about one and a half thousand cars in the whole country. It is not surprising that already in the mid-1920s, the Soviet government planned the construction of the country's first auto giant, the production capacity of which would allow the production of 100,000 cars a year. In the absence of the necessary experience and technological resources, it was advisable to purchase production abroad. And the eyes of the Kremlin experts rushed across the ocean, in the first place - to Detroit. This North American city was presented to the builders of socialism as an exemplary "autocity", a metropolis of the future, in which people live and work, obeying a single functional plan. It was in this format that they dreamed of building the Soviet auto giant. Next to the workshops, it was planned to build residential quarters for workers and create all the related infrastructure. As a result of negotiations, the company General Motors refused to participate in the project, and Ford remained the only partner candidate, which suited the Soviet side quite well. First, the name of Henry Ford and his automotive empire associated with manufacturability and rationalism; secondly, this brand was quite well known in our country (small in volume, but stable export ford cars to Russia began in 1909); and thirdly, the models of the new Ford platform, which replaced the outdated T family in 1927-1928, were the best suited for the needs of the USSR. The Ford-A passenger car and the Ford-AA one and a half ton truck were simple, unpretentious, inexpensive and, most importantly, structurally unified to a large extent.
Dreams and reality
The technical agreement with Ford was signed on May 31, 1929. It was planned to build an auto city not far from Nizhny Novgorod, near the village of Monastyrka, at the confluence of navigable rivers - the Oka and the Volga. The Soviet side signed a contract for the construction of a plant and a camp for workers with the Cleveland firm Austin Company.
In addition to the construction of the auto giant, the agreement with Ford provided for the operational construction of two car assembly plants - in Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow, where it was planned to assemble Ford cars from ready-made car kits (according to the agreement, the USSR undertook to purchase 72,000 car kits). These assembly lines made it possible to start producing cars before the construction of the Nizhny Novgorod plant was completed and served as a kind of industrial training facility for workers. For the construction and equipping of branches, the American side attracted the construction company Albert Kahn, Inc., already well-known in our country. In 1929, part of the area of the Gudok Oktyabrya plant of agricultural machines, located in the town of Kanavin near Nizhny Novgorod, was assigned to the creation of the First Automobile Assembly Plant. In February 1930, the assembly of the first Ford-AA trucks from American car kits began there. On November 6, 1930, both cars and trucks "Fords" began to roll off the main assembly line of the Moscow Second Automobile Assembly Plant (since December 26, 1930 - the State Automobile Assembly Plant named after KIM). the estimate turned out to be more modest than expected, and secondly, the labor enthusiasm of the performers was surprisingly combined with the sloppiness and inconsistency of the actions of numerous management structures. Europe's largest car factory was built on time, but the results were far from utopian visions of an industrial city of the future. The new building near Monastyrka was secretly called Sotsgorod, and in 1932 it received the official status of the Avtozavodsky district of Nizhny Novgorod. In the second half of January 1932, at the plant, which was about to be launched to its design capacity, they mastered the production of a cylinder block, crankshaft, frame spars and a number of other parts. Having failed to achieve regular deliveries of components from subcontractors (in particular, sheet steel), the cabins of "pre-production" trucks were assembled from plywood, and on January 29, 1932, the first NAZ-AA vehicles rolled off the assembly line of the Nizhny Novgorod Automobile Plant. On October 7, Nizhny Novgorod was renamed Gorky, the factory abbreviation also changed, and lorries with chassis serial numbers above “3800” already had the GAZ brand. By the end of 1932, the production of trucks at the Gorky Automobile Plant reached 60 vehicles per day.
Almost the same
Gorky trucks differed slightly from the overseas prototype. Differences can be divided into forced, caused by a shortage of materials or negligence of subcontractors, and made intentionally, which was due to the need to adapt the design to difficult conditions operation. The former include, for example, a cabin made of wood and pressed cardboard, which until 1934 periodically “replaced” a regular metal cabin with a leatherette insert in the roof on the conveyor. The second - strengthening the clutch housing, improving the steering mechanism, equipping the engine intake system with an air filter and a gasoline sump, as well as mounting the engine to the frame on rubber shock absorber gaskets. The new onboard platform was designed by Gorky engineers back in 1930.
The basis of the GAZ-AA design was a stamped steel ladder-type spar frame. The front axle beam was suspended from it with the help of one transverse semi-elliptical spring. The rear axle was attached by means of two longitudinal cantilever-type springs, that is, the rear end of the spring was pivotally attached to the axle beam, and in the middle part and the second end it was connected to the frame (through a swinging earring). This design of the rear suspension did not allow full transfer of the pushing force, so this mission was assigned to a hollow tube in which the cardan shaft was enclosed. At one end, this pipe was rigidly attached to the main gear, and at the other, through a ball joint, it rested against the frame cross member. The front end of the push tube and the axle housings were connected by oblique braces, designed to evenly distribute dynamic forces. In the front suspension, the mission of transferring the longitudinal load to the frame was carried out by a V-shaped thrust fork. Lever hydraulic shock absorbers single-acting, only the front suspension was equipped. service brake with mechanical drive acted on the pads of all four wheels; The "handbrake" had a tape mechanism and blocked only rear wheels. power unit machine consisted of an in-line four-cylinder lower valve carburetor engine with a working volume of 3285 cm 3 and a power of 42 liters. With. and a four-speed (unlike the three-speed on GAZ-A) manual gearbox without synchronizers.
The low compression ratio (4.2) made it possible to use in the heat not only low-octane grades of gasoline, but also combustible substances that were not originally intended for internal combustion engines - for example, kerosene or alcohol. Fuel entered the carburetor by gravity, since the gas tank was located at the top of the front wall of the cab, hanging over the knees of the driver and passenger. This arrangement made it possible to use a “live” fuel level sensor, which was an ordinary float visible from the cab in a special graduated window on the dashboard. In addition to the fuel "window" on dashboard located the ignition switch, ammeter and speedometer. A common external light bulb at the top of the panel served to illuminate the instruments. But workplace the driver was equipped with numerous controls for power and ignition systems. Under the dashboard there was a tap that shut off the fuel supply from the tank. Nearby was the "start button" - the enrichment adjustment rod working mixture. Directly behind the "steering wheel" on the steering column on the right, a "manual gas" lever was installed, which regulates the position throttle valve. The same lever on the left made it possible to adjust the ignition timing. In addition, on the steering wheel hub there was a “flag” for turning on the evening light (headlights and a lone taillight on the left side) and a horn button.
The starter was started by a foot trigger above the brake pedal, and next to the accelerator pedal, a mushroom-shaped footrest protruded from the floor, which could also be mistaken for a pedal. Double all-metal cabin with a leatherette insert in the ceiling, nothing but the absence of door trim, which did not differ from the front half Salon GAZ-A, made the truck more comfortable than its open passenger counterpart. The spare wheel was attached under the frame behind the rear axle.
Trial by War
In terms of reliability and endurance, the GAZ-AA was somewhat inferior to its only real competitor in the domestic market - the Moscow three-ton ZIS-5, but the Gorky Automobile Plant significantly surpassed the ZIS in production capacity, so it was the lorry that was to become " universal soldier"national economy, and Gorky's designers - to create all kinds of "peaceful" and "military" modifications and improve base model. It is for the purpose of identifying weaknesses designs in December 1932, the trucks took part in a test run from Nizhny Novgorod to Moscow and back, and in the summer of 1933 - in the extreme "Karakum" raid. Most of typical breakdowns due to the low quality of components supplied by subcontractors. In 1933, the Moscow and Gorky car assembly plants finally ran out of American car kits and switched to assembling cars from domestically produced parts.
In 1936, the Gorky residents mastered the production of a new GAZ-M engine - boosted to 50 hp. With. version of the GAZ-A engine. Lorries began to be equipped with this unit in 1938. At the same time, a new steering mechanism unified with the “emka” appeared and the mount was reinforced rear springs. This modification received the designation "GAZ-MM" (contrary to popular belief, the pre-war "MM" outwardly did not differ from the serial "AA"). Since October 1940, GAZ-MM began to install a reinforced towing device and fittings for attaching a spare wheel of a new design.
The plumage of the lorry changed with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. The metal was saved, so the front end gradually lost all elements that were not considered vital: the angular wings were bent from roofing iron, and the roof and doors were made of tarpaulin. The headlight and wiper were installed only on the driver's side, and the front brakes, muffler and bumper were completely absent. From 1943, the canvas flaps of the cab sides gave way to wide wooden doors.
A simplified modification of the GAZ-MM continued to be produced even after the end of the war, however, full-fledged metal doors, a silencer, front brakes, a bumper and two headlights were returned to the cars, and a rectangular window appeared in the tarpaulin of the rear wall of the cab. At GAZ, the last lorry was assembled on October 10, 1949, and at the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant (UlZIS), which had been assembling GAZ-MM since 1947, the production of these trucks was stopped only by 1951. From 1932 until the start of the war, GAZ, the KIM plant and the car assembly plant in Rostov-on-Don produced a total of more than 800 thousand one and a half AA and MM models. During the war, the Gorky Automobile Plant assembled 102,300 trucks.
distant relatives
Ford Model AA(1927-1932). If our GAZ-AA was created as a full-fledged truck for the national economy and the army, then its American Ford-AA prototype was more like a commercial car on the Ford-A platform, which replaced the Ford-T platform in 1927. That is why, until 1930, a one- and two-ton (depending on the wheelbase) truck managed with spoked wheels, and the rear ones were single-sided. An adapter for installing twin rear wheels appeared only in 1931. For the sake of increasing the maximum speed, the “mighty” worm final drive used in the early versions was later replaced with a helical bevel gear, and the three-speed gearbox gave way to a four-speed one. Since 1929, the cab design of the Ford-AA has been completely unified with the passenger version. In the same year, joint experiments with Timken began to create a three-axle version. The first samples were chain drive rear axle from the leading middle. Later, the triaxial idea was completely abandoned.
Bedford W-type(1933-1939). The expansion to Europe was carried out by the American corporation General Motors, among other things, using the British Chevrolet brand - under this brand trucks were sold, since 1929, produced in the English county of Bedfordshire. Then, in honor of the county, the cars received Chevrolet name Bedford, and in 1931 they decided to remove the word Chevrolet from the name. Thus began the history of English Bedford trucks. In November 1933, the company introduced a new three-ton model, series no. Trucks were equipped with 80-horsepower overhead valve 6-cylinder Chevrolet engines. There were two versions of the car - on a short and long wheelbase, which made it possible to build all kinds of specialized versions on this platform: from passenger buses and vans to fire trucks (pictured).
Specifications GAZ-AA |
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Number of places |
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load capacity |
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Fuel consumption at full load (when driving on the highway) |
18.5 l/100 km |
electrical equipment |
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Accumulator battery |
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Generator |
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Tire size |
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Weight, kg |
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equipped (without load) |
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complete, including: |
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to the front axle |
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on the rear axle |
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Ground clearance, mm |
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under the front axle |
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under the rear axle |
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The smallest turning radius, m |
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along the track of the outer front wheel |
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Steering gear - worm and double roller, gear ratio - 16.6
Suspensions (front and rear) dependent, front with transverse leaf spring, rear with two longitudinal; hydraulic shock absorbers, rotary type
Brakes - foot - shoe, with a mechanical drive, acts on all wheels manual - band, with a mechanical drive, acts on the rear wheels
Gearbox - mechanical, three-way, with four gears forward and one back
Clutch - single disc, dry
Gear ratios - I - 6.4; II - 3.09; III - 1.69; IV - 1.0; reverse - 7.82
Main gear - bevel gears with spiral teeth; gear ratio - 6.6 or 6.67
Engine |
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Carburetor |
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"Ford Zenith"
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GAZ-AAA. Contrary to popular belief, the three-axle truck GAZ-AAA was not included in the line of finished Ford models purchased for production in Nizhny Novgorod. Moreover, the three-axle Ford-AAA simply did not exist! Only in 1929, Timken, which specialized in the production of transmission units, developed a two-axle rear bogie for Ford-AA trucks, but this scheme did not take root in the United States due to lack of demand. Since the USSR, on the contrary, was in dire need of off-road vehicles and carrying capacity, at the end of 1930 a contract was signed to supply Nizhny Novgorod with thousands of sets of modified Ford-AA chassis and Timken rear axles with worm final drives. In June 1931 on the First car assembly plant the assembly of three-axle trucks of a non-existent brand - Ford-Timketi began. It was a temporary measure - Nizhny Novgorod did not plan to master the production of American designs. Their own version of a three-axle truck - Ford-AA-NATI-ZO, which differed significantly from the overseas counterpart in the design of the rear axle drive and bogie suspension - was created by Soviet engineers in 1929. It was this prototype that, after state tests, was transferred to GAZ, where it was brought to the design bureau of special vehicles under the leadership of Vitaly Andreevich Grachev. Serial production of GAZ-AAA began in 1934 and continued until 1943. A total of 37,373 vehicles were produced.
GAZ-S1 (GAZ-410). A truck, for the unloading of which it was not necessary to attract labor, that is, a dump truck, was needed by both builders and the military. Metal structures were produced by the Gorky plant named after. Sverdlov, and assembled cars at the First Automobile Assembly. The loaded body of these dump trucks was held in a horizontal position by special trunnions. To unload, it was enough for the driver to release these trunnions with a lever on the left side, after which the body, under the weight of the load, first rolled back along the guides, and then overturned around the horizontal axis. The return springs of the mechanism were compressed and returned the empty body to its original position, and the driver had only to re-fix the trunnions. Since the mass of the tipping mechanism was 270 kg, the load capacity of the dump truck did not exceed 1300 kg. Dump trucks GAZ-S1, later designated GAZ-410, were produced until 1946.
GAZ-42. In the 1930s, in many regions of the country, the fuel problem could not be solved even with the help of the “omnivorous” GAZ-A engine. Alternative fuels were charcoal and firewood. The development of gas generating plants (symbiosis of the "furnace" with the internal combustion engine) has been carried out since the mid-20s. If the first installations could only work on charcoal, then later designs - on "calibrated" wooden chocks. Based on the design of gas generators tested on the GAZ-AA chassis in the mid-30s, the Gorky Automobile Plant developed a unit that, since 1939, was equipped with some of the lorries that received the GAZ-42 index. Paired with a gas generator, the GAZ-A engine developed 30 hp. e., GAZ-M - 37 l. With. The maximum speed of the gas-generating lorry, nicknamed “gasgen” by the drivers, decreased to VO km / h, the carrying capacity was up to 1.2 tons. Until 1946, 33,840 GAZ-42 trucks were produced.
This truck, small in terms of carrying capacity, but historically very significant, was abbreviated as NAZ: Nizhny Novgorod Automobile Plant. Because the first copies of it left its gates on January 29, 1932, and the renaming of Nizhny Novgorod to Gorky took place a few months later, on October 7. Accordingly, the automobile plant became Gorky, and the cars produced by it received the GAZ brand.
At first, only two models were mastered at the newly built enterprise: the GAZ-A passenger car and cargo GAZ-AA. Both were significantly unified among themselves and had their overseas prototypes: American Ford A and Ford AA (an agreement on the transfer of licenses and technical documentation, as well as assistance in organizing and establishing their mass production, our country concluded with Ford motor company May 31, 1929).
The Americans helped to design the future plant, and while its buildings were being built, from February 1930, the lorry began to be assembled in the same Nizhny Novgorod, but at the Gudok Oktyabrya plant, which was renamed the First Automobile Assembly Plant. Car kits for it were supplied from overseas, only the wooden onboard platform, which was made by Krasnaya Etna, was localized.
At first, the production of GAZ-AA faced very great difficulties: the supply of semi-finished products and foreign components was disrupted, but most importantly, there was no metal satisfying the quality in the required volumes. And yet, by the end of the first year of operation, the Gorky Automobile Plant began to make up to 60 lorries a day. Why, by the way, one and a half? Because the car was designed to carry 1.5 tons of cargo in the back. At the same time, its total mass was about 3.3 tons.
Better and more perfect
Naturally, the design of both american models as they could adapted to the conditions of our country. For example, GAZ-AA received a reinforced clutch housing and steering gear. However, this was only the beginning: throughout its conveyor life, the lorry was improved, finalized, modernized.
The car was driven by an in-line 4-cylinder gasoline engine that developed 42 hp. It was not equipped with a gas pump (the tank was located above the carburetor) and could run on the cheapest low-octane gasoline. Gearbox - 4-speed, without synchronizers. The front suspension used a transverse spring - one for both wheels, and the rear suspension used longitudinal cantilever springs, that is, fastened with their central part and one end to the frame, and the other end to the sprung axle. Brakes - mechanical, with a cable drive, without the use of amplifiers. Starting from 1938, more than powerful engine, developing 50 hp - it was borrowed from the GAZ-M1 passenger car launched into the series, which replaced the GAZ-A. Later, with the outbreak of war, the design of the car was simplified as much as possible: the cabin became wooden, lost its doors and one of the two headlights, the stamping of the wings gave way to bending, only the tailgate was left folded at the platform, and the brakes were removed from the front wheels. In addition to transporting personnel and cargo during the war, GAZ-AA and GAZ-MM were often used in the air defense forces, mounting anti-aircraft or searchlight installations or quad machine guns "Maxim" on them.
In various modifications
A model range based on GAZ-AA at the Gorky Automobile Plant began to be created as soon as the lorry got on the conveyor. A year later, a service bus saw the light, which received the designation GAZ-03-30 - it began to be made in April 1933 in a bus workshop organized on the basis of the Oktyabrya Gudok plant. In November 1934, an addition took place in the family of Gorky trucks again: the production of a three-axle modification GAZ-AAA started, the carrying capacity of which was two tons. This car was intended primarily for the Red Army: two drive axles increased the cross-country ability. Subsequently, even armored cars were made on its basis. And in 1938, the half-track GAZ-60 was added to the family, which was supposed to be used mainly as an artillery tractor.
The model line also developed in the interests of the national economy: in the mid-1930s, on the GAZ-AA chassis, the production of GAZ-410 dump trucks, road sweepers, fire ladders, as well as grain, manufactured goods and other vans began. In 1937, one of the branches of the Gorky Automobile Plant began production of the GAZ-55 ambulance bus. Also in those years, the gas-generating truck GAZ-42 was created.
When, at the end of World War II, the Gorky Automobile Plant began to prepare for the development of the next generation car GAZ-51, it was decided to transfer the production of a lorry to Ulyanovsk, where it began in October 1947 and continued for another seven years. GAZ itself produced more than 800 thousand "one and a half", and taking into account the production at other plants, their total number exceeded one million! This small and not very load-bearing machine in modern times, in many ways primitive in design, pulled out collectivization, ensured industrialization and played one of the leading roles in the victory over Germany and over the post-war devastation. It is not for nothing that in many regions of the country the lorry is put on pedestals, becoming one of the most eloquent monuments of its era!
GAZ-AA
Total information
| Manufacturer: | GAS |
| Brand: | GAZ-A |
| Type: | Petrol |
| Volume : | 3 285 cm 3 |
| Max Power: | 40 l. With., at 2200 rpm |
| Max Torque: | 165 Nm, at 1200 rpm |
| Configuration: | in-line, 4-cyl. |
| Cylinders : | 4 |
| Valves: | 8 |
| Max. speed: | 70 km/h |
| Combined fuel consumption: | 19.5 l/100 km |
| Cylinder diameter: | 98.43 mm |
| Stroke: | 107.95 mm |
| Compression ratio : | 4,22 |
| Cooling: | liquid |
| Valve mechanism: | SV |
| Cylinder Block Material : | cast iron |
| Cylinder head material: | cast iron |
| Cycle (number of cycles): | 4 |
| The order of operation of the cylinders: | 1-2-4-3 |
Characteristics
Mass-dimensional
On the market
Other
| Load capacity: | 1500 kg |
GAZ-AA (lorry) - a truck of the Nizhny Novgorod (in 1932), later the Gorky Automobile Plant, with a carrying capacity of 1.5 tons (1500 kg), known as lorry. Initially, the American truck Ford model AA of the 1930 model served as a model, but was subsequently designed according to domestic drawings.
Story
Initially, 10 samples of the American Ford truck model AA of the 1930 model were produced at the "Gudok Oktyabrya" plant in Kanavina, but subsequently before the launch of the auto giant (Nizhny Novgorod car factory) Soviet engineers prepared their own drawings by revising the design, components, platform, and already the first serial NAZ-AA rolled off the assembly line of the Nizhny Novgorod Automobile Plant (NAZ) on January 29, 1932. By the end of the year, the plant, renamed after the city into Gorky Automobile, produced 60 GAZ-AA trucks per day. Unlike the American Ford Model AA, the Soviet GAZ-AA the clutch housing, steering gear were reinforced, an air filter was installed, etc., and back in 1930, according to Soviet drawings, it was designed side body. GAZ-AA has been assembled entirely from Soviet components since 1933. Until 1934, the cabin was made of wood and pressed cardboard, and then replaced by a metal cabin with a leatherette roof.
In 1938, the truck was modernized and received a 50-horsepower GAZ-MM engine (its GAZ-M modification was installed on the GAZ-M1 Molotovets-1 passenger car, better known as Emka), reinforced suspension and a new steering gear and cardan shaft. External differences GAZ-AA did not have GAZ-MM.
There was also a modification of the GAZ-AA with a dump body, at the beginning of production it was called the GAZ-C1, later the GAZ-410. The principle of operation of this dump truck was quite interesting. The load, evenly distributed in the body, should have tilted the platform back under its own weight, if not for a special locking device, the handle of which was located at the middle of the left side. To unload, the driver released the handle, the load fell back, and the empty body returned to a horizontal position under the action of gravity, after which it was fixed with the handle.
Shortly after the start of World War II, due to a lack of thin cold-rolled steel and a number of components supplied by third-party enterprises, GAZ was forced to switch to the production of a simplified military truck GAZ-MM-V (internal index MM-13), in which the doors were replaced by triangular side fences and folding canvas doors, the wings were made of roofing iron by a simple bending method, there were no brakes on the front wheels, only one headlight was left and with non-folding side boards.
In 1944, the pre-war equipment was partially restored: wooden doors appeared, that is, the cabin again became wood-metal (and remained so until the end of truck production), later front brakes, folding side boards and a second headlight appeared again. The last GAZ-MM rolled off the Gorky assembly line on October 10, 1949. Another year (and according to some reports, until 1956) a lorry was collected in Ulyanovsk, where they have been produced since 1947.
Years of manufacture of NAZ (GAZ) -AA / GAZ-MM: at NAZ / GAZ - 1932-1949; at the Moscow KIM plant - 1933-1939; at the Rostov Automobile Assembly Plant - 1939-1941; at UlZiS - 1942-1950.
985,000 copies of GAZ-AA, GAZ-MM and their derivatives were produced, including during 1941-45. - 138,600. By the beginning of World War II, there were 151,100 such vehicles in the ranks of the Red Army.
Thus, the "one and a half" became the most massive Soviet car in the first half of the 20th century. They could be found on the roads of the country until the end of the 60s.
Design features
Structurally simple and technological freight car GAZ-AA was made according to the classical scheme on a frame chassis with leaf spring suspension. The plumage of the cab is unified with the GAZ-A passenger car.
A design feature was the device for the rear suspension and transmission, where the so-called pushing pipe (eng. torque tube) was used as a longitudinal thrust, inside of which there was a closed cardan shaft, which abutted against a bronze bushing subject to rapid wear and need frequent repairs. The fastening of the reactive thrust of the front suspension, which perceived the force during braking, was also distinguished by insufficient survivability. Accordingly, the mileage to failure of the “lorry” was significantly less than that of the “three-ton” ZIS-5, besides, the “lorry” was almost always operated with a significant (up to twofold) overload.
Engine.
Received inline 6 cylinder engine Herkules from AutoCar-SA truck 1929-1932. used on AMO3 and later on Zis5 was shortened by 2 cylinders, and underwent a number of changes during the modernization, in particular, there were originally cast-iron pistons, the piston pin was pulled together with a bolt to connecting rod head, and didn’t have liners, but was filled with babbitt, also didn’t have plug-in valve seats. The latest modification of the 6-cylinder was used on the Zil 157 engine. 130 diameter 100mm
But due to the low compression ratio (4.25: 1), unpretentious and maintainable GAZ-AA engines and GAZ-MM could be operated on the lowest grades of fuel, including naphtha and even kerosene (in the warm season and on a warm engine) and low-quality industrial lubricating oils (avtoly and nigrols).
Scarce starters with a battery were distinguished by a low resource (on a rare car they served for more than six months), therefore, in actual operation, the car was started with a “crooked starter”, that is, a handle.
Tires with low mileage (8-9 thousand km with a standard 20 thousand km) were especially scarce, therefore, in the late 1930s and during the war, lorries often left the assembly line with only two rear wheels, that is, with a single rear axle tire , which, accordingly, reduced the carrying capacity. Wheels - 6.00-520".
However, thanks to massive conveyor production GAZ-AA / MM was the most massive truck, and, in general, a car in the pre-war USSR and in the Red Army (over 150 thousand on 06/20/1941).
Its chassis served as the basis for the creation of a number of specialized and special modifications for military and civilian purposes: charging and lighting power stations, radio stations, the RUS-2 early warning radio system, radio workshops and repair "flights", car laboratories for sanitary and hygienic and anti-chemical purposes, fuel and oil tankers , aircraft launchers, acoustic and light air defense installations, various tanks, watering machines, ambulances, etc.
The GAZ-AA and -MM units were widely used in the creation of military and combat vehicles, including light tanks, armored vehicles of the BA-6 and BA-10 series, the SU-12 self-propelled gun with a 76.2-mm regimental gun, artillery tractors, "Katyusha" BM-8-48 and other equipment.
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| Rear axle on longitudinal semi-elliptical springs (cantilever suspension). | The driveshaft runs in a tube that is also the rear axle tie rod. | Fastening the pipe with the cardan shaft to the gearbox, the flexible cable of the speedometer drive is visible. | The front axle is on a transverse semi - elliptical spring , the link to the brake mechanism is visible . |
Main modifications based on GAZ-AA and GAZ-MM
- NATI-3 is an experimental half-track modification with a rubber-metal caterpillar driven by a sloth from a standard axle. Tested in 1934-1936.
- GAZ-60 - a serial half-track modification with a rubber-metal caterpillar driven by a sloth from a standard axle. Years of issue: 1938-1943.
- GAZ-65 is a cross-country modification with a caterpillar-wheel drive driven by standard rear wheels. In 1940, an experimental industrial batch was produced, which showed the complete unsuitability of this scheme for the conditions of actual operation of vehicles both in front and later in the rear (fuel consumption exceeded 60 l / 100 km).
- GAZ-03-30 - 17-seater general purpose bus with a body on a wooden frame with metal lining. It was produced at the facilities of GAZ's subcontractor - GZA (Gorky Bus Plant, formerly the Gudok Oktyabrya plant). Years of issue: 1933-1950, with a break in 1942-1945. The most common model Soviet bus pre-war period.
- GAZ-55 (M-55) - ambulance, equipped with rear axle shock absorbers. Capacity: 10 people, including four on a stretcher. Years of production: 1938-1945. The most massive ambulance of the Red Army during the Second World War.
- PMG-1 - fire truck (line). Years of issue: 1932-1941 (?). The most massive pre-war fire truck in the USSR, in fact, with this fire truck real motorization of fire fighting in our country began.
In the gaming and souvenir industry
In April 2011, Hongwell Toys Limited, by order of Feran LLC ( trademark Nash Avtoprom) released a GAZ-AA model with an awning over the body (colors: protective, glossy green) and without an awning (colors: gray, black with chrome, black) on a scale of 1:43.
In February 2012, PCT released for magazine series Auto legends of the USSR of the publishing house DeAgostini model GAZ-AA with an awning cast in a single piece with a body.
Memory
In many cities of the former Soviet Union, monuments to the GAZ-AA car have been erected. The car is presented in a number of museums in Russia.
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An excerpt characterizing GAZ-AA
- Adorable, divin, delicieux! [Amazing, divine, wonderful!] - was heard from all sides. Natasha looked at fat Georges, but heard nothing, saw nothing, and understood nothing of what was going on in front of her; she only felt completely irrevocable again in that strange, insane world, so far from the former, in that world in which it was impossible to know what was good, what was bad, what was rational and what was insane. Behind her sat Anatole, and she, feeling his closeness, fearfully waited for something.After the first monologue, the whole society stood up and surrounded m lle Georges, expressing their delight to her.
- How good she is! Natasha said to her father, who, along with the others, got up and moved towards the actress through the crowd.
“I can’t find it, looking at you,” Anatole said, following Natasha. He said it at a time when she alone could hear him. - You are charming ... from the moment I saw you, I did not stop ....
“Let’s go, let’s go, Natasha,” said the count, returning for his daughter. - How good!
Natasha, without saying anything, went up to her father and looked at him with questioning surprised eyes.
After several receptions of recitation, m lle Georges left and the Countess Bezuhaya asked for company in the hall.
The count wanted to leave, but Helen begged not to spoil her impromptu ball. The Rostovs remained. Anatole invited Natasha to a waltz, and during the waltz, he, shaking her body and hand, told her that she was ravissante [charming] and that he loved her. During the ecossaise, which she again danced with Kuragin, when they were alone, Anatole did not say anything to her and only looked at her. Natasha was in doubt if she saw in a dream what he said to her during the waltz. At the end of the first figure, he again shook hands with her. Natasha looked up at him with frightened eyes, but such a self-confidently gentle expression was in his affectionate look and smile that she could not, looking at him, say what she had to tell him. She lowered her eyes.
“Don't tell me such things, I'm engaged and in love with another,” she said quickly ... - She looked at him. Anatole was not embarrassed or upset by what she said.
- Don't tell me about it. What is my business? - he said. “I'm saying I'm madly, madly in love with you. Is it my fault that you are amazing? We start.
Natasha, animated and anxious, looked around her with wide, frightened eyes and seemed more cheerful than usual. She hardly remembered anything from what had happened that evening. Ecossaise and Gros Vater danced, her father invited her to leave, she asked to stay. Wherever she was, whoever she spoke to, she could feel his eyes on her. Then she remembered that she had asked her father's permission to go into the dressing room to straighten her dress, that Helen had gone out to fetch her, told her laughing about her brother's love, and that she had met Anatole again in the little sofa room, that Helen had disappeared somewhere, they were left alone and Anatole, Taking her by the hand, he said in a gentle voice:
“I can’t visit you, but will I never see you again?” I love you madly. Really never? ... - and he, blocking her way, brought his face closer to her face.
His brilliant, large, masculine eyes were so close to hers that she could see nothing but those eyes.
- Natalie? his voice whispered inquiringly, and someone squeezed her hands painfully.
- Natalie?
"I don't understand anything, I have nothing to say," her look said.
Hot lips pressed against hers, and at that very moment she felt free again, and the sound of steps and Helen's dress was heard in the room. Natasha looked back at Helen, then, red and trembling, looked at him in frightened questioning and went to the door.
- Un mot, un seul, au nom de Dieu, [One word, only one, for God's sake,] - said Anatole.
She stopped. She so needed him to say that word, which would explain to her what had happened and to which she would answer him.
“Nathalie, un mot, un seul,” he repeated everything, apparently not knowing what to say, and repeated it until Helen approached them.
Helen went out into the living room again with Natasha. Not staying for supper, the Rostovs left.
Returning home, Natasha did not sleep all night: she was tormented by the insoluble question of whom she loved, Anatole or Prince Andrei. She loved Prince Andrei—she remembered clearly how much she loved him. But she loved Anatole too, that was beyond doubt. “Otherwise, how could all this be?” she thought. “If after that I could, after saying goodbye to him, answer his smile with a smile, if I could allow it to happen, it means that I fell in love with him from the first minute. It means that he is kind, noble and beautiful, and it was impossible not to love him. What should I do when I love him and love another? she said to herself, finding no answers to these terrible questions.
The morning came with its worries and vanity. Everyone got up, moved, started talking, the milliners came again, again Marya Dmitrievna came out and called for tea. Natasha, with wide eyes, as if she wanted to catch every glance directed at her, looked around uneasily at everyone and tried to appear the same as she had always been.
After breakfast Marya Dmitrievna (it was best time her), sitting on her chair, called Natasha and the old count to her.
“Well, my friends, now I have thought the whole thing over and here is my advice to you,” she began. - Yesterday, as you know, I was with Prince Nikolai; Well, I talked to him... He wanted to scream. Don't shout down on me! I drank everything to him!
– Yes, what is he? asked the Count.
- What is he? madman ... does not want to hear; Well, what can I say, and so we exhausted the poor girl, ”said Marya Dmitrievna. - And my advice to you is to finish things and go home to Otradnoye ... and wait there ...
- Oh, no! Natasha screamed.
“No, go,” said Marya Dmitrievna. - And wait there. - If the groom comes here now, he won’t do without a quarrel, but he’ll talk everything over with the old man one on one and then come to you.
Ilya Andreich approved this proposal, immediately realizing its full rationality. If the old man softens, then it will be all the better to come to him in Moscow or the Bald Mountains, after that; if not, then it will be possible to get married against his will only in Otradnoye.
“And the real truth,” he said. “I regret that I went to him and drove her,” said the old count.
- No, why be sorry? Being here, it was impossible not to do respect. Well, if he doesn’t want to, that’s his business,” said Marya Dmitrievna, looking for something in her reticule. - Yes, and the dowry is ready, what else can you expect; and what is not ready, I will send it to you. Although I feel sorry for you, but better go with God. - Having found in the reticule what she was looking for, she handed it to Natasha. It was a letter from Princess Marya. - He writes to you. How he suffers, poor thing! She's afraid you'll think she doesn't love you.
“Yes, she doesn’t love me,” said Natasha.
"Nonsense, don't talk," cried Marya Dmitrievna.
- I will not believe anyone; I know that she doesn’t love me,” Natasha said boldly, taking the letter, and her face expressed a dry and spiteful determination, which made Marya Dmitrievna look at her more closely and frown.
“You, mother, don’t answer like that,” she said. - What I say is true. Write an answer.
Natasha did not answer and went to her room to read Princess Marya's letter.
Princess Marya wrote that she was in despair over the misunderstanding that had taken place between them. Whatever her father's feelings, Princess Mary wrote, she asked Natasha to believe that she could not help but love her as the one chosen by her brother, for whose happiness she was ready to sacrifice everything.
“However, she wrote, do not think that my father was ill disposed towards you. He is a sick and old man who must be excused; but he is kind, generous, and will love the one who will make his son happy.” Princess Mary further requested that Natasha appoint a time when she could see her again.
After reading the letter, Natasha sat down at the writing table to write an answer: "Chere princesse," [Dear princess,] she wrote quickly, mechanically and stopped. “What else could she write after everything that happened yesterday? Yes, yes, it was all that, and now everything is different, ”she thought, sitting over the letter she had begun. "Should I refuse him? Is it really necessary? It’s terrible! ”... And in order not to think these terrible thoughts, she went to Sonya and together with her began to sort out the patterns.
After dinner, Natasha went to her room, and again took Princess Mary's letter. “Is it all over already? she thought. Did it all happen so soon and destroy everything that had gone before? She recalled her love for Prince Andrei with all her former strength, and at the same time she felt that she loved Kuragin. She vividly imagined herself the wife of Prince Andrei, imagined the picture of happiness with him repeated by her imagination so many times, and at the same time, flaring up with excitement, imagined all the details of her meeting with Anatole yesterday.
Why couldn't it be together? sometimes, in a perfect eclipse, she thought. Then only I would be completely happy, but now I have to choose, and without one of both I cannot be happy. One thing, she thought, to say what was to Prince Andrei or to hide is equally impossible. And nothing is wrong with that. But is it really possible to part forever with this happiness of love of Prince Andrei, which I lived for so long?
“Young lady,” the girl said in a whisper with a mysterious air, entering the room. “One person told me to deliver. The girl sent a letter. “Only for the sake of Christ,” the girl was still saying, when Natasha, without thinking, mechanically broke the seal and read Anatole’s love letter, from which, without understanding a word, she understood only one thing - that this letter was from him, from that person, whom she loves. “Yes, she loves, otherwise how could what happened happen? How could there be a love letter from him in her hand?
With trembling hands, Natasha held this passionate, love letter composed for Anatole by Dolokhov, and, reading it, found in it echoes of everything that she thought she herself felt.
“Since last night, my fate has been decided: to be loved by you or die. I have no other choice,” the letter began. Then he wrote that he knew that her relatives would not give her to him, Anatole, that there were secret reasons for this, which he alone could reveal to her, but that if she loved him, then she should say this word yes, and no human strength will not interfere with their bliss. Love conquers everything. He will kidnap her and take her to the ends of the earth.
"Yes, yes, I love him!" thought Natasha, rereading the letter for the twentieth time and looking for some special deep meaning in each of his words.
That evening Marya Dmitrievna went to the Arkharovs and invited the young ladies to go with her. Natasha, under the pretext of a headache, stayed at home.
Returning late in the evening, Sonya went into Natasha's room and, to her surprise, found her not undressed, sleeping on the sofa. Anatole's open letter lay on the table beside her. Sonya took the letter and began to read it.
She read and looked at the sleeping Natasha, looking on her face for an explanation of what she was reading, and did not find it. The face was quiet, meek and happy. Clutching her chest so as not to suffocate, Sonya, pale and trembling with fear and excitement, sat down on an armchair and burst into tears.
“How did I not see anything? How could it have gone so far? Has she fallen out of love with Prince Andrei? And how could she allow Kuragin to come to this? He is a liar and a villain, that's clear. What will happen to Nicolas, dear, noble Nicolas, when he finds out about this? So this is what her agitated, resolute and unnatural face meant on the third day, both yesterday and today, thought Sonya; but it cannot be that she loved him! Probably not knowing from whom, she opened this letter. She is probably offended. She can't do it!"
Sonya wiped away her tears and went up to Natasha, again peering into her face.
- Natasha! she said in a barely audible voice.
Natasha woke up and saw Sonya.
- Oh, you're back?
And with determination and tenderness, which happens in moments of awakening, she hugged her friend, but noticing the embarrassment on Sonya's face, Natasha's face expressed embarrassment and suspicion.
Sonya, did you read the letter? - she said.
“Yes,” Sonya said quietly.
Natasha smiled enthusiastically.
No, Sonya, I can't take it anymore! - she said. “I can't hide from you anymore. You know, we love each other!... Sonya, my dear, he writes... Sonya...
Sonya, as if not believing her ears, looked with all her eyes at Natasha.
- And Bolkonsky? - she said.
“Ah, Sonya, oh if only you could know how happy I am! Natasha said. You don't know what love is...
- But, Natasha, is it really all over?
Natasha looked at Sonya with large, open eyes, as if not understanding her question.
- Well, you refuse Prince Andrei? Sonya said.
“Ah, you don’t understand anything, don’t talk nonsense, you listen,” Natasha said with instant annoyance.
"No, I can't believe it," Sonya repeated. - I don't understand. How did you love one person for a whole year and suddenly ... After all, you only saw him three times. Natasha, I don't believe you, you're being naughty. In three days, forget everything and so ...
“Three days,” Natasha said. “I think I have loved him for a hundred years. I feel like I've never loved anyone before him. You cannot understand this. Sonya, wait, sit down here. Natasha hugged and kissed her.
“I was told that this happens and you heard it right, but now I have only experienced this love. It's not like before. As soon as I saw him, I felt that he was my master and I was his slave, and that I could not help but love him. Yes, slave! What he tells me, I will do. You don't understand this. What should I do? What should I do, Sonya? Natasha said with a happy and frightened face.
“But think about what you are doing,” Sonya said, “I can’t leave it like that. Those secret letters... How could you let him do that? she said with horror and disgust, which she could hardly conceal.
“I told you,” Natasha answered, “that I have no will, how can you not understand this: I love him!”
“So I won’t let it happen, I’ll tell you,” Sonya cried out with bursting tears.
- What are you, for God's sake ... If you tell me, you are my enemy, - Natasha spoke. - You want my misfortune, you want us to be separated ...
Seeing Natasha's fear, Sonya burst into tears of shame and pity for her friend.
"But what happened between you?" she asked. - What did he tell you? Why doesn't he go to the house?
Natasha did not answer her question.
“For God’s sake, Sonya, don’t tell anyone, don’t torture me,” Natasha begged. “Remember not to interfere in such matters. I opened to you...
But what are these secrets for? Why doesn't he go to the house? Sonya asked. “Why doesn’t he directly seek your hand?” After all, Prince Andrei gave you complete freedom, if so; but I don't believe it. Natasha, have you thought about the secret reasons?
Natasha looked at Sonya with surprised eyes. Apparently, this question was presented to her for the first time and she did not know how to answer it.
For what reason, I don't know. But then there are reasons!
Sonya sighed and shook her head in disbelief.
“If there were reasons…” she began. But Natasha, guessing her doubts, interrupted her in fright.
