The GAZ-AA car is a popular Soviet car of the pre-war and war times, which has been manufactured at the Gorky Automobile Plant since 1932. The prototype for the legendary "lorry" was an American truck of the no less legendary company of that era - "Ford". It was the Ford AA car of 1930, which the Soviet Union bought at that time, according to the license agreement, and was the prototype.
This is how the famous GAZ-AA lorry was born, which later underwent modernization several times. The design of the car was simple and reliable. In those days, the Soviet auto industry was in an embryonic state, and the relatively inexpensive acquisition of a license to produce your own, domestic truck turned out to be just right.
Why Nizhny Novgorod itself
The choice fell on Nizhny Novgorod as the site for the construction of the newest for that time, gigantic in scale automobile plant, for a reason. Alternative cities were offered then Moscow, Leningrad with Yaroslavl and others. Each of them had certain advantages. However, the full range of all of them was concentrated only in Nizhny Novgorod.
It had a developed metal-working industry and qualified personnel, forest and water resources. In addition, both semi-finished products and finished products were transported there relatively cheaply. And even then Nizhny Novgorod itself had the status of a major railway junction located at the confluence of the Oka and Volga, which were two navigable rivers.
The Gorky plant itself did not lag behind, which then had a high technical potential, as a result of which it was decided to launch production facilities at GAZ. It is interesting that the car, produced under an American license, was rather soon transferred to domestic components. It is clear that it would be more elementary to develop some units at your own enterprise than to order them overseas, and then wait for more than one month for delivery. Consequently, they began to assemble the "one and a half" on their own and with their own materials.
The process of modernization of GAZ-AA "Polutorka"
GAZ-AA "Polutorka" reached the level of serial production in 1932, then in the assembly workshops of the car factory they immediately began to demonstrate high speed in the production of trucks. Every day, sixty vehicles left the new assembly line, but there was still potential for increasing capacity.
The Soviet version differed from the American one by a number of characteristics. So the tin clutch housing was replaced with a cast one, the worm gear was reinforced, and the carburetor was equipped with an air filter.
The design of the body had to be done anew, the onboard version was made by comparing domestic GAZ-AA drawings. Later, Soviet designers developed a unique dump truck version of the "lorry", which differed in that the body did not need to be turned over. The loads themselves slid under the weight of their own weight along the bottom of the body, which was specially calculated. All that was needed was to open the tailgate.
Chassis GAZ-AA
Structurally, the rear suspension of the "lorry" was peculiar and unusual. For example, with its semi-elliptical springs treated in a special way. They were placed in front of the rear axle beam in such a way that their damping took on lever characteristics. As a result, the design of the rear suspension has become more compressed, which is reflected in its greater manufacturability relative to full elliptical leaf springs. However, this design had one flaw. So in the process of braking, the spring blocks took on the entire load, which led to frequent failures. There was a loosening of the stepladders, and shifts of the spring sheets relative to the longitudinal axis began to occur.
Cabin GAZ-AA made of wood
The GAZ-AA lorry began to be fully equipped with Soviet parts in 1933. Cabins in the first cars were made of wood, and since 1934 the car was equipped with a metal module with a canvas roof. The GAZ-AA frame had spring suspensions. Missing shock absorbers added instability and rigidity to the car's ride. At the same time, the car successfully transported goods and broke down infrequently. GAZ-AA engines were unpretentious and highly maintainable. The lowest-grade oil products, low-octane gasoline and even kerosene were poured into gas tanks in the hot season.
Weaknesses
The weakest points of the "one and a half" were the starter with the battery. Their service life barely reached half a year, after which the units failed, and the batteries were repaired. Basically, cars started with crooked starters.
In addition, there was one significant problem in the operation of the GAZ-AA truck, an acute shortage of tires. It even happened that the rear axles of cars were equipped with not four wheels, as established by the passport, but only two, which caused the load capacity of the car to suffer.
Be that as it may, but the "one and a half" were the most massive Soviet cars of the pre-war and wartime. In addition, their chassis were used for various modifications. They 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 aircraft launchers.
Some updates "one and a half"
In 1938, the "one and a half" received new GAZ-MM engines with a power of up to 50 liters. with., which were previously installed on Molotovets-1. In addition to the upgraded engines, the "one and a half" were equipped with improved steering gears and cardan shafts with needle bearings. The chassis was made spring, but there were no shock absorbers.
Since the "one and a half" cars are technologically advanced, and their production was launched in the shortest possible time, the car became indispensable in all sectors of the Soviet national economy. In those days, a carrying capacity of up to 1.5 tons was enough. So, during the harvesting period, a lot of cars drove out to the fields, which soon took out the crop for processing, and then they returned to the fleets. "Lorries" were considered universal vehicles, being trouble-free and unpretentious.
Specifications GAZ-AA "Lorry"
Layout of cars: front-engine, rear-wheel drive. Cars had:
- Length - 5335 mm;
- Height - 1870 mm;
- Width - 2030 mm;
- Ground clearance - 200 mm;
- Wheelbase - 3340 mm;
- Curb weight - 1750 mm.
Transmission - mechanical, four-speed gearbox. The maximum speed of the "one and a half" was developed up to 70 km per hour.
"Lorries" - universal cars of their era
In addition to ordinary flatbed trucks, the Gorky Automobile Plant produced a dump truck modification GAZ-S1. This car worked on a rather unusual principle. The loads in the bodies were initially located in such a way that their masses pressed on the tailgates, which were locked with an ordinary stopper. Loaders or drivers opened the locks, and under the weight of their own masses, goods, for example, building materials, fell out. After that, the empty bodies were again locked.
Battle path GAZ-AA. "The road of life"
The role of GAZ-AA cars - "one and a half" in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 was written many times and a huge number of books were written. However, the most important historical route along which the legendary car traveled was called the “road of life”, laid on the winter ice of Lake Ladoga. It was the only road linking besieged Leningrad and the outside world.
At that time, only light "lorries" could pass on the ice. Military GAZ-AA, with the help of darkened headlights, carefully covered the entire distance. Moreover, they were constantly exposed to fire, which was conducted by German artillery, but still delivered provisions to the besieged northern capital. A lot of cars went under water, but still the city was saved.
Since the beginning of the war, the Gorky Automobile Plant produced military trucks according to a simplified version, all due to a shortage of cold-rolled metals and many other components for cars. The military "lorry" had no doors. They were replaced by installed canvas screens. The two front wings were replaced with conventional roofing iron. They braked only with the rear wheels, the illumination of the roads was carried out by one headlight. The side boards of the bodies were not folding.
Completion of production
Only in 1944 did the car configuration acquire a normal format. Everything that was missing appeared: wooden doors, brakes on the front wheels, a second headlight and folding side boards. After the war, "lorries" were still produced in large quantities until 1956, while the state needed trucks. These cars met until 1960, until the outdated "lorry" was replaced by the GAZ-51.
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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 a new truck, and he could make good money on 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 plant in Nizhny Novgorod was launched, and the production of our GAZ-AA began. 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 fenders, 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. The 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, generates direct current. 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 also help out: if he wanted to live, he would grab a healthy handbrake lever and pull it towards himself. 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 a 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 a conventional cardan shaft on the “one and a half”: without a pipe, the 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 with its beauty as with the originality of the solution. The fuel gauge is an ordinary float (the gas tank, as we have already said, by and large is this very 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 there is a small “dog” that prevents involuntary reverse gear engagement. 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.
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GAZ-AA is a truck of the Nizhny Novgorod (1932), and later the automobile plant in the city of Gorky, whose carrying capacity is 1,500 kg. The model is also called "one and a half". The debut 5-year plan for improving the economy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1928-1932) made it possible to launch a magnificent development program.
The plan provided for the construction of more than 1,500 massive facilities, including hydroelectric power plants, metallurgical plants, automobile and tractor plants. To implement all these projects, transport was needed, therefore, there was a difficult strategic task - to organize a full-scale production of trucks. All .
Car history
By the end of the 1920s, cargo series vehicles in the Union were mass-produced by only a couple of automobile enterprises: the First State Automobile Plant in Moscow (formerly AMO), as well as the Third State Automobile Plant in Yaroslavl. But their speeds were not enough, since all two plants were created on the platform of pre-revolutionary capacities.
For example, by the beginning of the first five-year plan, there were only 1,500 cars in the whole country. Therefore, no one was surprised that by the mid-1920s, the Soviet government planned to build the first automobile giant in the Union, the capacity of which would allow the production of about 100,000 vehicles per year.
When the necessary experience and technological resources were lacking, it was best to buy production abroad. And the opinions of Russian experts were focused on the overseas country, or rather, Detroit.
This settlement, located in the north of America, was for the builders of socialism an exemplary automobile giant, a city of the future, in which the settlers live and work, obeying a single and common functional plan. Just in a similar format, there were dreams to design the Russian automobile giant.
Near the workshops, they wanted to build residential quarters for workers and design the entire accompanying infrastructure. As a result of the negotiations, the company decided to refuse involvement in the project, so the company remained the only variation. This option suited the USSR quite well.
The very name of Henry Ford, along with his automobile empire, was often associated with technological solutions and rationality. In addition, this company was quite well known in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, because even if not huge, but still stable purchases of Ford cars had been made since 1909.
On top of that, for the needs of our country, just the cars of the new Ford base, which in 1927-1928 replaced the previous generation “T”, were best suited. The Ford-A passenger car and the Ford-AA lorry were simple, unpretentious, inexpensive and, what is very important, they were well unified in terms of design.
According to the technical agreement, the USSR signed an agreement with Ford on May 31, 1929. It was planned to build an automobile city not far from Nizhny Novgorod, near the village of Monastyrka, where there was a confluence of navigable rivers (Oka and Volga). The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics signed an agreement for the construction of the enterprise, together with a camp for those working on it, with the Austin Company in Cleveland.
The USSR began to cooperate with the well-known American company Ford. As a result, a one and a half ton GAZ-AA truck, which was similar to an American, saw the light.
In addition to the construction of the automotive giant, the agreement with Ford provided for the operational construction of a pair of car assembly plants, which will be located in Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow. They planned to assemble Ford cars from ready-made car kits, because under the contract the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics had to buy 72,000 car kits.
These assembly shops provided an opportunity to launch the production of machines even before the end of the construction of the enterprise in Nizhny Novgorod and were such factories for training production for those who worked there. In order to build and equip branches, an American company decided to attract the construction company Albert Kahn, Inc., which is already popular in Russia.
Already at the onset of 1929, it was decided to allocate a share of the area of the enterprise of vehicles for agriculture "Gudok Oktyabrya", which were located in the city of Kanavin, for the construction of the first car assembly plant. Already in the winter of the following year (1930), they began to assemble the debut Ford AA trucks from America's car kits.
By the end of the same year, passenger cars, along with Ford trucks, began to be produced from the primary conveyor of an automobile enterprise in Moscow. But Nizhny Novgorod's desires for an automobile city began to melt little by little.
In part, this was due to the small project budget, as well as due to the labor enthusiasm of the manufacturers, which in an interesting way was able to harmonize with the carelessness and reticence of the decisions and work of many management bodies.
The largest automobile enterprise in European countries was built at the right time, but the result turned out to be far from the “airy” dreams of an industrial town of the future. The new building near Monastyrka was popularly called the Sotsgorod, and after 2 years it acquired the official status of the Avtozavodsky district of Nizhny Novgorod.
While the second half of the first month of 1932 was going on, at the enterprise prepared for the launch of the design capacity, they were able to master the production of a cylinder block, along with a crankshaft, frame spars and other other details. Due to the failure to achieve the constancy of deliveries of components from subcontractors (more precisely, sheet steel), the cabins of the "pre-series" began to be assembled using plywood.
On January 29 of the same year, the debut NAZ-AA cars were produced from the assembly line of the enterprise in Nizhny Novgorod. In October (7th) Nizhny Novgorod was renamed Gorky, and therefore the name of the car was changed. By the end of 1932, the production of cargo vehicles of the Gorky Automobile Plant was about 60 vehicles every day. The name of the truck became - GAZ-AA.
The GAZ AA car turned out to be reliable and hardy, and lost, perhaps, to one real rival in the USSR car market - the Moscow three-ton ZIS-5. However, the automobile enterprise in Gorky had much more production capacity than ZIS.
Therefore, just a lorry was supposed to become a "multifunctional soldier" of the national economy, and Gorky's specialists designed various "civilian" and "military" vehicles and improved the existing standard vehicles.
In order to test the weak structural points of the AA lorry gas truck, at the end of the 32nd year, trucks participated in a test run from Nizhny Novgorod to Moscow and back. Six months later (in 1933) they took part in the summer extreme "Karakum" run.
The lion's share of standard breakdowns was explained by the underestimated quality of components supplied by subcontractors. While the year was 1933, automobile factories in Moscow and Gorky fully used the arsenal of car kits from America and migrated to the creation of cars from spare parts of their production.
After 3 years, the Gorky Automobile Plant was able to master the production of a brand new GAZ-M power unit (50 horsepower), which was a forced version of the GAZ-A engine. One and a half tons began to be equipped with the last engine in 1938.
At the same time, a new steering gear synchronized with the emka was released, along with increased mounting of the rear-mounted springs. Such a modification has acquired the name GAZ-MM. The Gorky Automobile Plant assembled the last lorry on October 10, 1949.
The Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant, which assembled MM from the 47th, stopped assembling these models only by the 51st year. From 1932, before the start of hostilities, the KIM enterprise, together with a car assembly plant in Rostov-on-Don, produced more than 800,000 1.5-ton AA and MM trucks. During the war, GAZ produced 102,300 cargo-type vehicles.
Appearance
From the autumn of the 40th, a powerful towing device began to be placed on it, along with fittings for attaching a spare wheel of a different mechanism. The material of the car was changed as soon as the Great Patriotic War began. If we talk about metal, then they began to save it, therefore, the front part eventually lost all the details that were not considered urgently needed.
The wings, which were angular, began to be bent from roofing iron, and the roof, along with the doors, was made using tarpaulin. Faro, together with the janitor, was decided to be installed only on the driver's side, and the front brakes, along with the muffler and bumper, were not installed at all.
Starting in 1943, the canvas flaps on the side of the cab were replaced with wide wooden doors. A simplified modification of the GAZ-MM continued to be produced even after the end of hostilities, but the cars received full-fledged metal doors, silencers, front brakes, a bumper and a pair of headlights.
The tarpaulin of the rear wall of the cab had a rectangular window. It is clearly visible in the photo. GAZ-AA was a fairly simple, but successful and technologically advanced truck that was not picky and could not run on the highest quality fuel.
The front of the "Lawn" was quite simple. There was a simple bumper, a pair of headlights and a large rectangular grille. Two front lighting lamps were attached to the wheel fenders and the front hood. An audible signal was installed under one of the lamps.
The hood covers opened like gull wings, providing a convenient free space for repairing the power unit. Nearby was a fuel tank designed for 40 liters. The spare wheel was located under the frame at the rear of the chassis. The side part was occupied by a door with smooth wheel wings and a comfortable footboard.
Also, the wooden body smoothly moved from the side to the rear. The side and rear sides were folding. Also on the back of the vehicle, on the left side, rear lighting could be found.
Specifications
power unit
For all its simple qualities, the GAZ-AA was technically quite perfect. As an engine, it had a four-cylinder engine, the working volume of which was 3.285 liters and which produced about 42 horses. It was the same power unit that was installed on a GAZ-A passenger car.
It was a four-stroke, four-stroke, water-cooled, in-line carburetor. Fuel consumption per 100 km at full load (when driving on the highway) was 18.5 liters. The maximum speed is at the level of 70 km / h.
Transmission
The engine transmitted torque to the drive axle through a single-disk dry friction clutch and a four-speed manual gearbox. It appears to be a three-way mechanism and has four gears forward and one reverse. The box has not been synced. Wheel drive - rear.
Suspension
It was represented by dependent mechanisms. The front-mounted wheels were suspended on a single transversely mounted semi-elliptical spring, where there were push rods that could transfer the load to the frame.
The rear-mounted wheels were mounted on a pair of longitudinal cantilever springs and were devoid of any shock absorbers. As a design feature, there was a rear suspension mechanism along with a transmission, where a cardan shaft was used as a longitudinal thrust, which abutted against a bronze bushing.
Brake system
The service brake had a mechanical drive. The brakes were foot-type with shoe mechanisms. All wheels had drum brakes.
Steering
The steering mechanism had a worm and a double roller, and the gear ratio was 16.6.
| Engine | gasoline carburetor 4-stroke lower valve |
| Number of cylinders | 4 |
| Working volume | 3285 cm³ |
| Max. power | 40/2200 hp/rpm |
| Max. torque | 15.5 (152) kgf*m (Nm) |
| Drive unit | rear |
| Transmission | mechanical, 4-speed, not synchronized |
| Front suspension | dependent, on a transverse semi-elliptical spring with push rods |
| Rear suspension | dependent, on two longitudinal cantilever springs, without shock absorbers |
| Brakes front/rear | drum |
| Max Speed | 70 km/h. |
| Length | 5335 mm. |
| Width | 2040 mm. |
| Height | 1970 mm. |
| Wheelbase | 3340 mm. |
| Ground clearance | 200 mm. |
| Curb weight | 1810 kg. |
| Tires | 6.50-20 |
| load capacity | 1500 kg. |
| Fuel consumption | mixed cycle 20.5 |
| Fuel tank capacity | 40 l. |
Advantages and disadvantages
Machine advantages
- High-quality and reliable body metal;
- Good ride height;
- Excellent cross-country ability of the car;
- Small dimensions of the truck;
- There is a windshield wiper (on the driver's side);
- Unpretentiousness in fuel;
- Understandable service;
- Ford's American Roots;
- The windshield extends;
- You can transport trailers.
Cons of the car
- There are no hydraulic boosters of the steering wheel and the braking system of the car;
- There are no steering wheel and sofa adjustments;
- Ascetic view of the interior;
- Weak power unit;
- Simple and cold cabin;
- Dependent suspension;
- High fuel consumption;
- Small transportable weight;
- Lack of any comfort.
Summing up
Any merger of Russian automobile companies with foreign companies has always benefited the domestic auto industry, and GAZ-AA is no exception. Its similarity with foreign variations can be seen in the photo. The car turned out to be surprisingly simple, but functional and in demand.
Then there were no environmental standards yet, so the fuel consumption of its weak power plant was 20 liters per 100 kilometers. The appearance of the car was very simple, and there was not even a hint of sophistication, because you should not forget the year of its production and the purpose of release.
The GAZ-AA truck is a legendary car of the pre-war and military era of the USSR. This truck has been produced since 1932 at the Gorky Automobile Plant. The name GAZ-AA was not chosen at all by chance, since the car is a copy of the American Ford-AA truck, a batch of which was bought by the Soviet Union. It was on the basis of the "American" that the GAZ-AA truck was built, which was subsequently modernized several times.
The history of the appearance of the first GAZ-AA
In the early 1930s, the Soviet automobile industry was in its infancy, or rather, it practically did not exist. The country's leadership decided to buy a license in the United States for the production of simple and inexpensive to maintain Ford AA. The Gorky Automobile Plant at that time was the largest machine-assembly enterprise, so it was decided to establish the process of assembling a Soviet truck there.
Since the GAZ-AA device was very simple, Soviet design engineers quickly replaced the American units with domestic ones, which were developed at the local design bureau. This helped to increase production, some parts from the US had to wait several months earlier. Serial production of the Soviet truck began in 1932, and the pace of assembly was immediately very high. About 60 new trucks rolled off the assembly line per day.
The Soviet GAZ-AA differed from its American prototype for a number of reasons:
- It was decided to immediately replace the clutch housing with a cast one, since the American tin crankcase seemed too fragile;
- The worm gear was reinforced;
- The carburetor received an air filter that was not on the American truck;
- The GAZ-AA body was developed anew according to domestic drawings.
A few years later, Soviet designers managed to develop a unique dump truck version of the GAZ-AA. Unlike traditional dump trucks with a lifting body, the dump truck had a simpler operation algorithm. Due to the shape of the bottom of the body, the cargo simply slid through the open tailgate of the car.
Design features of the GAZ-AA lorry
The powerful GAZ-AA frame received spring suspension front and rear. The absence of shock absorbers made this truck very rigid and unstable, although no one even thought about such nuances in those years. Any car was then perceived as a miracle, so no one paid attention to the primitive suspension design. But it broke quite rarely, which was repeatedly demonstrated during the Great Patriotic War.
GAZ-AA engines have always been distinguished by their simplicity of design, high reliability and maintainability. Their peculiarity was that they worked perfectly on the worst gasoline and even on kerosene. This is currently used by car collectors who have rare GAZ-AA. Low-octane fuel is now impossible to get, but kerosene is sold freely.
The assembly of GAZ-AA switched completely to domestic components in 1933. Although many believe that the GAZ-AA cabin was wooden, it was made of wood only until 1934. Then it became metal with a tarpaulin roof. The main disadvantages of GAZ-AA were as follows:
- Unreliable starter and battery. The starter burst after 5-6 months, and the battery also failed by this time, so the car was usually started with a crooked starter;
- The lack of shock absorbers also caused a lot of inconvenience to drivers;
- An acute shortage of tires led to the fact that right at the factory, the rear axle was equipped with only two wheels, instead of four, which negatively affected the load capacity and stability.
Despite some design flaws, the technical characteristics of the GAZ-AA were quite high for their time. The truck became the most massive Soviet car in the war and pre-war years. Many different installations, tanks, auto laboratories and special vehicles were installed on the GAZ-AA chassis. The famous "Katyusha" was installed on the GAZ-AA chassis.
Modernization of GAZ-AA in 1938
In 1938, the GAZ-AA car was seriously modernized. The main innovation was the new GAZ-MM engine. The new motor was much more powerful, which increased the maximum speed of the car. In addition to the motor, the upgraded "one and a half" received a more reliable and modern steering gear and a cardan on needle bearings.
Before the war, the machine was widely used in various branches of agriculture. At that time, a load capacity of 1.5 tons was considered optimal, since there were simply no more powerful trucks in the Soviet Union. However, in many branches of agriculture they quickly figured out how to increase the carrying capacity of the machine. For this, the dimensions of the body were simply increased by increasing the sides.
Specifications GAZ-AA
The Soviet rear-wheel drive truck GAZ-AA had a classic front-engine layout and the following technical characteristics:
- Machine length - 5 335 mm;
- Width - 2030 mm;
- Height - 1,870 mm;
- Curb weight - 1,810 kg;
- The engine was installed on cars until 1938. It had a working volume of 3,285 cubic meters / cm and could develop a maximum power of 40 l / s;
- The engine cooling system ran on water;
- The transmission was mechanical;
- Gearbox four-speed.
After 1938, GAZ-AA was renamed GAZ-MM. During the Great Patriotic War, it was decided to simplify the GAZ-MM trucks, so the cabs began to be made of wood. The metal was needed to build tanks.
Main modifications based on GAZ-AA and GAZ-MM
The following truck models were produced on the GAZ-AA chassis and its improved modification GAZ-MM:
- GAZ-AAA is an interesting example of an off-road truck. It had three axles and a 6x4 wheel formula. This original truck was created on the basis of the American Ford Timken truck. The machine was capable of carrying loads up to 2 tons in weight. But due to the complexity of the design, this truck was produced in a very small edition. Three-axle trucks of this modification were produced from 1934 to 1943. In 1937, the car received an engine from GAZ-MM;
- BA-10 - a small batch of armored cars on the GAZ-mm chassis. Since a small batch of armored hulls remained at the Izhora plant in the fall of 1941, it was decided to install them on the GAZ-MM chassis. Ready-made armored vehicles were assembled by the spring of 1942, and were delivered only to the Leningrad Front;
- GAZ-410. Dump truck on GAZ-AA chassis. Produced from 1934 to 1946. It had a carrying capacity of 1.2 tons. These trucks were in great demand in the construction industry, as they did not need special personnel for unloading;
- GAZ-42. An interesting modification that works on wood. Produced from 1938 to 1950. The power of this modification was 35 l / s, and the carrying capacity was about a ton. In reality, the carrying capacity was about 800 kg, since a supply of firewood was constantly fiddling with it, weighing about 200 kg;
- GAZ-43 is the same gas-generating model as the GAZ-42, only this modification worked on coal. The gas generator unit was more miniature than that of the GAZ-42;
- GAZ-44 - this modification worked on gas;
- NATI-3 - half-track modification. Not mass-produced;
- GAZ-60 - half-track modification;
- GAZ-03-30. The most famous Soviet bus of the 1930-1940s. It was distinguished by a 17-seater body, which was made of wood and sheathed with metal;
- GAZ-55 is a special modification, which is an ambulance.
In addition, from 1932 to 1941, the PMG-1 fire truck was produced.
The Soviet GAZ-AA truck will forever remain in the memory of people, as it constantly flashes in military chronicles. It was these trucks that made their significant contribution to the victory over Nazi Germany.
GAZ-AA: FROM DUMP TRUCK TO BUS. The family of cars GAZ-AA - GAZ-MM. The need for a mass one and a half ton car arose in the Soviet Union in the late 1920s - new factories, canals, roads and power plants were built in the country, and it was simply unthinkable to do this without simple, reliable and maintainable cars. Nizhny Novgorod was chosen as the site for the construction of the giant automobile plant, which had qualified personnel, a developed transport network, and a powerful metalworking industry.
The preliminary design of the enterprise was ordered by the American firm Ford Motor Company, where on May 31, 1929 the Soviet government commission went. Soon an agreement was concluded with the Americans, according to which the administration of the Ford Motor Company was obliged to provide the Soviet Union with technical assistance in the construction of an automobile plant, the organization of the production of trucks and cars, as well as in the training of Soviet specialists and trainees at American automobile plants in the amount of up to 50 people annually.
The prototypes of cars for their production at the new car plant were American cars - the Ford-AA truck and the Ford-A passenger car.
Serial production of one and a half ton trucks NAZ-AA began at the Nizhny Novgorod Automobile Plant on January 29, 1932. True, at the end of the same year, both the city and the car plant, and the cars produced on it, were renamed - the city was named Gorky, the enterprise - the Gorky Automobile Plant, and the passenger and truck cars - GAZ-A and GAZ-AA. The first lorries were made according to Ford's drawings, however, taking into account Russian realities, the overseas car had to be equipped with a reinforced clutch housing, a new steering gear, an air filter, and a wooden side body designed at GAZ.
At first, trucks were assembled using Ford components, and since 1933, all GAZ-AAs began to leave the factory gates, fully equipped with domestic parts, mechanisms and assemblies.
1 ignition lock; 2 - fuel gauge; 3 ammeter; 4 - button for adjusting the composition of the fuel mixture; 5 - speedometer; 6 - steering column bracket
It should be noted that for the early 1930s, the truck had a fairly perfect design. The basis of the truck was a powerful spar frame, on which the cab and body were fixed. The power unit was a 42-horsepower gasoline engine with a displacement of 3.285 liters. The main advantage of this engine was its “omnivorousness” - it worked well not only on cheap low-octane gasoline, which we hardly heard of - A-52, but also on naphtha or kerosene.
By the way, the 40-liter fuel tank on the GAZ-AA was located above the carburetor, so gasoline entered it without a pump, by gravity.
The transmission of the car included a single-disk dry clutch and a four-speed gearbox.
The suspension of the lorry is dependent, and the front axle rested on a transverse semi-elliptical spring with push rods, and the rear axle rested on a pair of longitudinal cantilever springs without shock absorbers. The rear suspension of the car had an original design with the so-called push tube, inside of which the cardan shaft was located. The pipe rested against a bronze bushing, which, due to increased wear, required frequent repairs.
The main brake had a mechanical drive, however, due to its low efficiency, drivers preferred engine braking.
Until 1934, the truck cab was made of wood and pressed cardboard, and later a metal cab with a leatherette roof was installed on the car. In 1938, the GAZ-AA was modernized - it was equipped with a 50-horsepower engine, reinforced suspension, improved steering gear, a more reliable cardan shaft and, accordingly, was given a new name - GAZ-MM. True, outwardly the old and new lorries practically did not differ from one another.
The GAZ-AA electrics were distinguished by low reliability - the battery and starter had a particularly low resource, so drivers often had to start the car only with the help of the crank. The tires did not differ in reliability either - with a standard mileage of 20 thousand km, they wore out after 8-9 thousand km. The shortage of tires led to the fact that during the war, lorries with single rear wheels sometimes left the factory conveyor.
In 1934, mass production of the GAZ-AAA, a three-axle version of a lorry, was launched. This machine was created under the guidance of the leading designer of the plant V.A. Grachev. In total, 37,373 three-axle vehicles were produced at GAZ.
The lorry served as a good base for creating a wide variety of modifications. So, at the GAZ branch, the Gorky Bus Plant, in the period from 1933 to 1950, 17-seater GAZ-03-30 buses were assembled, which were the most common in the USSR before the war. The body of this bus had a wooden frame and metal lining. In addition to the "civilian", on the basis of GAZ-AA they produced a staff bus for the needs of the Red Army, and on the basis of a three-axle GAZ-AAA lorry - an army ambulance bus.
In 1936, the production of the GAZ-410 dump truck with a carrying capacity of 1.2 tons was organized at the Gorky Automobile Plant. The body tipping mechanism had an original, a kind of "gravitational" drive, in which the gravity of the load worked. The body was equipped with a locking device, the handle of which was located at the left side of the dump truck. To unload the car, the driver shifted the handle, the body tilted and the load fell back. The empty body, under the influence of gravity, returned to its original position and was again fixed by a locking device.
In the late 1930s, GAZ created the GAZ-42 gas-generating vehicle, the GAZ-44 gas-cylinder vehicle, and the GAZ-60 half-track vehicle. On the basis of GAZ-AA and GAZ-MM, tanker trucks, vans, as well as AS-2 autostarters designed to start aircraft engines were produced.
A lot of cars of the Gorky Automobile Plant were called up for service in the Red Army - lorries made up more than half of the army fleet. Most of them were intended for the transportation of troops, for which they used cars with an onboard body equipped with removable benches, which housed 16 fighters.
During the war years, GAZ-55 army ambulances, GAZ-05-193 staff buses, radar stations, searchlights, sound detectors and field workshops were produced on the GAZ-MM chassis, and 3850 GAZ-AA and GAZ-MM trucks were equipped with anti-aircraft guns and quadruple anti-aircraft machine guns.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the cars of the Gorky Automobile Plant had to be significantly simplified, which was explained by the lack of metal and the desire to shorten the production cycle for the production of cars. So, the lorries were equipped only with rear brakes, they lost the front bumper and the right headlight, and instead of the rounded stamped front wings, the GAZ-AA had L-shaped wings bent from roofing iron. In addition, only the tailgate opened at the body, and in 1942, instead of a steel cabin, they began to make a simplified one, with canvas tops and canopies instead of doors. In 1943, the cars were equipped with closed wooden cabins with canvas roofs.
On the basis of two-axle and three-axle one and a half, the designers of the plant developed a lot of armored vehicles. So, from 1936 to 1938, 394 BA-6 armored vehicles were produced at GAZ, in the period from 1938 to 1941 - 3331 armored vehicles of the BA-10A and BA-10M types, and at the end of the 1930s, armored hulls were installed on the shortened GAZ-AAA chassis previously produced and expired armored vehicles. In addition, the designers created prototypes of the BA-9 armored car, as well as the PB-4 and PB-7 amphibious armored vehicles.
During the war years, GAZ produced 102,300 vehicles of various types and modifications. And in December 1945, the plant launched mass production of new trucks - GAZ-51 and GAZ-6Z. The assembly of the last GAZ-MM lorries was completed at GAZ in October 1949, and a year later at the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant.
