GAZ-M72: when the villages were big. The first Soviet crossover: myths and facts about the GAZ-M72 Gaz m72 all-wheel drive victory

The birth of the all-wheel drive "Victory" GAZ-M-72

In the history of the Gorky Automobile, published in 1981, four lines were dedicated to this car. Come on, the books of those years! Writing about car factories, practically without talking about cars, is a separate art of the era of developed socialism. But even in later monographs, GAZ-M-72 was paid very little attention - it did not deserve the epithets "legendary", "famous", "cult". But he is a kind of milestone in history, not only domestic, but also world

The all-wheel drive "Victory" (strictly speaking, the M-72 was not called that, but there was a standard inscription on the side of the hood) would not have appeared so quickly if the Gorky residents had not had experience in creating a whole line of all-wheel drive passenger models - "gas" from the 64th to the 69th go - and, of course, the version of the "emka" GAZ-61, the prototype of which was the American Ford Harrington. By the way, he did not become massive. Well, in the USSR, all-wheel drive vehicles played a particularly important role not only for the army. Off-road something - it does not distinguish between ranks and positions, and the authorities also have to go to places where few cars can get through. Moreover, the bosses need something more comfortable, warmer, finally (what can we hide?), More impressive than a "jeep". The domestic first-born in this class was the GAZ-61. But the 72nd markedly differed from it not only externally, but also constructively.

Experience is experience, but all these machines, including the 61st, were frame ones. And "Victory", which became the basis all-wheel drive sedan, the design of which the group led by Grigory Moiseevich Wasserman began in 1954, although it had powerful spars, it was still frameless. However, simple but painstaking studies have shown that the GAZ-M-20 will also withstand all-wheel drive. Although in some places the load-bearing body from sin was nevertheless strengthened.

The car was designed and tested in a few months! Now this seems like a fairy tale. After all, even in the 21st century, a simple modification of domestic factories years go by. Already in the summer of 1955, the GAZ-M-72 was put into production.

The time was a turning point. A little heat blew: gray-haired people with premature wrinkles were driving across the country from the outskirts to the center, putting all their belongings in small suitcases or worn duffel bags. Yesterday's "enemies of the people" turned out to be honest Soviet people. There was another “revelation”: life in the villages is not as joyful and comfortable as they were told in funny musical films. Even with clothes and elementary utensils, it’s not very good. And then the collective farmer will get a car! Well, at first, of course, not everyone, at least the chairman ...

From the unfulfilled

The idea to create an all-wheel drive comfortable car continued to excite the minds of domestic professional and amateur designers for several decades. In Moscow in the 1960s, there was a Volga GAZ-22 station wagon, apparently made not at GAZ, but by some other enterprise using UAZ units. The same nodes were used when creating (already officially) the Volga GAZ-24-95. They built several samples, according to rumors, for the regional and even higher authorities. Already in perestroika times, small workshops and tuning firms made all-wheel drive station wagons cross-country ability based on GAZ-31022.

The granddaddy of crossovers

Maybe the grandmother - at the heart of all the same "Victory". But it doesn't change the essence. Load-bearing body, comfortable interior with full-fledged seats and soft upholstery, good microclimate (the stove was decent in 1969, but the body was too slitty), even a washer windshield foot operated! Do not laugh! A device, especially useful for such a machine, appeared on it, by the way, for the first time in the USSR!

Under the body proudly rising above the ground, there was a standard 55-horsepower engine, boosted by 3 hp during the modernization of Pobeda in 1955, and transmission units, which, of course, were based on the 69th. The gear ratios were left the same as those of the "goat": the first in the gearbox - 3.15, the transfer case - 2.78 / 1.15. Thanks to this, the car had excellent traction and climbed up to 30 degrees. The track gauge of the GAZ-M-72 compared to the GAZ-69 was reduced from 1440 to 1355 mm at the front and 1388 mm at the rear. A ground clearance in 210 mm managed to save. For this, by the way, the springs were placed above the bridges, and not under them, as on Pobeda. Tires 6.50-16 on the 72nd were the same as those of the "goat" - evil, all-terrain. The rear suspension, unlike the 69th, even had a stabilizer roll stability. Still a car!

GAZ-M-72 reached a speed of only 90 km / h. Well, where is this car more? According to factory data, the car consumed 14 liters of gasoline per 100 km. True, this is not very hard to believe, but at the then price of fuel, this indicator was not the main one. Especially if you refuel for state-owned.

Here and there

Glory in the country M-72 did not win. Mainly because the production for the scale of the Union was scanty. All-wheel drive "Victory" reached a rare collective farm. But the car was supposed to have loud glory! A few years ago, at the beginning of our century, runs from Moscow to Vladivostok were presented almost as a feat. Moreover, even if they were driving in a convoy with experienced mechanics, a bunch of tools and spare parts. Imagine 1956!

It was this year on May 1 that three Moscow motorists: writer Viktor Urin, VGIK graduate Igor Tikhomirov and photojournalist for the magazine Za Rulem Alexander Lomakin set off from the Moscow State University building to the Pacific Ocean in a GAZ-M-72. Bought a car without a queue special permission, for an advance given to Urin for a future book. By the way, she was in great demand: there was also a color documentary"On the roads of the motherland", made by Tikhomirov. Gasoline was also released to travelers with the special permission of the high authorities. There were no columns for private traders, and in the outback they were completely absent.

We drove slowly. For example, we spent several days in Gorky, talking with GAZ employees and, I suspect, checking the car, which had to go 10,000 km, which was gigantic according to the ideas of those years.

Newspapers and magazines wrote about the run. However, surprisingly, without much pathos. And very little was said about the car. It is more important to show how a huge country is flourishing, how “cities, collective farms, MTS” live. Briefly mentioned: the car broke down only three times (for those cars and those roads, really quite a bit!) And reached Vladivostok in the fall of 1956! The further fate of that 72nd is unknown.

And the fate of the model already in 1956, in fact, was a foregone conclusion. The plant was preparing the production of the Volga, a completely new car with a completely different history. Well, besides, the production of the GAZ-M-72, as well as the all-wheel drive Moskvich-410, distracted the factories from the production of the main models, and the government demanded to increase it. Taxi drivers, rare private traders and, of course, the main consumer, officials of all stripes, needed the Volga. The chairmen of collective farms were also entitled to a service UAZ, which, by the way, was not sold to private traders. In fairness, we note that the vast majority did not even have money for a car, a motorcycle - and that was considered a sign of prosperity.

Body modernization

When creating the all-wheel drive version of Pobeda, its body required serious reinforcement due to significantly increased loads. As a result, the case received additional amplifiers for the front end (1) and its front panel (2). The roof was reinforced in the B-pillar area (3) and the floor spars under the spring buffer (4). In addition, the body floor itself (5) with side members (6) and the middle cross member (7) received additional elements, and the frame was supplemented with a strut (8).

And happiness was near!

Imagine for a moment the impossible: the industry of the USSR is integrated into the world market. And there goes the GAZ-M-72. Real competitors at that time there were only two: the French Renault Colorale and the American Jeep Station Wagon, created on the basis of the famous and well-known Willys. Both models - with comfortable closed bodies station wagon type and more spacious than the 72nd. But both have a frame structure. True, then this was not considered a disadvantage - neither for the small mass, nor for high speeds, not for special controllability, all the more all-wheel drive vehicles didn't chase. And there was no great demand even in the USA, not to mention Europe, for such cars.

Before he appeared, more than a decade had passed. But now, when the love for crossovers has acquired even partly maniacal proportions all over the world, it is appropriate to once again recall the GAZ-M-72 - a car from a completely different era, in which, by the way, the title of "chairman" had a slightly different meaning ...

Specifications
WEIGHT AND DIMENSIONAL INDICATORS
Curb weight, kg	1560
Length, mm	4665
Width, mm	1695
Height, mm	1790
Wheel base, mm	2712
Track front / rear, mm	1355/1388
Ground clearance, mm	210
Tire size	6.50-16
ENGINE
Type and number of cylinders	Petrol, p4
Working volume, cm 3	2112
Power, hp/kW	55/40
At rpm	3600
Torque, Nm	125
At rpm	N.d.
Transmission	Mechanical, 3-speed
Transfer case	2-speed
Type all-wheel drive	pluggable
Maximum speed, km/h	90
Fuel consumption, l/100 km	14

text: Sergey KANNUNIKOV
photo: from the author's archive

rear axle

In the post-war years, with the departure of the obsolete GAZ-61 and the launch of the M-20 Pobeda car, the question of creating a new domestic comfortable passenger car increased permeability.

The SUV, called the M-72, was created on the basis of the Pobeda body and units army all-terrain vehicle GAZ-69. From the M-20 "Victory" for this car, only the outer body panels and the supporting body frame were taken, which was modified and additionally reinforced.

To accommodate the transfer case, it was necessary to abandon the transverse box-shaped amplifier of the body, as well as the longitudinal amplifier - closed tunnel driveline, which were characteristic of the body of the M-20 Pobeda.

To compensate for these missing power elements, as well as increasing the longitudinal and transverse rigidity of the body as a whole, 14 additional floor reinforcements, spars, door pillars and roofs were introduced into its design. Unlike the M-20 Pobeda, the M-72 had a completely new under-engine frame, designed to mount a spring suspension front axle.

From the GAZ-69 were borrowed gearbox, transfer case, front and rear axle. The gearbox on the M-20 "Victory" and GAZ-69 is the same, the difference is only in different side covers of the gearbox housing and in the location of the shift lever, on the "Pobeda" a rocker was used (the lever was brought to steering column) gear shift mechanism, on the GAZ-69 - floor.

The body equipment of the M-72 was the same as that of the M-20 Pobeda: soft upholstery, a clock, a heater, and a dual-band radio. But, taking into account the need to work on dirty country roads, a windshield washer was used for the first time in domestic practice on the M-72. Some of the innovations that first appeared on the M-72 then went to the modernized Pobeda. In particular, it was for the M-72 that a new radiator lining with massive bars was developed, which also appeared on Pobedy in the fall of 1955. On the same model, a steering wheel with a ring signal button appeared.

This car became the embodiment of the concept of comfortable SUVs - oh mass production such cars are foreign automotive firms didn't even think about it at the time.

It should be noted that around the same years, the American company Marmon-Herrington still produced a small number (four copies) of comfortable SUVs based on Mercury cars with various bodies, but first of all, this case we can hardly talk about mass production - rather, it can be called tuning, and secondly, Mercury were still frame cars, which greatly simplified the adaptation of all-wheel drive and made them rather conceptual analogues of the earlier Soviet GAZ-61-73 based on " Emki", and not the M-72 with its load-bearing body.

The car was equipped transfer case with a demultiplier and a switchable driving front axle (the front wheel hubs were also switched off).

On 16-inch wheels with increased lugs (as on the modern all-wheel drive Niva), the car had significant ground clearance, which provided it good cross through mud, sand, snow, arable land and broken roads.

The car was produced small series from 1955 to 1958. The first batch was assembled in June 1955, the car went into production in September. In 1955, 1525 pieces were produced, in 1956-1151, in 1957-2001. With the completion of the production of the M-20 Pobeda, the production of the M-72 also ceased.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• The total number of issued copies - 4677 pieces.
• The plant did not assign any official name, besides M-72, to this car. Therefore, the name "Victory" (or "Victory"-jeep) is not appropriate.

The radiator lining was decorated with the “M-72” cockade, and on the sides of the hood there were nameplates with a stylized inscription “M-72”.

M-72 V Kino

• In the TV series Inspector Cooper, the main character, police officer Alexei Kupriyanov (actor Oleg Chernov), drives a blue-green M-72.

GAZ M-72 VICTORY 4x4
on the go, complete, TCP on hand.
2nd owner

M-72 Soviet all-wheel drive passenger car, mass-produced by Gorky car factory from 1955 to 1958. A total of 4677 copies were released.

In the mid-50s, not only in the domestic, but also in the global automotive industry, all-wheel drive vehicles with a closed monocoque body and a comfortable interior were rarely seen - such as the executive GAZ-M72

Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, who became head of state in 1953, was an avid hunter. In his free time, he invited party and Soviet leaders to the "royal hunt" different levels and distinguished foreign guests. For trips to government hunting grounds, an all-terrain vehicle was needed - not as primitive and spartan as the GAZ-69, but not as heavy and clumsy as the experimental all-wheel drive developments based on the ZIS-110.

Early 1954 Gorky Automobile Plant received a government assignment - to develop and start production of a new model with all-wheel drive, which is not inferior to Pobeda in terms of comfort. General layout future car assigned an index "GAZ-M72".

GAZ designers collided with mass technical problems and real puzzles. And in 1954, for the first time in the Soviet automotive industry, a research laboratory for electrical testing was organized at GAZ, headed by Alexander Yakovlevich Tarasov. The laboratory equipment made it possible to carry out tensometric studies - to entangle the body with a web of wire sensors that measure the forces transmitted to the body at any point. All sensors were tuned with high accuracy during calibration on the bench and on a moving vehicle. The very first experiments showed what actually happens to the body in different modes driving on hard surfaces and off-road, on empty and loaded vehicles. It immediately became clear which parts of the body work to break at the limit of their capabilities, and which are subjected to non-hazardous loads, which mates are weak, and which, on the contrary, are excessively strong.

According to the results of the study, experienced body designers easily and quickly designed all the necessary amplifiers: additional boxes for the bottom, transverse booster of the motor shield, a new sub-frame and struts connecting it to the motor shield, supports connecting the roof to the body pillars - a total of 14 new parts . The result was stunning: the M72 body became heavier than the M20 body by an unrealistically small 23 kg, while bending stiffness increased by 30%, and torsional stiffness by 50%.

In the "tables of ranks" of Soviet personal cars, the all-wheel drive GAZ-M72 took a higher position than the usual "Victory" - it became a kind of analogue of the "rural and military ZIM". car high class relied on the corresponding equipment of the cabin. Previously, only ZIS and ZIM were equipped with radio receivers. The off-road GAZ-M72 was also equipped with a new A-8 tube receiver. In order to reduce the cost of production, the Murom Radio Plant launched this receiver into a series: first they equipped Pobedy with it, and then they introduced it on the new MZMA Moskivch-402 model. The GAZ-M72 driver was pleased with two more "pleasant little things": a ring, like in ZIM, a signal button on the steering wheel (it also went to all Podebs) and a washer windshield required in complex road conditions. First in domestic automotive industry the washer was installed specifically on the M72 - even on the Volga it did not appear immediately. Thus, all the novelties that distinguished the modernized Pobeda GAZ-M20V of 1955-1958 were introduced thanks to the off-road vehicle GAZ-M72.

GAZ-M72 cars were produced in small batches on the same conveyor with Pobeda, and then with Volga - the passenger conveyor was located at GAZ in a separate workshop (trucks were assembled on the main conveyor). The peak of GAZ-M72 production fell on 1957 - 2001 car.

Such production volumes cannot be called mass production, but this suited the main consumers. One or two cars were enough for government hunting farms, the rest of the copies became either military "personal cars" or official cars of representatives of local authorities - in the provinces and in the countryside. At the same time, there were no bans on the sale of the GAZ-M72 to private individuals. These cars with a series of numbers of individual owners met already in the mid-50s - they were officially considered passenger cars. However, in those years, a private trader was allowed to buy an even more expensive ZIM GAZ-12 passenger car. But until the end of the 60s, there were restrictions on the registration of private GAZ-69s, since such cars, according to the law, were classified as trucks.

The novelty aroused great interest among engineers and testers. GAZ-M72 vehicles were subjected to comprehensive tests at US and the military automobile NII-21 in Bronnitsy. On country roads near Moscow and in the Bronnitsky training ground GAZ-M72 competed in overcoming off-road with the most different cars off-road: cars and trucks, serial and experimental, domestic and foreign. In the state tests of new passenger cars "Moskvich" and "Volga", conducted by GAZ in 1955, there were many tests for patency, and the pre-production M72 played the role of a technical officer, constantly pulling cars stuck in the most difficult places.

But the most striking event in the history of the GAZ-M72 was the journalistic rally from Moscow to Vladivostok, which started on May 1, 1956 from the Lenin Hills - from the building of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. It would be organized with the active support of the Central Automobile and Motorcycle Club and personally the Minister automotive industry N.I. Strokina.
The first stop was in Gorky - the car was inspected and scheduled maintenance at GAZ. For several months, the GAZ-M72 crew covered 15 thousand km with a minimum number of breakdowns. The participants of the run wrote more than once about their adventures in printed publications and even edited a film.

Such production volumes cannot be called mass production, but this suited the main consumers. One or two cars were enough for government hunting farms, the rest. Officially, the GAZ-M72 was discontinued in 1958 due to the replacement of the Pobeda by the Volga. The promising type, published by the Ministry of the Automotive Industry in 1956, included a similar cross-country model, unified with the Volga GAZ-M21, but they did not even begin to develop it - the designers of the GAZ passenger design bureau in the late 50s were occupied by the Chaika, then promising model"Volga" and current upgrades of the GAZ-21.

OUTSIDE AND INSIDE

GAZ-M72 was the only domestic all-wheel drive car with a gear lever mounted on the steering column. The driver's workplace and dashboard are the same as those of the modernized Pobeda GAZ-M20V	All-wheel drive transmission was controlled by two floor levers on the engine tunnel	ZV center dashboard - tube radio "A-8"
In the 50s, only Cars. On the "rural" SUV, he looked like a "luxury item"	At GAZ-M72, like at GAZ-M20, the ventilation vents of the door windows did not have the usual frames. Outside rear view mirror factory equipment was not included	Like the "Victory", the hatch in front of the windshield regulates the flow of air passing through the heater radiator. To the right and left of the hatch, windshield washer nozzles are visible, which the M20 did not have (on this instance, the nozzles are modern)
GAZ-M72 did not officially bear the Pobeda brand. Therefore, the GAZ-M72 factory emblem differs from the Pobeda emblem, and there are nameplates on the sides of the hood with the inscription "M-72"		The front wings of the GAZ-M72 are original. They differ from the wings of the "Victory" in the size of the wheel arch and the presence of a stiffener around the arch. Wheels and their front hubs are similar to GAZ-69
The streamlined, almost sporty silhouette of the body of the "Victory" in combination with a high off-road suspension and developed tread tires of high cross-country ability looks unusual	The body of the GAZ-M72, in comparison with the body of the Pobeda, is raised high relative to the wheels, therefore rear arches covered with large decorative shields	The brake light and license plate bracket are exactly the same as those of the Pobeda GAZ-M20
The high seating position provides easy access to the drive axle gearboxes and cardan joints, which facilitates maintenance, lubrication, adjustment and repair	Transmission-type parking brake - a typical design solution for off-road vehicles and trucks	Right side the crankcase of the front axle M72 is shortened compared to the GAZ-69. Tie rods are original.
		The lower valve engines GAZ-M20, GAZ-M72 and GAZ-69 look very similar to each other - they belong to the same family. The picture shows the features of the M72 motor: a fan impeller with an increased number of blades, designed for better cooling radiator, and lack of shielded ignition

PASSPORT DATA

Scheme of the car GAZ-M72

Specifications GAZ-M72			Weight:
Number of places	5		total, including: load total	2040 kg
Max speed	90 km/h		to the front axle	1020 kg
Fuel consumption at 50 km/h	14 l/100 km		on rear axle	1020 kg
electrical equipment	12V
Accumulator battery:.	6ST-54		Ground clearances:
Generator	G-20		under the front axle	210 mm
Relay-regulator	RR-20B		under rear axle	210 mm
Starter - ST-20 with mechanical inclusion			under the transfer case	300 mm
Distributor breaker	R-23		Smallest turning radius:
Spark plugs - M-12U with 18 mm thread			along the track of the outer wheel	6.5 m
Tire size	6,50-16

• Front suspension: on two longitudinal semi-elliptic springs, hydraulic shock absorbers, double-acting
• Rear suspension: on two longitudinal semi-elliptical springs with anti-roll bar, hydraulic shock absorbers, double-acting
• Steering gear: globoidal worm with double-ridged roller, gear ratio - 18,2
• Brakes: workers - shoe on all wheels with hydraulic drive, parking - shoe with a mechanical drive to the transmission
• Clutch: single disc dry
• Transmission: mechanical three-speed with synchronizers in second and third gears
• Gear ratios: I - 3.115; II - 1.772; III - 1.00; reverse - 3,738
• Main gear: 5.125 (41 and 8 teeth)
• Transfer case: two-stage
• Transfer case ratios: higher - 1.15, lower - 2.78
• Carburetor: K-22D
• Max Power: 55 hp at 3600 rpm
• Max Torque: 1.27 kgf.m at 2000 rpm

MYTH 1: Nikita Khrushchev personally gave the terms of reference for the development of the all-wheel drive Pobeda

In 1953, Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, who became at the helm of the USSR, liked to go hunting, inviting the party elite of the republics and even foreign guests to government lands. The standard "goat" GAZ-69 was not particularly suitable for such events, because it was too spartan and not comfortable enough, and an ordinary passenger car simply could not drive there. But before the war, the Gorky Automobile Plant produced an all-wheel drive modification of the "emka" - which was distinguished by a combination of a comfortable passenger body and an off-road transmission.

GAZ-61-73 - one of the first in the world all-wheel drive SUVs with a comfortable body from a passenger car

The Secretary General really instructed the newly formed USSR Ministry of Machine Building (which included the former Ministry of the Automobile and Tractor Industry) to develop a machine that would not only be useful for Khrushchev himself for rare forays into nature, but would also be perfect as vehicle senior leaders in countryside- for example, chairmen of collective farms and secretaries of regional committees. In a word, all those who, on duty, must move along not the most the best roads, but in terms of rank, he can already ride Pobeda, and not a primitive "gazik".

GAZ-M20 in the fifties was practically "basic" company car many institutions and organizations of the USSR

The standard Pobeda had no problems with clearance. But for off-road, of course, it was not very suitable.

Relevant technical task in early 1954, Gorky's designers received them, who were to create an all-wheel drive vehicle based on the GAZ-M20, not inferior to the "source" in terms of comfort, but close to the GAZ-69 in cross-country ability.

MYTH 2: The transformation of a passenger car into a "jeep" was carried out quickly and with little bloodshed myth

In the Soviet Union, there was an opinion that the GAZ-M72 was just the body of the Victory, mounted high on the bridges of an SUV.

GAZ-M20 was different from the previous ones Soviet cars carrying body. Because of this, the creation of an off-road modification was not too easy and simple.

However, when developing this model, the designers encountered a number of serious problems. Firstly, I had to immediately abandon the idea of ​​​​crossing the frame chassis of the Gorky SUV with the Pobeda body, since such a design would have turned out to be overloaded. Secondly, just weld brackets for parts and assemblies to the bottom all-wheel drive transmission it was impossible - this would have violated the strength and rigidity characteristics of the "Pobedovsky" body, designed in addition to light pendants. And the rigid front springs and heavy axles, along with the rest of the off-road units, would simply “break” the supporting structure of the GAZ-M20 body.

Off-road tests of the usual Pobeda showed that it lacks not only all-wheel drive, but also the rigidity of the body for bending and torsion

Moreover, the installation of all-wheel drive components required the removal of some floor elements - that is, an even greater weakening of the power structure!

GAZ-M72 on the drawings looks like just a "raised Pobeda on GAZ-69 bridges." In reality, the designers had to make dozens of changes to the components and assemblies of both machines.

That is why the designers had to go a different way, taking up a serious strengthening of the body with a minimal increase in its weight.

MYTH 3: The strengthening of the GAZ-M20 body was performed after a series of scientific studies and laboratory tests using a new method

In 1954, for the first time in the Soviet automotive industry, a research laboratory for electrical testing was launched in Gorky, the equipment of which made it possible to measure forces at any point of the body, to which a special strain gauge was connected. This gave the designers the opportunity to understand which body elements are subjected to critical loads and require mandatory reinforcement, and which parts are affected by small forces.

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Based on the test results, bodybuilders, led by Abram Isaakovich Gor, quickly produced a sub-frame and braces, a transverse reinforcement of the engine shield, additional boxes for the bottom and amplifiers for the roof racks.

The new 14 parts added only 23 kg to the curb weight, but at the same time, the torsional rigidity of the body increased by as much as 50%, and for bending - by 30%!

That is, having practically retained the previous weight, the body of the all-wheel drive Pobeda has become much tougher and stronger. It is also important that the increase in rigidity occurred exactly where it was necessary, while maintaining the required elasticity of the load-bearing structure of the load-bearing body.

MYTH 4: The GAZ-M72 is close to the GAZ-69 in terms of chassis design

Despite the fact that the designers borrowed many components and assemblies from the GAZ-69, even these parts required numerous improvements associated with a different mass of the machine and its more “light” purpose. Therefore, the number of sheets in the springs was changed: one was added in front, and on the contrary, one was removed from the back, and the length of the springs themselves also changed. For better stability high machine an anti-roll bar was added to the rear suspension. Reducing the front track required the refinement of the right stocking of the front axle housing, which also led to the modernization of the steering rods.

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In addition, the GAZ-M72 used the original rear axle of a new model with semi-unloaded axle shafts, which could withstand "off-road" loads, but at the same time was much lighter than the "goat" axle.

Without changes, at the all-wheel drive Pobeda, only the GAZ-69 razdatka was used, but for the GAZ-M72, the most accurately manufactured and “quiet” specimens were selected at the plant.

The GAZ-69 transfer case was used on the GAZ-M72 without modifications

The engine was also reworked: thanks to the compression ratio raised from 6.2 to 6.5, its maximum power(for 3 hp - up to 55 hp), and the motor also received much more effective system cooling with an oil cooler and a six-bladed fan impeller.

The Pobeda lower-valve engine was used on several models of the Gorky Automobile Plant

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MYTH 5: Late restyling of the front end of the usual Pobeda GAZ-M20 is associated with the design features of the GAZ-M72

Real tests of the first prototypes showed that despite the modified cooling system, the engine " passenger SUV» prone to overheating. After carefully studying the issue, the designers came to the conclusion that the cause of the problem is the shape of the GAZ-M20 radiator lining with many horizontal jumpers that do not allow required amount air while driving at low speeds.

GAZ-M20V - a modernized Pobeda of the third production series, which is easiest to distinguish precisely by the radiator lining from the GAZ-M72

Serial GAZ-M72 received a new design of the front

That is why GAZ quickly developed a new radiator lining, the elements of which were located at a greater distance from each other. In order not to release several various options of the same part, in the fall of 1955, they began to put this lining on the usual rear-wheel drive Pobeda, which received the GAZ-M20V index after the next technical modernization. At the same time, the development of a new model, the future Volga, was in full swing at the plant, and the days of Victory on the assembly line, regardless of the update, were actually numbered.

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MYTH 6: All-wheel drive Pobeda was prestigious, but a mass car is both true and myth

Until May 31, 1958, that is, for 12 years, a total of about 240 thousand Victories of three production series were produced - GAZ-M20 (1946-1948 and 1948-1955) and GAZ-M20V (1955-1958 gg.). The victories of the first two series were produced both with a closed monocoque body and in the form of a convertible with a soft top, but the modification of the GAZ-M20V was made exclusively with a hard top. The all-wheel drive GAZ-M72, for a number of reasons, was produced in much smaller quantities than the usual passenger Pobeda. Firstly, there was no need for large volumes of production of a specific machine that could be used mainly in rural areas, but not by all consumers, many of whom did not rely on it by rank. After all, the all-wheel drive modification at that time was quoted even higher than the usual GAZ-M20!

The patency of the GAZ-M72 was not to be occupied. In fact, in this parameter, the all-wheel drive car was not much inferior to the "goat", significantly surpassing it in terms of comfort

In fact, this one is quite rare car in the unspoken table of ranks, he took an intermediate position between GAZ-69, Pobeda and ZIM precisely because of a non-trivial combination of mutually exclusive qualities. Let's not forget that it was the GAZ-M72 that was the first car after the representative limousines ZIS and ZIM, which was serially equipped with a tube radio. The first windshield washer in the history of the Soviet automotive industry also appeared on the GAZ-M72.

But the rumors about the mass character of the GAZ-M72 are quite exaggerated if we compare this car in terms of output with the usual Pobeda. After all, all-wheel drive modifications in small batches from the middle of 1955 were assembled on the same conveyor with the GAZ-M20V, but in completely different quantities - from 1,000 to 2,000 copies annually for the period from 1955 to 1958, and the total number of Victories produced with all drive wheels did not exceed 5,000 pieces. That is why this modification cannot be considered mass in any way, although at the same time it was quite serial.

Every year, from 1,000 to 2,000 GAZ-M72s were assembled in Gorky. According to factory data, the total number of cars of this model was 4,677 copies.

MYTH 7: GAZ-M72 could also be purchased by an ordinary Soviet citizen

In the environment Soviet drivers there was an opinion that many car models (including the GAZ-M72) were not available for free sale, since there was an official ban on their sale to private individuals. In reality, in the mid-fifties, both Pobeda and its all-wheel drive modification could be purchased by anyone - of course, having the required amount and with the physical presence of the car in the store.

The free sale of cars in the USSR to its own citizens started on September 1, 1948. It was on this day that the first Soviet store "Automobili" was opened in Moscow on Bakuninskaya Street.

Moreover, a “private trader” at that time could theoretically purchase even a ZIM GAZ-12 for 40,000 rubles! Since all these cars formally belonged to cars, there were no prohibitions on their purchase - unlike the same GAZ-69, for example, which belonged to trucks and, in principle, was not sold to private hands.

In practice, the purchase of any car by an ordinary Soviet citizen until the early sixties was an outstanding case - a sort of exception to the rule. Not in last turn due to the fact that, relative to the incomes of ordinary Soviet workers, a car was not so much a means of transportation as a luxury, for which there was simply not enough money in the first post-war years. After all, the average salary of workers in the USSR in the fifties as a whole for the national economy was about 700 non-denominated rubles, and the usual GAZ-M20 cost about 16,000.

What is your attitude to the GAZ-M72?

GAZ-M72 - the best car for traveling in the USSR in the mid-1950s

Of course, old cars, even so well restored, must be protected. So I struggle with the feeling of permissiveness. But it's getting worse. Is it a bump? On modern crossovers you need to overcome this step - and I'm too lazy to even switch to first gear. Enough traction. tall car slowly but confidently rolls over from side to side and without fuss approaches the next obstacle dangerous for today's all-terrain vehicles ...

SECOND VICTORY

Of course, the GAZ-M72 is far from the first car with solid off-road capabilities and a comfortable interior. In the United States, these were made back in the 1930s, which, by the way, prompted the creation of the first such Soviet design - an all-wheel drive version of the GAZ-61 emka. It was built in scanty quantities, addressed primarily to the army authorities. After the war, our industry was limited only to the "goats" GAZ‑67, then GAZ‑69, strong and hardy, but with a canvas roof and a minimum of amenities. The village authorities and, again, the military were happy about this. And they didn’t sell “gaziki” to private traders. Ideas, of course, were in the air. Since the late 1940s, Moscow has been experimenting with an all-wheel drive modification of the ZIS-110 limousine. But this car, astronomically far from the people, was rather an engineering curiosity.

Salon GAZ-M72 - like the "Victory", only with two additional transmission levers.

Who first came up with the idea to make an all-wheel drive version of the "Victory", history is silent. They even talked about the indication of Nikita Sergeevich himself, but this is not known for certain. And the car was designed by a group led by G. M. Wasserman, one of the main Gorky specialists in all-wheel drive. "Victory" has already won the love of ours and even the recognition of some foreign consumers (and they had plenty to choose from) thanks to a solid design. Nevertheless, to create a decent all-wheel drive version, it was necessary not only to install modified bridges and a GAZ-69 transfer case, but also to significantly strengthen the body - in particular, in the area where the B-pillars connect to the roof, spars, and dashboard.

Formally, the car "Victory" was not listed, and M72 is written on the body, but among the people, of course, it was called that way. She deserved this name, and not only because she came from the GAZ-M20.

TO THE FARM AND TO THE AREA

I can imagine the feelings of those who got behind the wheel of such a car six decades ago. Comfortable sofas, the comfort of a car, a reliable roof over your head, a windshield washer (the first in the USSR) and even a radio! At the same time, spring suspensions are strong, like those of the GAZ‑69, and the ground clearance is 210 mm. Such a car is not afraid of our country roads.

On the highway, however, the M72 behaves rudely according to current ideas. From a car with such a body, you expect more passenger, at least Pobedovsky habits. But in fact, driving a car is no easier than a “goat”. The motor of 55 forces accelerates with an effort heavy car. On a straight line, the M72 requires constant attention, it enters turns reluctantly, imposingly waddling from side to side. Probably, the point is not only in the design of the suspension (here, however, there is even a rear stabilizer) and a high body, but also in a narrower track than the 69th. But the car's brakes are quite enough, because, as soon as you release the gas pedal, the gears in the transmission diligently resist rolling.

When accelerating, every gear sounds different. The first is in a low, slightly hysterical bass, the third, straight, in a hoarse baritone. The car has just left the restoration workshop, has not been run in and will sing quieter over time, but experience shows - not much.

But these are such trifles in comparison with the ability to travel to distant fields, a farm and “to the area” with comfort never seen before! We went to the GAZ-M72, by the way, and further away.

TO THE OUTSIDES

On May 1, 1956, the writer Viktor Urin, VGIK graduate Igor Tikhomirov and the photojournalist "Behind the Wheel" Alexander Lomakin started on the GAZ-M72 on a run to Vladivostok. Urin bought the car with an advance payment for a book, by special permission. Gasoline on the route was also refueled according to a special directive - there were only one or two pumps for private traders and there were not many, but in the outback they were not seen at all. We drove slowly, with long stops. The run took almost six months, but we arrived! The press wrote about the trip, including, of course, “Behind the Wheel”, a book and a film (in color!) “On the Roads of the Motherland” appeared. True, less attention was paid to the car than it deserved - the main topic was a country living in changes and hopes that were impossible a few years ago.

On such a back sofa it was not a shame to seat the chief not only of the district, but also of the regional scale.

The 20th Congress of the CPSU had not yet passed, but the former "enemies of the people" were already returning from the far outskirts of the country. In 1955, a Decree was issued to end the state of war between the Soviet Union and Germany, and German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer came to Moscow. The magazines Youth and Foreign Literature began to appear - albeit timid, but hotbeds of free-thinking. Filmmakers paid more and more attention to the countryside: “Guest from Kuban” with Anatoly Kuznetsov, “Maxim Perepelitsa” with a very young Leonid Bykov, “Soldier Ivan Brovkin” with Leonid Kharitonov. Of course, in these films, as before, the village looked much happier than it actually lived, but against the backdrop of general happiness and fun, “certain shortcomings” were already revealed. The leadership of the country began not only to be interested in the life of the village, but also to do something for it. For example, a new all-wheel drive car - GAZ-M72.

He, in my opinion, is very similar to the chairmen from those naive paintings - strict, sometimes rude, but zealous and fair. I want to match this car. That is why I try to adapt to her difficult, but direct and honest character. Moreover, in skillful hands it can do what most of today's all-terrain vehicles never dreamed of.

VILLAGE CREATIVE

Alas, the GAZ-M72 was doomed at birth. In Gorky, there was a Volga at the exit - completely new car, and no one was going to make a 4x4 variant based on it. But then the M72 had few analogues in the world. Perhaps only the American "Willis-Jeep Station Wagon" and the French "Renault-Coloral".

In two decades, the Niva will appear - albeit a very distant one, but still a conceptual relative of the GAZ-M72. It will take another twenty years, and dozens of all-wheel drive cars with light comfort will enter the market. On our roads they are now also a dime a dozen. Much more than prosperous villages, whose inhabitants were addressed to an unusual domestic car. And that was almost 60 years ago...

"VICTORY" OVER OFF-ROAD

GAZ-M72 - an all-wheel drive car with a modernized Pobeda body and redesigned GAZ‑69 units has been produced since 1955. The car was equipped with a 55-horsepower 2.1-liter engine, a three-speed gearbox and a two-speed transfer case with gear ratios of 1.15 / 2.78. The car developed 90 km / h. In total, until 1958, 4677 cars were built.