Reposting a compilation of information I've written on Soviet cars as promised:
USSR cars were really designed for tough weather conditions. Some had manual starting cranks to start in the winter and manual fuel pumps, allowing the entire vehicle to be driven without a battery. This low-tech design is also good in the even of a nuclear explosion, where EMP radiation would destroy transistorized electronics over a large area. It can be easily converted to run on wood, etc. in the event of a fuel shortage (someone has already done this). They have shortwave radios which allow reception from thousands of miles, and all cars have an included 21-piece toolkit for repairs while driving in Siberia, in the middle of nowhere.
The VAZ-2101 "Zhiguli"[1], was a licensed version of the Fiat 124. However, despite some base components remaining the same, there were significant differences in the soviet car. The main production variants had the original Fiat engine replaced with one designed by the Soviet NAMI; the new engine had a modern overhead camshaft design[2]. The suspension was raised and reinforced for usage in rural areas, the rear brakes were replaced with aluminum drum brakes and the body was made of thicker steel. Far from clean sheet, but not an identical copy either. The Lada Classic or VAZ-2105 was a further evolution of this, and became the third best selling automobile platform after the VW Beetle and Model-T Ford[3], and it is one of the longest production run platforms as well[4] Along side the Volga.
Even if one concedes the Lada Classic’s Fiat roots there are dozens of other soviet cars of independent design, such as the GAZ M-20 Pobeda*[5], which was the first mass produced car to have pontoon sides and integrated headlights. An independent design, with similar cars only seen in the USA 5 years after its creation.
Even the infamous Trabant [6] is not a bad car when compared to other lemons like the Ford Pinto, Gremlin or Pacer. And is quite popular today among collectors.[7] I've never understood the animosity against Trabant; The 2CV production continued until 1990, and Portugal wasn't even communist at that time. The duroplast [8] body and two stroke engines did what they were supposed to do, be fuel-efficient, light personal transport.[9] [10] The 1960 model of Trabant went to 62MpH, had 18 Horse Power and 60 miles per gallon (the standard gas conserving cars in the West at BEST did 35 MpG).
The Duroplast body was both cheap and non-corrosive, as it was made using the cellulose of pulped wood, essentially making use of paper/wood waste products.
[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAZ-2101[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overhead_camshaft [3]
https://books.google.com/books?id=45ofAQAAIAAJ Car Emblems: The Ultimate Guide to Automotive Logos Worldwide Pg154
[4] whos-left-in-the-old-folks-home-now-that-the-lada-rivas-gone
[5]
https://totalcar.hu/magazin/szerelem/pobeda/[6]
https://archive.is/9JcMm [7]
https://archive.is/fF40T[8]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duroplast [9]
https://www.autonews.com/letter-editor/trabant-has-been-reliable-mostly [10]
https://www.bhlingual.com/east-germanys-trabant-peoples-car-a-reprieve-blog Soviet industry exported 300,000-400,000 cars annually, mainly to Soviet Union satellite countries, but also to Northern America, Central and Western Europe, and Latin America. Before its dissolution, the Soviet Union produced 2.1-2.3 million units per year of all types, and was the sixth (previously fifth) largest automotive producer, ranking ninth place in cars, third in trucks, and first in buses. Russian trucks are still quite popular because while America has millions of miles of asphalted roads - many haven't been maintained but they're still better than most Russian highways today - Russian roads are often less road than potholes and often a main road will turn into a gravel track. For all the Americans eulogizing about their Macks, Kenworths and Peterbilts, the vast majority really don’t have to fight the conditions of terrible weather and terrible roads in Siberia that the Russians have to face almost all their working lives and the Russian trucks will only last two or three times longer than their US counterparts. Also, don’t forget that a trucker buying a vehicle in Russia will often be taking a second-hand ex-military unit converted to civilian use, which was standard even in the USSR when roads were maintained.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry_in_the_Soviet_Union - Data on soviet car exports:
https://genby.livejournal.com/267497.html - Car Prices:
http://www.opoccuu.com/autoprices.html http://back-in-ussr.info/2016/10/ceny-na-avtomobili-v-sssr/ - Soviet Car Ads I:
https://archive.vn/KiDGb- Soviet Car Ads II:
http://archive.is/w8K6w - Soviet Car Ads III:
https://archive.vn/SvrX6 - Selling Abroad:
https://archive.vn/HNSfU (Pic 2 related)
Soviet car innovation (Pic 1 related)
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https://archive.vn/rAXvB-
https://archive.vn/tUMzr -
https://archive.is/QCrg9 -
https://archive.is/AYR2q -
http://archive.is/X9e31 -
https://archive.vn/RZZko -
https://archive.vn/gAEI3 - Afalina:
https://archive.vn/HLnXh- Taxi of the future:
https://archive.vn/4YTNN- SZD invalid car:
https://archive.is/45dDe- Soviet Cabrios:
https://archive.vn/syj60 - Minibus:
https://archive.vn/xnf8Y - Zil-112c 'Soviet Cobra':
https://archive.is/4HAEG- Hydrogen Mini-vans:
https://archive.vn/IWwLB- Electrical trucks/Trolleys were efficient:
https://archive.vn/8QM4Z - Early Soviet Trolleys Part 1-3:
https://archive.ph/JqU0Z /
https://archive.ph/NBy3L /
https://archive.ph/o0TE6 - Ural trucks capabilities:
https://oborudow.ru/en/sovety/sekrety-sovetskih-kb-eksperimentalnye-uraly-suhoputnye-i/ Power-stations produce electrical energy from the cheapest uranium or from the coal. 1 tonn of coal costs $50 ($2 per 1 GJ) and efficiency of electrical energy producing is 40% – wasting on distribution is about 20% – so, final efficiency is 32%. Transfer of electrical energy on mechanical energy has efficiency about 95%. So energy 1 GJ for the lorry is worth “in coal price” about $6.58 and cost of power-station and distribution of electrical energy – together about $20 per 1 GJ (280 kWh) of mechanical energy. 1 barrel of oil on fuel station cost $100 (in EU with taxes about $200). So it’s $700 per 1 ton ($16 per 1 GJ). The real efficiency of transfer heat energy on mechanical energy is lower than 25% in car transport. For big lorry on the route it can be 40%. So energy 1 GJ for the lorry is worth about $40 ($80 with EU taxes). Final cost is higher.
Motorcycles were fairly popular in the USSR as well such as the ПМЗ-А-750 Русский «Харлей»:
https://motos-of-war.ru/ru/motorcycles/pmz-a-750/ and ИЖ-1:
https://archive.is/iWxQBAccounts of Soviet cars in Modern Mechanix
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http://blog.modernmechanix.com/i-drove-through-russia/-
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/russian-iron/ -
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/cars-behind-the-iron-curtain/-
https://archive.vn/Dt1zY Some ancdotal stories of Soviet cars and racing (Pic 3 related)
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https://archive.is/qt4s0-
http://autosoviet.altervista.org/ENGLISH-automotorusse-formula.htm -
https://archive.vn/uUXhv -
https://archive.vn/Hai6f-
https://englishrussia.com/2009/03/26/soviet-racing/#comment-428845 https://archive.vn/9xdMm - A Russian channel dedicated to Warsaw Pact vehicles military and civilian:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuWhsa1VzH2CB20aBmCmxQw - Documentary by Zvezda:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i9mcU2GEOA-
https://www.drom.ru/info/misc/78884.html*Pobeda
>Inb4 muh Opel Opel Kapitan 1940:
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http://gaz20.spb.ru/img/opel/kapitan4.jpg-
http://gaz20.spb.ru/img/opel/kapitan2.jpgWooden full-size breadboard model of ‘Pobeda'(1944)
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http://gaz20.spb.ru/img/hist_1943-1945_pic06.jpgPre-production model(1945)
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http://gaz20.spb.ru/img/hist_1943-1945_pic12.jpgOther "muh copies" debunk: from 8:34 - 11:45
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h714LBj9v-8