GAZ 13 "Seagull" - we were born to make a fairy tale happen

GAZ 13 "The Seagull" is a legendary Soviet sedan of the executive class. Its development was begun in 1956, when the then flagship of the Soviet prestige class was hopelessly behind fashion. "ZIM" GAZ-12 was not a bad car, just the fifties were marked in the history of cars as a period of rapid development. And in the design as well. Therefore, not updated in terms of design, "ZIM" very quickly began to look like a stunning guest from the past. What is there: "Ze Maser Rasha." The successor of the obsolete sedan was to be GAZ 13 "Seagull". The sale to its population was not originally planned. The thirteenth did not even have an established retail price. In the most "equal and free" state in the world, this machine was supposed to transparently hint "hu from hu." GAZ-13 "Seagull" has always been used as a personal transport of the nomenclature of the highest rank, which received this car as part of the "privileges" that they "put".

Interior
Such marketing policy also determined the basic conceptual moments of the new flagship of the family of cars. Three-row arrangement of seats, a spacious interior, a pretentious design, and, of course, an exorbitant amount of all kinds of bells and whistles, and just crazy for those times of technological novelties. As an example, let's give the power steering, vacuum brake amplifiers, push-button control of the hydromechanical gearbox, the original, among other things. Well, then the know-how in the scoop - electric windows to bypass attention, of course, not. The dashboard, in general, was not poor here.

A separate mention deserves a car salon. As we have already said, GAZ-13 "Seagull" could not buy a simple mortal. And for uneasy mortals, comfortable conditions were provided from behind. Wide sofa instead of sitting. Soft armrests. Curtains on the back and side windows for connoisseurs of privacy. And the place, so much space that if you wanted in the back seat you could even play hide and seek. In order for you to appreciate the whole space of this car, I will say that various modifications were made on the basis of the GAZ-13 "Seagull", which were used as an ambulance without significant changes in the base.

Design
"Packard Caribbean" - this particular unit had a very considerable influence on the external performance of GAZ 13 "Seagull". A single copy of this car was even delivered to the USSR to enable specialists from the design bureau to get to know him better. However, contrary to popular belief, the GAZ-13 "Seagull" was not completely lapped from the product of a rotten West, unlike many other soviet products. Fleeting similarities, of course, there are, however, just enough of them not to interfere with calling the Seagull an independent development. The reason lies in the following: as we have already said, GAZ 13 "Seagull" was originally created as the flagship of the Soviet automotive industry. Feilit was simply impossible. The result of such meticulous attitude to the project was worthily rewarded - in 1958 a new development was marked by the Grand Prix at the World Industrial Exhibition for the excellence of technical design and modern design.

Specifications
GAZ 13 "Chaika" was the first in the Soviet automobile industry to use a V-shaped, eight-cylinder engine with a four-chamber carburetor. This 195-strong, 5.5-liter monster drove a car with a mass exceeding two tons to 100 km / h in 20 seconds. The fuel consumption was about 14 liters per hundred kilometers. This is a lot, however, the passengers of the Seagull did not know what a deficit is. Considered, to put it mildly, the imperfection of the Soviet road surface, the road gaps of the "Seagull" - 180 mm under the front axle and 210 milimeters under the crankcase of the main drive. In addition, the body of GAZ 13 "Seagull" mounted on rubber cushions mounted on a spinal frame with an X-shaped cross member (without the presence of side rails). Here such here top of the Soviet engineering thought.