GAZ-52. The Soviet automobile industry really has something to be proud of!

GAZ-52 belongs to the family of medium-tonnage cars produced by the Gorky Automobile Plant in the period from 1966 to 1989, and belongs to the third generation of GAZ vehicles.

The idea of the production of three families of cars at the Gorky Automobile Plant, which would be completely unified, arose in the middle of the last century. For the base model decided to take a new car GAZ-52 - the successor of the previous model, GAZ-51A. By the way, the GAZ-51 model is one of the most mass cars produced by the Soviet automotive industry. Almost 3.5 million copies (excluding cars produced abroad under license) have been produced all the time. Having adopted from its predecessor an engine, most of the units and assemblies of the running gear, a new car began to be manufactured with a cab from the GAZ-53. The main difference between the GAZ-52, whose photo is practically no different from the GAZ-53 photo, is that on the 52nd the in-line six-cylinder engine was installed, and on the 53rd - the V-shaped eight-cylinder engine.

The GAZ-52 car was created by a creative team under the leadership of the chief designer A.D. Prosvirnina with the participation of leading designers A.I. Shikhova and V.D. Zapoynova. The engine was designed by P.E. Syrkin. The prototype of this car was presented in 1958 at the International Exhibition in Brussels, where he was awarded the highest award.

For the next creation of Gorky car makers, the task was to provide the car with good maneuverability, smooth running and high throughput, taking into account the absence of hard-surfaced roads in most regions. At the same time, a number of improvements were made to the design of the new GAZ-52 model: an all-metal two-seater cabin, in which there was a heating device, a windshield ventilator, vacuum windshield wipers, windscreen panoramic glass, etc.

In addition, the lack at that time of high-quality high-octane fuel created additional difficulties in creating a powerful, but economical engine. The result of the work of Soviet scientists was the engine with a torch ignition, now almost completely forgotten. The application of the new technology allowed to increase the compression ratio of the engine from 6.2 to 6.8, and the power from 70 to 85 hp. When using gasoline A-66 (later became used A-76). Also, it was possible to achieve a reduction in fuel consumption with a significant increase in the dynamic characteristics.

The GAZ-52 was produced in almost twenty modifications. On the basis of its chassis, many special vehicles were created - dump trucks, vans, tank trucks, mobile workshops, etc. Some modifications have been retrofitted to operate on liquefied gas.

Over the time, more than a million pieces of equipment were produced, the last copy of which came off the assembly line in 1989. Nevertheless, it is not uncommon to find a GAZ-52 worker on the streets of our settlements. The price is relatively small, but its combination with high reliability and ease of operation makes the 52nd perhaps the most popular car in its class.