Friday, May 11, 2012

More Russian Cars

The Pobeda (victory) car was produced from 1946 until 1958.  There is one in Zhovti Vody in pretty fair condition.  It was parked beside me at the bank today so I grapped a couple of photos.  Wiki (link above) says "The Pobeda was the first Soviet automobile to have turn signals, two electric wipers, an electric heater, and a built-in AM radio. The car came to be a symbol of postwar Soviet life and is today a popular collector's item. A total of 235,997 Pobedas were produced".



The Volga was a luxury car, designed to replace the Poboda and was produced from 1956 to present.  It was not available to the general public until after the Soviet system collapsed, having been reserved for the higher ups of the Nomenclatura. My brother-in-law, Valerie, has one relatively new.  It reminds me of a 1990's Crown Victoria in some ways.



The Moskvich (Muscovite), like the Lada, was a very popular car with a great many still on the road.  It was produced from 1945 to 2002.  Tanya's father had one.  Tanya says one day he took her mother out to teach her to drive and when they came back the car was missing a door.  No one knows exactly what happened but her father wasn't the least upset, "It is only a car".  When they retired and moved home, Tanya's aunt and uncle drove one from Murmansk to Abakan, some 5500 km . This one was parked beside me today also.

Sorry about the thumb.
 There is a great deal of information for car aficionados at the above links to Wiki.

4 comments:

  1. I enjoyed your post about the Lada and this one. The 1946 Pobeda on the link looks like my Dad's 1946 Ford. The Pobeda on your blog looks kind of like a 1960's Vauxhaull.

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    Replies
    1. It does look like some kind of early 1950s Detroit something. I don't remember what a Vauxhaull looked like.

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  2. Didn't I see these cars in a demolition race on Top Gear? As I recall they took a sledge hammer to the Pobeda's front hood and it did no damage. Don't make em like that anymore.

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    Replies
    1. They must be solidly built. This one was in original paint and very little rust. Found another one in town today. They obviously run forever.

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