Jalopnik: Gaz

More Evidence Points To Hummer Sale; Russians, Chinese Interested?

Andrew Stoy — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:15:00 EDT

More evidence is emerging that GM is moving quickly to solve its Hummer problem. The Detroit Free Press reports today on John Voss, a Dayton-area dealer who purchased a Hummer franchise in April, who says that GM offered to refund his money. "They have three choices and they said they want to make this decision very quickly," Voss said. "They are either going to make a smaller Hummer hybrid and change the H2, close the brand or sell it." Given the lead time needed to create a Hummer hybrid or impose radical changes to the H2 and the implications of closing the brand, a sale still seems to be the most practical option for GM.

Countries raking in huge oil profits are would be the most likely destination for Hummer. Markets in Russia and Latin America continue to demand large SUVs, while China and India are potential suitors as well. At least one analyst speculated about Hummer as a logical fit for Tata Motors. "It would be a great fit with Land Rover," said Rajesh Kothari, a partner with investment banker Seneca Partners LLC and Manchester Holdings. "Hummer is a similar product line; it has similar demographics but a different reach." While the combination of Tatas and a Hummer make perfect sense to us, a spokesperson from the Indian automaker declined to comment.
[Freep; Photo Credit: GraniteGrok.com]

Volvo XC90 Wins Russian "SUV of The Year," We Offer Alternatives

Ben Wojdyla — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:20:00 EDT

Nobody will argue that the Volvo XC90 is a pretty decent SUV. It's stylish, comfortable, and even comes with a V8 now. But all that doesn't explain why it won "Russian SUV of The Year"...for the third time. Considering the soft nature of the big Volvo, we would have thought the hardened fist of Russian nationalism would have pushed for a more domestic entry. But if they won't, we will: Thus, Jalopnik's "No Bolshevik" nominations for Russian SUV of the Year.

Kombat T-98
What would you ever want with a stinky old Volvo XC90 when something like the Kombat T-98 exists? It's an armored luxury SUV available with either an 8.1-liter GM V8 or the Duramax 6.6-liter turbodiesel. The hardware is somewhat awesome, but the interior wins our hearts, featuring steel booze glasses in a chilled glovebox — perfect for keeping your vodka close at hand. [AllCarNews]

Vityaz Transporter
Russia is big, covering a sixth of the Earth and encompassing virtually every type of ecosystem. What better way to get absolutely anywhere under any circumstances than in the totally wicked Vityaz Transporter? Land, sea, arctic permafrost and bog, the Vityaz will get you there and back — the ultimate SUV. [Vityaz]

Porsche Touregenne

When great taste meets fabrication prowess and oil-baron money, the result is a thing like this VW/Porsche Touareg/Cayenne, whatever it is. We all marveled at its breathtaking coachwork and inspired styling updates. For the truly exclusive sets of Russian playboys, this baby is hot to trot. [Porsche Toureg]

GAZ Tiger-2
The GAZ Tiger-2 seems like the Russian version of a Chinese knock-off of the Humvee, but it's complete with space-age plastic hubcaps, multiple shift knobs and luxurious pleather seating surfaces. The Tiger built for the public is a definite choice for all but the most discerning customers. [Tiger 2]

GAZ 59037A
For so many Russians, the Vityaz is just too big to fit in the garage, so a compact, go-anywhere vehicle is definitely in order. The GAZ 59037 will go virtually anywhere the big Vit will, but also offers the convenience of tires and fits nicely into a standard heavy-lift military cargo plane. With convenience like that, its hard to believe the Volvo actually took home the prize. [GAZ 59037A]

Oh, and, if you are interested in the Volvo press release on the actual winner, check it out in all its glory below.

The Volvo XC90 - SUV of the Year in Russia for the third time
Volvo Cars received several prestigious awards in Russia in 2007 and to date in 2008. The most recent is for the Volvo XC90, which was crowned best crossover - "2008 SUV of the Year".

"There was immensely tough competition and we are very proud over this prestigious award," says Volvo Car Russia's PR director, Alexei Kozhukhov, who received the award at a ceremony in Moscow.

Russian car owners voted the Volvo XC90 the best choice on the market.

Motoring organisation Club 4x4 runs the competition, in which eight categories are featured.
Of 101 models in the competition, 16 went on to the finals. Car owners voted via a website or sent in SMS text messages with their votes and Volvo XC90 emerged the winner in the category "Full-size SUV".
That the Volvo XC90 came out on top is by now something of a tradition. The Volvo XC90 received awards in this contest in 2005 and 2006 too.

"Russia has been the European market N1 in the Volvo SUV sales in 2007, so the contest "SUV of the Year" is an important event in this country", says Volvo Car Russia's President, David Thomas. "Russians traditionally like big cars - this is the reason why Russia takes the second place right after the USA in the global sales chart of Volvo XC90. So, we are looking forward to the launch of our new crossover, the Volvo XC60", concludes David Thomas.

Volga Display Of Prana: Russian Automaker GAZ Seeks Partners In India

John Krewson — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EDT

Apparently this has been out there for a while, but before we discussed the news that Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod, manufacturers of the Volga line of hulking vehicular tragicomic props, was looking for partners on the Indian subcontinent, we needed to find press releases with the right sort of Moose-Und-Sqvirrel feel.

The actual hard news, of course, is that GAZ is most likely trying for a piece of the commercial vehicle market in auto-ascendant India, where Tata recently made headlines by unveiling the $2500 Nano and buying a couple venerable British marques off Ford. Unfortunately, it's unclear exactly which Indian firm would partner with Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod, as while their name may be fun to say, they'd be up against current native truckmaker Mahindra, among others. What we can tell you as an absolute press-release certainty, though, is that

"success of cars launched by all global players in India is driving force behind Russia to think over entering Indian auto market."

Or, as one GAZ senior official evidently said,

"As auto is one of the key areas of the India-Russia Forum on Trade and Investment we are looking at business partnership in future."

Industry implications aside, it's lots of fun to imagine Russian heavy vehicles operating in the nation with the world's largest population of stray cows. Probably even more fun than coming up with silly "In Soviet Russia..." jokes.

Pobeda, Baby!

Murilee Martin — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:30:00 EST

We think the ideal car for a Russian rockabilly dude would have to be a heavily customized ZIS 112, but the GAZ-M20 Pobeda is way easier to find these days. Lower it a bit, shine up the chrome, and install some aftermarket wheels, and you'll be living in an alternate universe in which the Soviet Union of the 1950s was all about rock-n-roll and hot-rod hoonage.

Russian Used Cars Are Much Better Than Ours: GAZ 59037A

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:45:00 EST

Ever wish you had something a little more substantial than the ridiculous Ford F650, but you're looking for something with a military flair? Perhaps a bit more intimidating to keep those overzealous tailgater's off your back side? Might we interest you in this compelling GAZ 59037A? It's the civilian version of Russia's GAZ BTR 80 armored troop carrier. Fitted with all the modern amenities such as fold flat seating, DVD player, panoramic skylights, a 10.85L supercharged V8, good for 260 hp and 578 lb.ft. of torque, nearly half a meter of ground clearance and let's not forget, it floats. We seem to have convinced you, might we interest you in the available central tire inflation system? If you're interested in further details, pay a visit to this site, if you're good with Russian, go here. (Ed - We're going to get so much crazy email over this)

In Mother Russia, New Satellite Standards Map You!

Travis Hudson — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 09:15:00 EST

While most of us were inhaling fruit cake, those wacky Russians decided to launch three Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) mapping satellites into space on Tuesday. This launch is a big milestone in the implementation of the GLONASS, which has been in the works since the mid 1970s. But how will this affect vehicular navigation?

Well, it won't — at least it shouldn't. It's already been stated that GLONASS and GPS can complement each other. GLONASS was originally designed for the armed forces, but even if GLONASS makes it globally as a consumer product, it would be quite the stretch to get GPS manufacturers like GARMIN or TomTom to essentially reinvent the wheel and confuse the hell out of consumers. By the end of 2009 or 2010, people should be familiar with GPS systems, and introducing another standard to the very-functional current system would just be ridiculous for GPS manufacturers or automakers to implement this standard. But, you never know what the zany guys at GAZ might do, right? [Reuters]

GAZ Unveils Siber Sedan At Moscow Auto Show

Ray Wert — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 13:15:00 EDT

With all the reveals going on for the Frankfurt Auto Show, we almost forgot there's a show in Moscow heating up the Russian capitol, and Russian automaker GAZ has just revealed their newest hot vehicle. And yet again, it's proof that in Russia, cars design you. Don't believe us? Quick, then — walk through the gallery below and spot and name which car(s) this particular Russian sedan's culling design cues from? We've already found four in just a few moments and we're fairly sure there's more fun to be found beneath the Moscow released folds of Russian automaker GAZ's newest ~~intellectual property rip-off~~ ~~homage~~ sedan, the Siber. [via Auto.lenta.ru]

Russian automaker GAZ buys 5% of General ...

Ray Wert — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 14:40:00 EDT

Russian automaker GAZ buys 5% of General Motors. Yes, friends, the end of the world is nigh. [Automotive News via Autoblog]

Gaz wants nothing to do with FoMoCo's Jaguar ...

Ray Wert — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 07:15:00 EDT

Gaz wants nothing to do with FoMoCo's Jaguar and Land Rover. We love the sensationalism of the Russian press. [Reuters]

In Soviet Russia, Volga Wears YOU!

Davey G. Johnson — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 17:15:00 EDT

The GAZ-3102 was obviously a mighty special iteration of the Volga. Just eyeball that cheese-grater grille. Or better yet, bust out a brick of romano and top off your bowl of minestrone. Also not to be missed is what's apparently the heigh of proletariat fashion in the 1980s. Both the outfit and the Volga promise to offer comfort and convenience for many years. Thankfully, the swift comrades at the ad bureau were smart enough to avoid a false-advertising suit by touting style.

Vintage Automotive Advertising [Found in Mom's Basement]

Related:
In Soviet Russia, Volga

We Will Steer Over You! Soviet-Era Arcade Video Games

Mike Bumbeck — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 13:00:00 EDT

While we were throwing quarters into Spy Hunter or Robotron 2084, our counterparts in the Soviet Union were slipping Kopecks into Obgon and Autorally. Seems that Soviet military factories procured a few Japanese games and reverse engineered over 70 Soviet versions. These games were then officially distributed for the purposes of entertainment, and developing visual estimating ability. A couple of guys at Moscow State University have started collecting and restoring these digital-mechanical monuments to active leisure before the games were converted into wheelbarrows or similar oblivion. The game shown here is called Magistral, which translates as Superhighway. While competition for high score was discouraged, free plays were awarded for great achievement. Soviet-era driving games also featured a distinct lack of gas or brake pedals. – Mike Bumbeck
[Thanks to Retro Thing for the tip]

The Lost Arcade Games of the Soviet Union [wired.com]

Turko-Schmaltz Ode To The GAZ Volga

Murilee Martin — Fri, 25 May 2007 11:30:00 EDT

Here's a Turk who just loves his '69 Volga! So much so, in fact, that he's put together possibly the most cheezy car-love video ever made. It's got endless photos and videos of his beloved white GAZ, every transition effect his $9.99 video-editing software had to offer, and all set to a tear-jerking weepo-pop soundtrack. We're just disappointed by the lack of Volga Drifting, but hey, can't have everything. – Murilee Martin

Related:
Lump In Throat, Tear In Eye: Love Your Syrena [internal]

BMW 6-Series Goes GAZ-ooks, Becomes A Volga GAZ-21!

Ray Wert — Wed, 23 May 2007 14:30:00 EDT

Everyone wants to make their pedestrian straight-off-the-line car look unique — that's kinda what customization's all about, right? Well, nothing could look more unique in our eyes than what our boy Paul Tan's hipped us to — apparently the owner of this BMW 6-Series didn't feel so cool with Perestroika, and wanted to make sure everyone knew where his allegiances lay. That's the only reason we can think of for why the owner's re-skinned a 6-series to make it look like a 2-door version of the 50's king car of the Kremlin "czars" — the Volga GAZ-21. We don't know much else about the reason why the owner decided to go retro in this re-skin, but we do know it takes someone with seriously big beets to customize a car with this much borscht. – Ray Wert

BMW 6-series skinned to look like Volga GAZ-21 [PaulTan.org]

Chrysler Group Sales Speculation: Russian Billionaire To Fund Magna Bid For Chrysler!

Ray Wert — Thu, 10 May 2007 10:15:00 EDT

OK, so we'll totally called this one. True, we called it humorously, but whatevs, we'll take our wins when and where we can. Under the terms of an agreement announced early Thursday companies owned by Oleg Deripaska, the Russian entrepreneur, will pay $1.54 billion to acquire 20 million Class A shares of Magna International. Magna CEO Frank "Stroke Me, Stroke Me" Stronach claims the transaction has nothing to do with the Chrysler bid — but it's hard not to think that the additional hot injection of cold Russian capital from Deripaska doesn't have something to do with it. So this means if the Magna deal goes through we'll have the same guy who owns GAZ also now owning part of the Chyrsler Group — so we guess GAZ will finally be able to steal those Jeep designs legally. Ah, the joys of Capitalism! [Hat tip to AllenParkPete!] – Ray Wert

Russian billionaire buying Magna stake [Report On Business]

Mayday! Mayday! One Bad GAZ Pobeda

Murilee Martin — Tue, 01 May 2007 20:30:30 EDT

We don't know what engine this GAZ-M20 Pobeda has, but it sounds pretty mean, in a crappy-yet-tough rusty-muffler-industrial sorta way. – Murilee Martin

Related:
It Had To Happen: Lowrider Warszawa! [internal]

All Hail The Glorious Revolutionary Stalinmobile!

Murilee Martin — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 16:30:09 EDT

At first glance we were thinking "All right, Stalin murals on a Volga- that's mildly entertaining, in a sort of twisted let's-pretend-the-gulag-never-happened way." But then we spotted the red star wheels on the thing! Da! English Russia, you're the Czar in our book. – Murilee Martin

Stalin Car [English Russia]

Related:
Meet Me At The Red Star Drive-In, Comrade! [internal]

More Commie Car Madness: Volga Donuts

Murilee Martin — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 16:30:07 EDT

Who says you need to drive cars made in the sweatshops of running-dog capitalist exploiters to have a good time? As we've already seen with the Lowrider FSO Warszawa, cars built in ~~the gulag~~ the glorious workers' factories of the Marxist-Leninist republics get the job done too! For example, these Russian hoons spinning some donuts in their Volgas. Sure, they're relatively lethargic donuts, but donuts nonetheless. – Murilee Martin

Related:
Hoon of the Day: In Russia, Volga Crashes You! [internal]

It Had To Happen: Lowrider Warszawa!

Murilee Martin — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 10:14:32 EDT

'50 Mercs and '51 Chevys are hard to come by in Poland, so any Pole who hankers for the feeling of rolling in a chopped-and-channeled lowrider to see the '59 Battle of the Doo Wop Bands in El Monte is forced to make do with local vintage steel. However, that's a good thing, as shown here by this FSO Warszawa (which is, of course, a Polish-made GAZ M20 Pobeda). It's got hydraulics, it does burnouts, and it's (apparently) available for wedding duties. The site's all in Polish, but that won't matter. – Murilee Martin

Skacz ca Warszawa FSO LowRider [skaczacawarszawa.pl]

Related:
In Russia, Another BMW-Powered Volga, You! [internal]

FSO Warszawas For Victory!

Murilee Martin — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:02:41 EDT

Now that we're on the subject of FSO's cars, how about a nice inspiring newsreel trumpeting the glorious FSO Warszawa? The Warszawa was a GAZ Pobeda license-built in Poland by FSO from 1951 through 1973, and they sure look great in May Day parades. Comrade. – Murilee Martin

Related:
Meet Me At The Red Star Drive-In, Comrade! [internal]

What's Russian For Sawzall? GAZamino And Much, Much More

Murilee Martin — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 17:55:36 EDT

English Russia just keeps serving up huge helpings of vehicular goodness, and here's the latest: a big collection of photographs of various "field expedient" vehicles from across Holy Mother Russia. There's a Volga 21-amino, a busamino, and several examples of sheer Rasputinesque madness. – Murilee Martin

Strange Russian Cars [English Russia]

Chevy SSR Who?: Russian GAZ Concept

Mike Spinelli — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 14:39:19 EST

Way back, when Uncle Joe Stalin was advising President Roosevelt on where to stick his Yalta, the Soviet Union's workhorse was the GAZ truck. As the story goes, GAZ trucks were so tough, on cold days Russians would start them by firing a 75mm shell into the engine. Once running, they could power through Russian hardtack as if it were ground-up tea cookies. Now, a Moscow tuning shop is creating a street rod from an old GAZ-51, using a rehabbed cabin and a wooden bed. It's destined for coolness, though old Joe probably would have disappeared the team for showing a bit too much individuality. – Mike Spinelli

Russian tuners turn toward next project: a "varnished" Hot Rod pickup [Autoblog]

Related:
Volga Recasts the BMW 6-Series, Ruskie Style [internal]

In Soviet Russia, Pobeda Customizes You!

Mike Spinelli — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 07:30:00 EDT

Russia's postwar GAZ-M20 was the symbol of Soviet postwar prosperity (a potato in every pot, and all that). According to Wikipedia it was dubbed Pobeda, or "victory," and is best remembered as the first car in the USSR with turn signals, electric wipers (not the mechanical kind connected to the drivetrain, as was used formerly), an electric heater and an AM radio. Now among the classics, M20s — like this one — are often customized by people like Chip Fooski and Boydchik Codding . [Thanks to Mark for the tip.] – Mike Spinelli

New Old Car Remake: Pobeda [English Russia]

GAZ-ooks, Check Out The Plastic Rims! Russian Automaker Unveils Tiger-2 SUV Concept

Ray Wert — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 10:40:00 EDT

GAZ, the Russian automaker, announced at the Moscow Auto Show (who knew!) this past week the arrival of a new SUV that appears to include some style elements not entirely its own. In fact, depending on which direction you're looking at it, it looks alternately like an H3, a Jeep Commander and a Nissan Xterra. Although none of us speak fluent Russian, we were able to consult one of our friends to find out whats up with this GAZ-guzzler. Here's our back n' forth IM convo, along with more pics after the jump:

Jalopnik: You have second? Can you translate this for me — it's about a new car in Russia by GAZ called the "Tiger-2."
Russian Friend: It's about another shame of the Russian automotive industry. Do you really want me to translate it for you?

Jalopnik: Its about another shame of the Russian automotive industry? That doesn't make sense.
Russian Friend: Yes:-) They have released a new jeep car that is actually is a very poor copy of a Hummer and costs about $50 000- 60 000.

Jalopnik: In the US, we'd call that Standard Operating Procedure for an automaker — create a new model by building something off of others ideas, just build it bigger and cheaper than everyone else, and oh yeah — sell it for more money.

Russian Friend: No, you can't even imagine how BAD Russian cars are. No American car can be as bad:-) Russia is unbeatable in this field:-)

? -2 [Cardesign.ru via Autoblog]