• Soviet Cars

    GAZ Announces End Of The Road For Volga

    After nearly 53 years of production, Russian auto manufacturer GAZ has announced the end of production for the famed Volga saloon. The rolling symbol of the former Soviet Union will be put to rest in two months as a result of falling demand, high commodity prices, and cheap foreign cars flooding the market. GAZ plans to refocus their activities on their more profitable and competitive heavy truck product lines. Despite their declining quality and atrocious handling, we firmly believe that tattooed across every Russian gearhead's heart is the image of a Volga GAZ-23. We expect there will be many shots of vodka tossed back today in honor of the doomed brand. [The Guardian]

    12:30 PM on Wed Oct 29 2008
    By Ben Wojdyla
    1,255 views, 40 comments

    Most discussed sos10: So, we better forget about buying this model? [www.gotryke.com] more »

  • industry news

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

    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. More »

    10:00 AM on Mon Apr 7 2008
    By John Krewson
    821 views, 10 comments

    Latest by ranwhenparked: I highly doubt GAZ will even attempt to interest Indians in their Volga passenger cars- India has already moved well more »

  • novelties

    Comrades! Glorious Stalinmobile Volga Based On Cayenne Chassis!

    We posted on the Stalinmobile Volga last year, but we didn't have much in the way of details about the car. Now it turns out that the thing is based on a Porsche Cayenne chassis and appears to be an engineering masterpiece, in addition to being a stunningly campy homage to one of the most blood-soaked rulers in world history. The sites are in German and Russian, but we get the gist. Make the jump for an even larger gallery. Thanks to Franzouse for the tip! [CromJuwelen, Copypast.ru, RusAutoDesign.ru]

    More »

    4:15 PM on Mon Feb 18 2008
    By Murilee Martin
    1,716 views, 30 comments

    Latest by brandegee: @BigEnusBurdett: Yes, that would awesome. Some "Archipelago Gulag" parking stickers on the back glass would be choice as well. more »

  • safety

    In Russia, Safe Driving Benefits YOU!

    There's apparently no end to the amazing car-related stuff the folks at English Russia provide for us; here's a vintage Russian driver's-ed handbook with scary illustrations and lines such as "Don't use vodka as a fuel/Or you'll crash your engine cruel." Best of all, the cars seem to be Zaporozhets! [English Russia]

    11:15 AM on Mon Sep 24 2007
    By Murilee Martin
    885 views, 10 comments

    Latest by SeanKHotay: It's missing one: "You brake in my queue I break you!" more »

  • the constant variety of soviets

    On Globe, Soviet Cars Span YOU!

    More hosannas and praise are to be heaped upon the glorious celebration of state and culture formally known as English Russia. Here they've wrassled up a plethora of Soviet-era vehicles from around the planet. We're still bitter about not being able to pick up a Lada Niva in California, but we're gonna yell over to Andrei to fire up the jukebox and rock out to some Stravinsky. That and the vodka gimlets should ease the pain. [English Russia]

    4:30 PM on Tue Jul 24 2007
    By Davey G. Johnson
    1,324 views, 6 comments

    Latest by CasterOil: Heh. Comrades, the Lada Niva is da Bomb! more »

  • jumpin' jack flash is a gaz, gaz, gaz!

    In Soviet Russia, Volga Wears YOU!

    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. More »

    5:15 PM on Wed Jul 11 2007
    By Davey G. Johnson
    712 views, 6 comments

    Latest by DougN: @Brandegee - excellent, I can just hear the Reagan voice on that one. more »

  • fezzin' mah gaz

    Turko-Schmaltz Ode To The GAZ Volga

    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 More »

    11:30 AM on Fri May 25 2007
    By Murilee Martin
    242 views, 3 comments

    Latest by schvitzatura: I was half expecting to see Borat Sagdiyev at any moment. Dzien Dobre! more »

  • soviet reunion

    In Soviet Russia, Car Lubes YOU!

    Say what you will about the crude technology used by a lot of Soviet-era Russian machinery- and we're still not 100% convinced they used tiny vacuum tubes instead of transistors in their aircraft electronics purely as an anti-EMP measure, so don't get started on that- those Russian engineers knew how to get the damn job done. You say you got fascist invaders swarming across the border and you need, like, a gadzillion T34s yesterday? Hey, no sweat- just dig turret-shaped holes in the ground and add molten steel- who needs a goddamn factory building? The same resourcefulness was applied to their peacetime motor vehicles; you say the October Revolution Manufacturing Collective #5202A can't make effective grease seals for Volga suspension components? Well, just install a central oil tank, add handy foot-operated pump, and when the driver thinks the balljoints are getting a litty dry on a rough Siberian highway, why, he can just give 'em a few squirts of soothing lube. – Murilee Martin More »

    3:30 PM on Fri May 4 2007
    By Murilee Martin
    865 views, 7 comments

    Latest by ddsurace: This is one of those memes that I'm starting to get sick of, I'm just letting you know. It's like more »

  • soviet reunion

    In Soviet Russia, Volga Station Wagon Hauls Family Cadre and YOU!

    Since we love both station wagons and Warsaw Pact iron, it's only natural that we're pretty hepped on the GAZ Volga M22 station wagon. Built from 1962 through 1970, the M22 wagon seems to have some Rambler and maybe Volvo styling influence in its ancestry, though it's proudly Russian at heart. The really prized M22s are the rare V8-equipped models built for the KGB; imagine rolling in your KGB Double Agent Interceptor Volga Wagon. With spinners, of course. – Murilee Martin More »

    12:30 PM on Wed May 2 2007
    By Murilee Martin
    481 views, 3 comments

    Latest by Tomsk the red-nosed reindeer: Needs more fake wood... more »

  • novelty

    All Hail The Glorious Revolutionary Stalinmobile!

    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 More »

    4:30 PM on Fri Apr 27 2007
    By Murilee Martin
    1,739 views, 11 comments

    Latest by Stick It In Your Eye: Hey, did the car run outta gas? Nah, it's just Stalin. more »