GAZ-AA

The GAZ-AA is a truck produced at the Gorki Auto Plant in the Soviet Union from 1932 to 1938, and was the factory's first truck produced under the GAZ brand. Russian-speakers often refer to it as a polutorka (полуторка) - meaning "one-and-a halfer", with reference to its carrying capacity of 1.5 tonnes (1500 kilograms).

GAZ-AA
Overview
ManufacturerGAZ
Production1931–1938
Body and chassis
ClassTruck
LayoutFR layout
RelatedGAZ-A
GAZ-AAA
Powertrain
Transmission4-speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase3,440 mm (135.4 in)
Length5,335 mm (210.0 in)
Width2,040 mm (80.3 in)
Height1,970 mm (77.6 in)
Curb weight1,810 kg (3,990 lb)
Chronology
PredecessorFord Model AA
SuccessorGAZ-MM

History

On 31 May 1929 the Supreme Soviet of the National Economy of the Soviet Union (Russian: Высший совет народного хозяйства СССР) made an agreement with the Ford Motor Company to produce Ford Model A and Model AA vehicles, and the Soviet Metallostroy organisation[1] (Russian: Металлострой) started constructing an American-designed automotive plant in Nijni Novgorod.

Initially, 10 Ford Model AA trucks were built at the plant,[2][3] under the name NAZ (for Nijni Novgorod Avtomobilni Zavod). Soviet engineers prepared their own mechanical blueprints for production, specifying a truck to be made with thicker steel and to have an upgraded suspension system. In 1932 the city of Nizhni Novgorod adopted its new name, Gorki - after Maxim Gorki (1868-1936) - and in 1933 the plant was renamed to Gorki Automobilni Zavod, and the trucks began to use the model designation GAZ-AA. By 1932 mass-production had started, with around 60 trucks were built at the plant daily from knock-down kits sent by Ford.[4]

Soon assembly started of GAZ-A passenger vehicles,[5] which were based on the Ford Model A and were also built from knock-down kits imported into the Soviet Union. By that time GAZ-AA trucks comprised the majority of trucks used by the Red Army.[4] Several modifications of the GAZ-AA trucks started getting produced, including dump trucks (410),[6] semi-trucks (MS), fire trucks (PMG-1)[7] and tractors (905).[8]

By 1938, nearly 1 million of these trucks had been produced and sold. By that time a modernized variant of the GAZ-AA trucks, under the GAZ-MM index entered production, with the engine from the GAZ-M1, that boosted the vehicle's power to 50 hp, with the compression ratio increased to 4.6, giving a maximum speed of 80 km / h.[9][10]

Variants
  • GAZ-AAA: three-axle version
  • BA-27: military vehicle using GAZ-AA assemblies
  • GAZ-1: 16-seat bus version
  • GAZ-2: 18-seat bus version
  • GAZ-3 (later GAZ-03-30): 16-seat bus variant; basically a combination of the GAZ-1 and GAZ-2
  • GAZ-03-32: ambulance version of GAZ-03-30
  • GAZ-5: three-axle, 25-seat bus version
  • GAZ-07: short wheelbase version for BA-6, BA-6M and BA-10
  • GAZ-13: 13-seat bus version
    • GAZ-13B: modified GAZ-13
  • GAZ-14: gas generator (wood gas) version with V-5 generator
  • GAZ-40: prototype gas generator version, based on third-party developments of the V-5 and NATI-G11 generators
  • GAZ-41: gas generator (wood gas) version with NATI-G14 generator
  • GAZ-42: improved GAZ-41
    • GAZ-42M: modernized GAZ-42
  • GAZ-43: gas generator (coal gas) version with NATI-G21 gas generator
  • GAZ-44: compressed gas-fueled version
  • GAZ-45: LPG fueled version
  • GAZ-55 (initially GAZ-55-55): ambulance variant
  • GAZ-55B: staff bus version of GAZ-55
  • GAZ-60: half-track version made for the Red Army
  • GAZ-60P: prototype improved version of GAZ-60
  • GAZ-65: halftrack version with removable tracks
  • GAZ-65op: prototype improved version of GAZ-65
  • GAZ-66: prototype halftrack based on the GAZ-AAA
  • GAZ-410 (initially GAZ-S1): dump truck
  • GAZ-905: tractor version
  • GAZ-SH: prototype snowmobile studies
  • PMG-1: fire truck

References
  1. Austin, Richard Cartwright (2004). Building Utopia: Erecting Russia's First Modern City, 1930. Moral Imagination in Industrial Culture. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press. p. 24. ISBN 9780873387309. Retrieved 26 June 2023. [...] 'Metallostroy,' the Soviet organization that hired and supervised construction labor [...]
  2. "Zis lorry. "One and a half" GAZ-AA". Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  3. "First Soviet Ford AA truck leaving Assembly Plant No. 1 "Gudok Oktyabrya" in Nizhni Novgorod". Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  4. "ОАО "ГАЗ"/Горьковский автомобильный завод (ГАЗ)/ ГАЗ-АА". Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  5. "JSC "GAZ" / Gorky Automobile Plant (GAZ) /GAZ-A". Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  6. "Опрокидка малой механизации Самосвал ГАЗ-С1/ -410". Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  7. "Пожарный автомобиль ПМГ-1: история, устройство и ТТХ Источник". Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  8. "ОАО "ГАЗ" (Горьковский автомобильный завод) ГАЗ-905". Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  9. "ОАО "ГАЗ"/Горьковский автомобильный завод (ГАЗ)/ ГАЗ-ММ". Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  10. "ГАЗ-ММ: машина жизни". Retrieved 21 August 2021.

Further reading
  • Andy Thompson: Trucks of the Soviet Union: The Definitive History. Behemont 2017, ISBN 978-0-9928769-5-1.
  • Media related to GAZ-AA at Wikimedia Commons
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