Miguel Sánchez
To a large extent, the eastern parts of Russia are uncharted territory. In fact, until very recently, a more or less complete cartography of the area had not been achieved. In this way, the Siberian taiga forests have been a headache for the Russian state for centuries. Which threw its property in front of peoples like the Yakutos even without knowing exactly the extension of those domains. Thus, the sending of geographical expeditions from Moscow or Saint Petersburg has been a constant in the last two hundred years, encountering all kinds of difficulties associated with transportation. Even more so now. With global warming melting the permafrost at a forced march thus turning vast lands into uncontrolled mudflats.
With all this, it is not surprising that one of the main concerns of the Russian automotive industry has been that of SUVs. Essential in a country that is not only eminently agricultural, but also characterized by a complex geography seasoned with truly complicated winters. That's the way it is, the model most associated with this problem is the fireproof Lada Niva. Possibly one of the longest-lasting and most reliable off-road vehicles ever designed, putting for civil use the qualities tested in many 4×4 models created by and for the military field.
And it is that, militarized from its first days, Soviet Russia invested enormous resources in creating and developing armed forces capable of controlling the entire territory. In this way, in 1929 the revolutionary government took the first steps together with the Ford Motor Company for the creation of GAZ. One of the key companies to understand developmentalism in the USSR, which presented its first models in 1932. Based on Ford's technical diagrams, most of them were destined for civil or administrative use. Although the factory was receiving more and more orders from the army. The perfect breeding ground for the appearance of 4×4 vehicles such as the GAZ-69, the equivalent of the Jeep in the USSR.
DEBUGING THE FORMS, THE FIRST SOVIET 4X4
Although the USSR was able to put both the first satellite and the first cosmonaut into orbit, its day-to-day technology was far below that of the West. Quite a paradox. And it is that, while in just a few years there had been the transition from being a quasi-feudal country to becoming an atomic power, everyday consumer goods were still extremely rudimentary. In fact, it goes without saying how that overfinancing of military needs to the detriment of daily life ended up causing the economy to collapse. All this under the weight of the arms race and the inefficiency in the provision of basic needs.
However, historical debates aside, the truth is that in the XNUMXs one of the vital elements for developmentalism in the USSR was the automobile industry. A field in which the design of SUVs stood out, necessary to bring the state administration to the most isolated corners. Of course, the first of these models were extremely rudimentary. An example of this is the GAZ-61 of 1938. Capable of fording depths of up to 70 centimeters and facing angles of attack of up to 38º. Although at the same time endowed with an even more disproportionate aspect than that presented today by not a few high-end SUVs.
As it was, GAZ did not manage to make really modern 4×4 designs until the advent of World War II. More specifically, until the approval by Roosevelt of the Lending and Leasing Law. Signed in March 1941, thanks to her The United States supplied food, fuel, and weapons to various powers already fighting Nazi Germany and its allies.. A desperate situation in which the Soviet Union received numerous Willys MB to improve the light transport of its troops. A fact that radically changed GAZ's 4×4 designs, replicating the North American off-roader in its GAZ-64.
GAZ-69, THE SOVIET JEEP
After the rapid appearance of the GAZ-64 in the heat of the Lend-Lease Law, in the midst of World War II, the GAZ-67 was born. wider, with a reinforced chassis and a larger fuel tank, this model could reach 90 kilometers per hour thanks to its four-cylinder engine and 54CV. At this point, the Soviet state factory finally had a 4 × 4 suitable for the needs of a modern army. Just the way and manner that the Willys-Overland was fulfilling among the western ranks.
However, once the war was over, the USSR government required GAZ to build a new 4×4 completely designed by GAZ. Thus began in 1946 the GAZ-69 project. One of the most symbolic vehicles not only in the USSR, but also in all the Warsaw Pact countries. Of course, the launch of the GAZ-69 was delayed until 1953. Seven years of waiting due to two reasons. The first of these had to do with the needs of national reconstruction. And it is that, with a large part of the country in ruins, the first thing was to rebuild the houses and recover economic activity. Situation in which, logically, assembly lines for industrial vehicles should have priority.
Thus, the second reason was derived from the first. Since for the development of the GAZ-69 it was possible to take time without haste. In this way, many pre-series units were sent to the most rugged corners of the Soviet geography. Experiencing tests in all kinds of weather situations. Behind this, at last in 1953 the first units of the GAZ-69 were served to the army. Characterized by its four-cylinder engine with 2.1 liters and 55CV, new transfer case and leaf spring suspension. All this with an extreme degree of reliability. Widely demonstrated with a long list of armed conflicts where the GAZ-69 could be seen as one of the most successful military SUVs of the 600.000th century with more than XNUMX units produced.
Photographs: GAZ
