Must be Russian
- Thread starter Dave Mellor NJ
- Start date
mercman from oz
Well-known member
johnneilson
Well-known member
"On November 6 1930, 88 years ago, the Moscow Automobile Assembly plant named after KIM, (later AZLK, AOA Moskvich) was put into operation"
J
J
Marshall V. Daut
Well-known member
"On November 6th, 1930 - 88 years ago - the Moscow Automobile Car Wash Factory by the name of KEM (subsequently known as AZLK, OAO "Moscovite") went into service."
"Moscovite" means a citizen of Moscow. 'Sorry. The abbreviations I am unfamiliar with.
Marshall
(German and Russian majors in college)
"Moscovite" means a citizen of Moscow. 'Sorry. The abbreviations I am unfamiliar with.
Marshall
(German and Russian majors in college)
Marshall V. Daut
Well-known member
Ha! We missed each the by a couple seconds while i was trying to figure out the abbreviations! Hmmm... I get "car wash" factory. But assembly plant makes more sense.
M.
M.
Brad in Germany
Well-known member
The text over the archway in the first photo above says: "Moscow Assembly Plant" "KIM" (KIM = Communist Youth International).
The photo shows the moment that the first Ford Model A, assembled in Russia, exits the assembly plant grounds (located just outside of Moscow). Russia initially imported Ford Model A's as knock-down kits (and parts) from the USA as part of the initial agreement that they had with the Ford Motor Company in the USA.
Here is another photo of that first Russian assembled Ford Model A just prior to the start of that parade out of the assembly plant gate:
....and some of the other Russian assembled Ford Model A's lined up ready for the parade out of the front gate of the Russian assembly plant (yes, they are all Phaetons) (note the parade flags on each car):
You can tell that those are Ford Model A's by the typical shape of the 1930 Ford Model A radiator shells.
In 1932 Russia kicked Ford out and started manufacturing (from Russian produced parts) their own version of the Ford Model A under the name GAZ (Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod or in English: Gorky Automobile Factory). GAZ vehicles (including their Phaetons) all had radiator shells that look like the US Ford Model AA commercial radiator shells (flat across the top part of the radiator shell front opening).
Brad in Maryland
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The photo shows the moment that the first Ford Model A, assembled in Russia, exits the assembly plant grounds (located just outside of Moscow). Russia initially imported Ford Model A's as knock-down kits (and parts) from the USA as part of the initial agreement that they had with the Ford Motor Company in the USA.
Here is another photo of that first Russian assembled Ford Model A just prior to the start of that parade out of the assembly plant gate:
....and some of the other Russian assembled Ford Model A's lined up ready for the parade out of the front gate of the Russian assembly plant (yes, they are all Phaetons) (note the parade flags on each car):
You can tell that those are Ford Model A's by the typical shape of the 1930 Ford Model A radiator shells.
In 1932 Russia kicked Ford out and started manufacturing (from Russian produced parts) their own version of the Ford Model A under the name GAZ (Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod or in English: Gorky Automobile Factory). GAZ vehicles (including their Phaetons) all had radiator shells that look like the US Ford Model AA commercial radiator shells (flat across the top part of the radiator shell front opening).
Brad in Maryland
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Bruce of MN
Well-known member
I read someplace that Ford got the Soviets to pay upfront for the factory in gold because he wisely didn't trust them to pay in a more normal manner. Any truth to that story?
Bob4banger
Junior Member
Further on the comment that the Soviets kicked out Ford. Ford sold the kits and also the tooling and molds to the Soviets. It was never considered a "joint venture" between ford and the Soviets that I understood. The soviets also hired numerous former Ford employees that had been laid off when the great depression hit and took them to Russia (Soviet Union) and put them to work setting up the production facilities. When these Americans along with their families, arrived in the Soviet union, their passports were taken away from them. The Americans entered contracts for multiple year periods. Some employees and their families were able to leave the Soviet union after the contract has been completed, some elected to stay and were caught up in the Stalin red scare purges of the late 1930's. During this time many foreigners ended up in the Gulags, many ending up dying there and very few ever returned to the US.
1930artdeco
Well-known member
Ok, I need to ask two questions:
1) Did they use the English or Metric system for threads, nuts/bolts etc.?
2) More of a dumb question-Why are all of the cars seen Pheatons? I mean it is generally a bit on the chilly side in Moscow most of the year.
Mike
1) Did they use the English or Metric system for threads, nuts/bolts etc.?
2) More of a dumb question-Why are all of the cars seen Pheatons? I mean it is generally a bit on the chilly side in Moscow most of the year.
Mike
Marshall V. Daut
Well-known member
I just posted this message in another thread and thought it might be apropos to include it in this discussion of Russian Model A's:
"In 1988 or so, a good friend in the military who was an officer was sent to Moscow with a small group of American soldiers on an assignment that I don't recall. He said while they were billeted in a Moscow hotel, they lived on delivered pizzas, I think he said from a Russian Pizza Hut. Anyway, one day he was walking around Moscow (followed closely by the KGB, of course) when he spotted a Model A Tudor Sedan parked behind a chain link fence. Being a Model A guy since the early 1960's, he was dying to look it over and see what Russky changes had been made to differentiate this one from an American-made Model A. Somehow he got permission to enter the locked storage area to examine the Tudor. It was licensed and was STILL being used for daily transportation in 1988! (I guess the owner was still on the waiting list for a NEW car!) My friend later wrote an article for "The Restorer" about this completely unexpected, but delightful discovery. It appeared in the issue with the "new" 1928 blue Model A Tudor surrounded by admirers in a recreation photo, one of that magazine's best cover photos. I have a torn rotator cuff in my right shoulder, so I can't wade through the hundreds of back issues I have on many shelves to find that particular issue. Maybe some kind soul could dig out his issue and scan the pages for interested readers here?"
Marshall
"In 1988 or so, a good friend in the military who was an officer was sent to Moscow with a small group of American soldiers on an assignment that I don't recall. He said while they were billeted in a Moscow hotel, they lived on delivered pizzas, I think he said from a Russian Pizza Hut. Anyway, one day he was walking around Moscow (followed closely by the KGB, of course) when he spotted a Model A Tudor Sedan parked behind a chain link fence. Being a Model A guy since the early 1960's, he was dying to look it over and see what Russky changes had been made to differentiate this one from an American-made Model A. Somehow he got permission to enter the locked storage area to examine the Tudor. It was licensed and was STILL being used for daily transportation in 1988! (I guess the owner was still on the waiting list for a NEW car!) My friend later wrote an article for "The Restorer" about this completely unexpected, but delightful discovery. It appeared in the issue with the "new" 1928 blue Model A Tudor surrounded by admirers in a recreation photo, one of that magazine's best cover photos. I have a torn rotator cuff in my right shoulder, so I can't wade through the hundreds of back issues I have on many shelves to find that particular issue. Maybe some kind soul could dig out his issue and scan the pages for interested readers here?"
Marshall
ModelA29
Well-known member
GM sold a set of tooling for one of their cars to China. Before the GM engineers setup the existing tooling and start producing cars the ChiComs had duplicated the tooling and started producing knockoffs at 3 plants.
Today a majority of GM engineering and a lot of parts production is in China. They see it as the next big automotive market. They love the low wages, no union, state run healthcare and no retirement benefits. In the 1980s a friend attended a GM round-table where they discussed having cars last 7 years and then be scrapped. They said they were tired of being sued every time a wheel came off a 57 Chevy or a single stage brake system failed. They said they would put a drop dead date in the electronics and make the replacement part so expensive you'd buy a new car and junk the one you had. They also said that $5-6,000 of each car was due to "legacy" costs that covered retirement and health benefits for former/retired employees.