The most beautiful Soviet car celebrates its anniversary

The launch of the “Seagulls” series was timed to coincide with a significant event for the country – the XXI Congress of the CPSU: a symbolic gift from the car manufacturers to the party forum.

In fact, the “hero of the occasion” was “born” earlier. In exactly the same way – before the official date of “birth” – perhaps the most high-profile event in the “gull” biography happened. The Soviet car, which had not yet gone into mass production, caused a sensation at the prestigious international show in early 1958. One of the experimental samples of the new Gorky passenger car was sent to the World Exhibition Expo 58 in Brussels, and received the Grand Prix there.

The very name of the car model, “Chaika,” was first mentioned several years before the appearance of the first GAZ-13 models. It was invented in 1955, although for a different “engine”. Then Gorky automakers assembled a prototype of the modernized ZIM. They decided to give this version of the car its own name, thereby continuing the tradition that had arisen: the Pobeda cars were already rolling off the GAZ assembly line, and the Volga was on the way. However, the improved ZIM never went into production. And the beautiful name migrated from it to a fundamentally new model of executive car, developed some time later.

It should be mentioned that there were two possible names to choose from – “Arrow” and “Seagull”. The first of them was eventually rejected: it seemed too “militarized.” The “bird” name sounded much nicer. Pre-production samples even had a stylized figurine of a seagull on the hood – similar to the deer on the early modifications of the Volga. However, later such mascots were removed on both models: in a collision with a pedestrian, the protruding metal element could cause additional injury.

According to some researchers of the history of the domestic automobile industry, when designing this car, much was taken from the American Packards of the mid-1950s. In particular, they borrowed the characteristic location of the headlights under the “visors”. However, opponents emphasize that the development of Gorky residents has a number of individual features. For example, our specialists designed a different shaped body with a glazing scheme different from that of the “Americans”.

The project of this executive car, which received an “unlucky” digital index, was in many ways a breakthrough for the Soviet automobile industry. The GAZ-13 was equipped with power steering, vacuum power brakes, electric windows and an electric drive for raising the antenna… The car body was impressive with panoramic glazing, additional rotary windows behind the rear doors, and of course an abundance of chrome decorative elements, so fashionable in those years.

Eight-cylinder engine with a power of 195 hp. With. allowed a car weighing 2.5 tons to accelerate to 160 km/h (the Chaika needs 20 seconds to accelerate to hundreds). At the same time, the cylinder block and some other parts were made of aluminum alloy, which was a unique technical solution for that time. The “engine” turned out to be so successfully designed that later its modernized version began to be installed even on army military equipment produced in Gorky – the BRDM-2 armored vehicles.

From the very beginning, those “at the top” decided that the “thirteenths” would not go on sale. They were supposed to perform exclusively the functions of official, personal machines for the highest Soviet nomenklatura. According to the “table of ranks” established in the Union, ministers and first secretaries of regional committees could use such luxurious “engines”. Several dozen “Seagulls” entered the Kremlin Special Purpose Garage (but there they served in secondary roles, yielding primacy to government ZILs). In addition, GAZ-13s were used by USSR ambassadors in some countries, and they were also provided as ceremonial cars to many foreign diplomatic missions in Moscow (one such beauty even stood in the garage of the American Embassy). A certain number of “thirteenths” were reserved for servicing foreign delegations coming to the capital, and for trips of high-ranking representatives of the regional elite during their stay in Moscow.

Service “Seagulls” were assigned to directors of the largest and most important enterprises (most often “tied” to the defense industry), academicians…

Among those who were given a car of this brand are the main creator of Soviet missiles, General Designer Sergei Korolev, as well as the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’ Pimen.

The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church was provided with the “Seagull” in 1977 on the personal instructions of L. Brezhnev. Before this, Pimen drove a ZIS-110, which his predecessor Alexy I received from Stalin back in 1949. By the mid-1970s, the Stalinist limousine was already dilapidated and had a “shabby” appearance. The Japanese came to the aid of His Holiness: their government gave him an impressive-looking Nissan President. However, when this became known to the Secretary General, he became angry. It is not appropriate, they say, for the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to drive around in a Japanese car, this is “political sabotage.” As a result, Pimen soon received a brand new Chaika.

The government presented several Gorky super-cars to outstanding people of the country – Marshal Georgy Zhukov, the first female cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the world-famous ballerina Galina Ulanova, writer and Nobel laureate Mikhail Sholokhov. However, it would be more correct to say that these sedans, together with personal drivers, were assigned to these chosen ones. They were parked and serviced at one of the special depots.

Over time, the list of “professions” for the GAZ-13 expanded. Such cars (usually already in use, but properly repaired and updated) were transferred to the Intourist system, where they were used as rental cars for foreign guests. And several more “Seagulls” were made available to the registry office: the newlyweds could order an executive “motor” for travel on their wedding day (although such a pleasure cost twice as much as renting a “Volga”).

The initially planned refusal to sell them to private owners also resulted in the absence of a retail price for the Seagulls. True, experts, having estimated all the costs associated with production and trade markups, came to the conclusion that the GAZ-13 would cost its hypothetical lucky owner at least 17.5 thousand post-reform rubles – three times more expensive than the Volga GAZ-21.

During the year, the Gorky Automobile Plant assembled about 150 Chaikas, that is, several times less than the production of ZIMs, the previous model of cars of this class. It’s no wonder that the prestige of the “thirteenth” skyrocketed.

The desire to drive such a high-status “engine” prompted some of those who “did not reach” the “tea” rank” to take advantage of the original “know-how”. For them, in the workshop of one of the defense plants, craftsmen produced several hybrid cars. They took broken, defective GAZ-13s (or they managed to get components at the car plant), from these semi-finished products they assembled a full-fledged middle part of the Chaika body, and the “front” and “rear” from the ZIM were welded to it. Sometimes they did it differently – front and rear fenders, a radiator, and bumpers from the Chaika were attached to the Zimov body.

Such designs received the unofficial nickname “Musk Ox” or even “Oslo Ox”. And in the registration certificate, four-wheeled “mutants” were listed as ZIMs. That is, formally their users did not allow any violations of automotive subordination.

The plant produced the “Thirteenth” “Seagulls” until the spring of 1981. According to researchers, during this time Gorky residents assembled 3,179 cars. The vast majority are sedan. In addition, several GAZ-13A limousines were also produced (they had a partition separating the front part of the cabin, where the driver sat, from the passenger area) and a couple of dozen GAZ-13B convertible convertibles.

The Seagulls did not differ in color variety. By definition, a nomenclature car was supposed to be black. The exceptions to this rule can literally be counted on one hand. For example, the same GAZ-13 that won the hearts of foreigners in Brussels was painted in two colors: turquoise bottom and milky top. Several more pre-production cars were also two-tone, including a combination of crimson and light beige. We exclusively designed the appearance of the “Seagull”, which was given to Valentina Tereshkova. Her personal executive sedan sparkled with white enamel. On the streets of Moscow one could also see a red car of this brand. The head of the capital’s Fire Department rode it.