GAZ, Volga, Gorky Automobile Plant GAZ Volga 3102 (diecast 1:43, Agat)

This is GAZ Volga 3102. The model is made by Agat in scale 1:43. Everything opens.

Already at the moment the GAZ-24 model was put on the conveyor of the new Volga in Gorky, they thought about its successor - a car that would be "bigger, better and more powerful." However, from the very beginning, the next Volga was conceived not only as a direct replacement for the previous model (as was the case with the "twenty-first"), but also as a car that could take an intermediate link between ordinary "mass-produced" products and piece Gorky limousines manual assembly. That is, with a higher set of consumer qualities, the promising sedan had to remain serial.

The "improved" Volga could also bring foreign exchange income to the plant and the country, because abroad, even then, they paid attention not only to the linear dimensions of the car, but also to its configuration, the level of trim and options that increase comfort. It must be admitted that even the newest "twenty-four" in terms of equipment level did not differ much from ordinary cars of a lower class, while the "elite" GAZ cars had all those options that were customary on high-class foreign cars. We are talking, of course, about the power steering, automatic transmission, electric windows and air conditioning.

Unfulfilled dreams

Alas, for a number of reasons, the new model had to be created on the existing twenty-four platform. First, the USSR Ministry of Automotive Industry has consistently “hacked” several projects of fundamentally new models (we are talking about Muscovites, Izha and Zaporozhets), giving preference to the development of a new auto giant in Togliatti. Secondly, the creation and launch of the next car in the series required a lot of money, which was only recently invested in the same VAZ. Thirdly, in 1973, a huge energy crisis erupted in the world, and a powerful mid-size sedan would have been simply unclaimed in Europe. And, finally, the GAZ-24 was still an old car that did not require a radical update.

The prototypes received the index 3101 - as is the case with all new models of Soviet cars of the seventies, the four-digit designation of the future Volga corresponded to the industry standard of 1966, where the first digit indicated the class of the car.

Due to severe technological restrictions, the new Volga was maximally unified with the old one - that is, the "twenty-four". In fact, the "go-ahead" was received only for the modernization of the front and rear, while the power structure of the body, as well as the stamps of the roof and door sidewalls had to remain the same. The irony of fate, but subsequently all the "important" details remained unchanged until the discontinuation of the model 31105 in 2009.
The prototypes differed from the usual Volga in the design of the front and stern, as well as the body trim with an increased number of chrome parts. But at the same time, the "concept" of the new Volga looked rather impersonal, not particularly surpassing the 24th in terms of the status of its appearance. As a power unit at GAZ, they planned to use V-shaped three-liter "sixes", which were originally conceived for "improved" modifications of the GAZ-24, but did not go into the series.

The new GAZ-14 Chaika, which appeared in 1977, significantly influenced the 3101 project. It was decided to carry out the appearance of the next model in the same vein, moving away from smooth lines to a more pronounced "plane-parallel" design. After all, the angular Seagull looked very solid, but at the same time it was devoid of excessive weight.

True, for the reasons described above, the exteriors had nowhere to roam especially - all that remained was to change only the front and rear parts, while linking them stylistically with the old doors. And it was impossible to "round up" the new elements too much, because they were not supposed to enter into dissonance with the old middle part of the body.
Thanks to successfully found solutions, the designers managed to significantly alter the Volga with little blood, giving its appearance not only elegance, but also novelty.

In addition to noticeable differences in appearance, the prototype with the index 31011 was distinguished by a number of progressive solutions for that time, designed to increase the active and passive safety of the car. So, the car received crumple zones and trauma-safe recessed outer door handles, and the gas tank was moved behind the back of the rear seat.

Of course, the new Volga could not do without a completely different interior, in which they planned to apply the most modern technologies and ergonomic techniques. And, finally, no inline "four" under the hood - the car with the index 3101 relied on a V-shaped eight-cylinder engine with a volume of over four liters. In a word, it is not yet a ministerial Seagull, but it is far from being a "plebeian" 24.

Mysterious prechamber

The attentive reader will wonder: why did the production car receive the index 3102, and not 3101? Alas, in a short time, the plant was unable to launch a relatively small-sized eight-cylinder engine, and in foreign markets at that time completely different engines were used on cars of this class - both diesel and gasoline, but six-cylinder at most.

Despite the fact that the engine of the new Volga was an upgraded version of the usual ZMZ-24 engine, it deserves a detailed description due to a very unusual prechamber-flare ignition system, as well as a different design of the cylinder head and carburetor.

In the combustion chamber of each cylinder, an additional volume was constructively provided - a prechamber, into which an enriched mixture was fed, while a very lean one burned out in a conventional chamber. This innovation required the introduction of a completely different three-chamber carburetor, as well as an additional intake valve for the prechamber. It is interesting that the mixture in each cylinder was ignited with a candle not in the main chamber, but in the preliminary one.
Why did they use such an unusual and complex system at GAZ? Work on the pre-chamber ignition was carried out at the plant for several decades, since in this way the designers wanted to make the Volgov engines more economical and environmentally friendly. The trends of the times forced Gazovites to take up the prechamber in earnest, solving in practice all the "academic" shortcomings of such an ignition system. The Japanese helped to make sure that the system was working: in 1975, Honda released a production model of the Civic with a prechamber-flare engine.

The more intense thermal regime of the prechamber motor required the use of other materials, as well as a deep modernization of the cooling system. Therefore, ZMZ-4022.10 is not so much a modification of the 24th engine as an independent development based on the previous engine.

As a result, the “prechamber started working”: the engine power increased by 10 hp. - up to 105 "horses", and the control fuel consumption decreased by 2 liters - up to 8.5 l / 100 km of run. At the same time, the heavier car became noticeably more dynamic, gaining a "hundred" from a place in 16 seconds. Thus, the Volga finally began to outstrip Togliatti cars in terms of dynamic qualities, as befits a higher-class car.
Alas, the pre-chamber engine required a very precise carburetor adjustment, and was also prone to overheating, despite all the tricks of the designers. Not a drop of "Volgovian indifference" to the technical condition and adjustments of the power supply and ignition systems remained in it, which caused bewilderment even among experienced repairmen in state garages.

That is why, in 1996, in Nizhny Novgorod, they completely abandoned the prechamber-torch ignition, switching to the 402 family motors familiar for the Volga (modernized ZMZ-24), as well as a new engine of model 406.

Alas, the new Volga did not receive an automatic transmission either, but in the process of working on units for the "thirty-first" designers managed to get rid of most of the "generic ailments" of the previous Volga. Changing the wheel alignment angles and some other parameters of the front and rear suspension (track, ground clearance) made it possible to improve the handling of the new car at high speeds, depriving it of the "buoyancy" and thoughtfulness inherent in a conventional 24-ke. The second radical difference between the 3101 and its predecessor is the brakes. For AZLK-2141 and GAZ-3102, the Soviet Union acquired a license for the braking system of the British company Girling, which created a tandem vacuum booster. Unlike a conventional hydro-vacuum amplifier, such an amplifier retained the operability of the entire system, even with a partial depressurization of the circuits. For the stability of the behavior of the machine during braking, a separate pressure regulator (the so-called "sorcerer") was introduced into the design of the brake system.

The main difference between the braking system of the thirty-first Volga from the usual one is the front disc brakes instead of the classic drums. For the sake of safety, the designers of Girling applied an interesting solution: the four-piston calipers were connected to the rear circuit, which, even if the front circuit was depressurized, kept the brakes working. This duplication was by no means superfluous given the intended purpose of the car, which was supposed to carry important and necessary passengers.

One not the most pleasant story is connected with the GAZ-3102 brakes. Despite the fact that the instructions strictly prescribed the use of a "Zhigulevskaya" brake fluid called Neva in the system, at first, out of habit, the usual BSK was poured in state garages, which boiled on a hot day. This led to the failure of the brakes, as a result of which the new Volga got into accidents. The reason was not immediately identified, and only after the correct "brakes" were used during maintenance, the incidents stopped.

For a number of reasons, the already practically finished "thirty-first" languished for several years in anticipation. Only at the end of 1980, when the decision was made to permanently discontinue production of the Chaika GAZ-13, the plant finally received an order for a pilot batch of new Volgas.
The first copies were made in February 1981, timed to coincide with the XXVI Congress of the CPSU and the 50th anniversary of GAZ itself. However, the serial production of the GAZ-3102 began only in the spring of 1982, that is, 15 years after the start of production of the "twenty-four".
The interior of the GAZ-3102 radically differed from the salons of the previous Volga in both design and materials used. The dashboard received a trauma-resistant foam pad, and the seats were upholstered with a beautiful and pleasant to the touch caprovelor. In the plausible and safe interior of the model, an electric heated rear window even appeared - a new option for Soviet cars at that time.

Alas, at the same time the car was deprived of all those "chips" that were encountered on the Chaikas. But at the same time, even without an air conditioner and power steering, the car became noticeably more comfortable than the usual Volga, because the noise insulation improved, and it was also possible to tighten the build quality of the model.

Perhaps, the "thirty-first" in the Quality Control Department paid more attention also because this model was intended exclusively for work in state garages, and not in taxi companies or police, but in district committees, regional committees and other executive committees.

Not so simple

Alas, the new model was not easy for the plant. In the early years, GAZ experienced constant problems with the quality and quantity of parts of the brake system and interior, the suppliers of which were Kineshma and Syzran, respectively. The defect rate at times reached 70%, which forced the factory workers to significantly reduce the production of model 3102. If the usual Volga was produced in tens of thousands, then the "thirty-first" were assembled only 2-3 thousand a year - that is, at the level of small-scale cars.

In an effort to modernize the frankly outdated model 24, the Gorky designers used the developments and ready-made units "thirty-first", having also mastered an interior similar in style. The result was the model 24-10, which no longer looked so archaic against the background of the GAZ-3102, but at the same time it was noticeably inferior to the “zero second” in prestige and status both in the eyes of potential users from the state apparatus and among others.

By the mid-eighties, the plant managed to solve most of the technological issues, saving the new Volga from the "childhood diseases" of the first years.

Since the features of the pre-chamber engine did not disappear over time, it was decided to create a simplified version of the engine, depriving it of its innovative ignition and installing a conventional carburetor. That is why, already in 1985, the ZMZ-402 engine appeared under the hood of the serial "zero second" engine, while only a small part of cars were equipped with a "pre-chamber" engine until the beginning of the nineties.
There was no formal ban on the sale of GAZ-3102 to private hands, but until the collapse of the USSR, with rare exceptions, only state bodies and enterprises were the owners of these cars. Only from the beginning of the nineties did Russian motorists have the opportunity to freely acquire the Volga. Alas, by that time the model had already ceased to be considered the height of prestige, yielding the palm to foreign cars.

Made in Russian Federation

In the early 90s, the GAZ-3102 was supposed to be replaced by a completely new Volga model 3105. Unfortunately, for objective reasons, which we have already talked about, it never went into production.

Due to the strong wear of the body stamps of the model 24, a "hybrid" appeared in 1992 on the basis of the GAZ-3102: on the version with the index 31029, the rear part from the "zero two" was used, while the new modification received the original one.

"Serpent", as at that time some evil tongues called "twenty-ninth" because of its not the best combination of a rounded front end with an angular stern, replaced "twenty-four" not only formally, but also in fact, became a kind of "budget version of the "Volga. At the same time, the "elite-small-scale" model 3102 was considered much more prestigious than the others. It was the presence of albeit small, but stable and stable demand that led to the fact that the GAZ-3102 was produced until 2009. True, towards the end of the nineties, the "popular" model 31029 was discontinued, which was replaced by a technically more modern Volga with an index of 3110. In turn, the "ten" shared new components and assemblies with a "zero second".

Thus, the outwardly conservative "thirty-first" was completely renewed inside, having received a modern 16-valve engine, and the so-called "Tchaikovsky bridge", and power steering, and more reliable brakes. All this allowed the car to hold out on the conveyor right up to the mid-2000s. Already at the very end of its career, by the will of fate, the "zero second" even got under the hood "someone else's heart" - a 2.4-liter Chrysler DCC engine with a capacity of 150 hp, which required layout changes.

However, the days of "zero two" by that time had already been numbered: in November 2008, production of all classic Volgas, leading their ancestry back from model 24, was stopped in Nizhny. At the same time, in terms of "conveyor longevity" cars, because the "conservative-nomenclature" car, produced in the year of death of "dear Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev", managed to survive its state, having held out "in the ranks" for twenty-eight years.