ZIS, Plant named after Stalin ZIS 110 (diecast 1:43, Hongwell / Nash Avtoprom)

This is ZIS 110 Soviet Limousine. The model is made by Hongwell for Nash Avtoprom in scale 1:43. Nothing opens.

Before the war in the USSR, the main representative car was the ZIS-101. However, by the end of the war, this model became obsolete and Stalin suggested replacing it with a new car, a copy of the Packard-180, which was driven by American President Franklin Roosevelt.
In 1942, this important task was entrusted to the Stalin Plant. During this period, the enterprise was in Miass in evacuation and the specialists had a difficult task to make equipment for the production of bodies themselves, while for the ZiS-101 all this was ordered in America from the Badd company.
The body at a domestic plant turned out to be quite reliable and durable, given the small-scale production. The Soviet development was similar to the Packard-180 only in decor, but in general there were big differences in the shape of the body and structure, as well as in size. The artist-designer Herman decided to make the front fenders and a more sloping rear part of the body more rounded and streamlined, removed the footpegs and niches for open placement of spare wheels.
Technical specifications.
On September 20, 1944, Stalin approved the first sample and on 05/21/1945, the plant began serial production of the car. The car was 6 m long, 1,960 m wide, and 1,730 m high. The car had an in-line 8-cylinder engine copied from Packard. The cylinders, in one block with the crankcase, were cast from special cast iron. A stamped steel pallet was attached to the bottom of the crankcase.
The cylinder diameter was 88.9 mm, the piston stroke of the aluminum alloy was 116.84 mm. There was a through oblique cut on the piston skirt. The engine had a camshaft drive with a Morse plate noiseless chain and hydraulic valve lifters. Because the engine worked very quietly and smoothly, a special control lamp of the working ZIS-110 ignition, located on the dashboard, indicated the operation of the engine. The car required A-74 gasoline to operate, but it began to be produced only in 1950.
The highest octane gasoline was A-72. In this regard, the compression ratio was reduced from 7.4 to 6.85 units. At 3600 rpm, power dropped from 162 hp. up to 140 hp The car had, as on "Pobeda" and ZiM, a three-speed gearbox. It was the first car with a pressurized cooling system. There was a thermostat in the upper radiator tank that automatically opened or closed the shutters, regulating engine cooling or accelerating warm-up.
The ZIS-110 was the first vehicle in the USSR to have independent front wheel suspension. Front and rear chassis had anti-roll bars. On the ZIS-110, for the first time after AMO-2, a hydraulic brake line was used. It was the first domestic car in which the glass was lifted automatically. It is true that hydraulic jacks were needed to lift the 75mm heavy armored glass, not conventional electric motors. The car had an excellent ventilation and heating system, good noise insulation, and a radio receiver. The soft seats of the car were padded with eider down and were upholstered in beige upholstery. The swing window was only on the front doors. The side glass at the back was rotated about an axis that ran vertically along its middle.
ZIS-110 car and its modifications.
The ZIS-115 externally differed from the ZiS-110 with an additional central headlight. ZiS-110B The mass of this design was 7500 kg instead of the usual 2500 kg. To withstand such a load, the rear axle had to be taken over from the ZiS-150 truck. The cargo ratio (6.67) was also left in the gear ratio in the main gear instead of 4.36, as in the production car. The maximum speed of the "armored car" was 100 km / h, and the speed of the production model was 140 km / h.

In 1949 the plant produced several ZIS-110 in the modification of "Ambulance" and "Taxi". The ambulance car was painted light gray or beige, the trunk from behind the stretcher reached the roof. There was a lantern with a red cross on the roof.

In 1952, several sports models of the ZIS-112 were produced, the power of its forced engine was 192 hp, the speed was up to 200 km / h.

In the same year, the ZIS-110B of the phaeton type appeared. Since 1955, parade commanders and parade recipients begin to use only open-top ZIS-110B vehicles.
Interesting Facts.
Of the 2,100 cars produced, only 43 were armored. And the first armored version of the car went to Stalin.
One copy of the ZIS-110, the leader of all nations, Comrade Stalin, gave Alexy I. The car was green, like the patriarch's mantle.

ZIS – 112
Sports car ZIS-112: Soviet "Cyclops"
The unique car ZIS-112 was created under the impression of the American concept car General Motors LeSabre. True, the “stuffing” of the Soviet car did not correspond to the spectacular appearance ...

The brainchild of Valentin Rostkov
The history of Soviet sports cars began shortly before the Great Patriotic War. In 1939, a two-seat convertible ZIS-101A "Sport" appeared, created on the basis of the "one hundred and first" ZIS. This car, according to official figures, managed to accelerate to 163 km / h. True, he was not destined to participate in the races - the car was assigned the role of an exhibition model.

Then the war began, and the Soviet designers were not up to sports cars. Work in this direction began only in the late 1940s. The real revolution was made by GAZ-SG1, also known as Pobeda-Sport. Its appearance prompted the ZIS employees to create their own sports car - the ZIS-112 model.

The car, built on the basis of the ZIS-110 executive car, appeared in all its glory before the public in 1951. An experienced designer Valentin Rostkov, who was one of the creators of the pre-war Sport, was responsible for the design and layout.
Rostkov, who was not particularly limited by anyone, gave free rein to his imagination and his own ideas about sports cars. And his “muse” was the “American” GM LeSabre, who was nicknamed the “dream car” in his homeland. Due to the specific design at the enterprise itself, the sports ZIS-112 was affectionately called "one-eyed", and then another nickname appeared - "cyclops".

Another thing is interesting: the ZIS-112 was originally created precisely as a full-fledged racing car, and not as a mock-up. At first, the “Cyclops” was equipped with a serial power unit from the “one hundred and tenth” model, but a problem was quickly discovered: 140 “horses” for a car whose weight was approaching the three-ton mark was clearly not enough. And then it was decided to install an experimental motor, developed by designer Vasily Rodionov.

This was a six-liter eight-cylinder engine. Initially, the power unit consisted of a pair of MKZ-LZ carburetors, but then their number was increased to four. In general, the experimental engine received a number of innovative solutions. For example, the lower valves were exhaust, and the upper ones, respectively, were inlet. Moreover, the diameter of the latter was greatly increased. Thanks to this design solution, the cylinder head remained unchanged. In addition, the engine received an oil cooler and a pair of oil pumps. The power unit with a capacity of 182 liters. With. allowed the car to accelerate to a speed of 200 km / h.

After some time, the designers made the Cyclops a little shorter: the car, which had “lost weight” by several hundred kilograms, could already accelerate to 210 km / h.

Past the pedestal
And this colossus 5.92 meters long was supposed to race. It is worth saying that the races in those days were very specific: they were not held on special tracks, but on ordinary intercity highways, for example, on the Moscow-Minsk highway. The distance of the race was from 100 to 300 kilometers without sharp and sharp turns, so maneuverability was not required from racing cars. The main thing is the high engine power, speed and volume of the fuel tank. These criteria "Cyclops" is fully consistent. And even the fact that he "ate" 35 liters per hundred kilometers did not play a critical role, since the car's fuel tank was designed for 220 liters of gasoline.

By the way, the changes in length, as well as the appearance of a pair of carburetors, occurred after the debut of the car in racing. Competitions have shown that the car is not able to compete on equal terms with competitors. But even after the metamorphoses, a few problems remain. The most important was the streamlined cap: it was airtight and the driver in the cockpit just had a hard time breathing.

Numerous attempts by engineers to bring the sports car to mind did not bring positive results. In 1955, after the next upgrades, it became finally clear that the ZIS-112 could not be adapted for sports competitions. In addition, now the races were held on a special track in Minsk, created from two sections of the highway, connected by transverse roads. That is, now the machines were also required maneuverability, and not just power. This finally put an end to the ZIS-112 project.

In 1956, he was replaced by the ZIL-112/2 (just in that year the ZIS was renamed into ZiL). It's time for new heroes.