GAZ Volga M - 24 - 02 (diecast 1:43, Saratov)

In the fall of

1966, a new Soviet car GAZ-24 was adopted for mass production. In the fall of

1967, the assembly of the first cars began. In 1968, the first 31 production

copies were assembled. From the end of 1969, the assembly line of the new Volga

was launched. At the end of 1972, the production of a station wagon

modification based on the GAZ-24 was mastered, which received the GAZ-24-02

index.

The first two

prototypes were built in 1969. The prototypes differed from the production

model only by the absence of a deflector on the roof. The station wagons were

tested in the spring and summer of 1970. The car turned out with a

well-thought-out organization of the cargo-passenger compartment: three rows of

sofas for 7 seats, two rear ones folded, forming a smooth, comfortable platform

for the load. As a result of this transformation, the seats, in addition to the

two front ones, had a simplified design and were less comfortable. An

interesting solution was a special compartment for storing the spare wheel and

tools under the bottom of the luggage compartment, which was accessed through a

special hatch located behind the fifth door.

 

The gearbox was

mechanical, four-speed, with synchronizers in all forward gears. The engine was

chosen, like that of the GAZ-24 ZMZ-24D, in-line, carburetor, four-stroke,

four-cylinder. The maximum speed of the GAZ-24-02 was 140 km / h. Curb weight

1550 kg, full - 2040 kg, including 920 kg for the front axle, 1120 kg for the

rear. The station wagon could accelerate to 100 km / h in 21 seconds. The

smallest turning radius along the track axis of the outer front wheel was 5.6

m.

 

The characteristic

“ridge” deflector on the trailing edge of the estate's roof was not a spoiler

to create downforce, but only a deflector to optimize the air flow necessary to

prevent contamination of the glass of the lifting tailgate and provide exhaust

ventilation to the interior.

 

The GAZ-24-02

series went into production in December 1972. The production volumes of all

modifications (more on them below) of the station wagon were about 5,000 cars

per year, while the total number of passenger cars produced at GAZ exceeded

70,000 cars per year.

 

Most of the

produced station wagons went to taxi companies and other departments. There

were wagons and for export, both to Eastern Europe and the West. By 1975,

GAZ-24-02 appeared among consumer goods and could be officially purchased for

Vneshposyltorg checks. Due to the small output and departmental orders, only a

few went into private hands, and then for great services. It was almost

impossible to buy a station wagon even in the 80s.

 

Over the years of

production of the station wagon, its first changes appeared in 1977, when turn

signals appeared on the front fenders. In 1978, fangs and fog lights appeared

on the front bumper. In this form, the Volga-wagon was produced until 1985-1986,

until it underwent a general restyling of the GAZ-24 family.

 

IN SERVICE

 

Most of the built

GAZ-24-02 came to various departments. In this part of our story, we will consider

special modifications of the GAZ-24-02 created for various services and having

a special paint.

 

One of the most

popular services for a station wagon, like its sedan brother, was in a taxi. A

special modification of the "taxi" was created, which received the

designation GAZ-24-04. Creating such a taxi, it was assumed that the car would

be in demand by the population for the transportation of medium-sized cargo. At

the beginning of 1973, the production of this modification was started.

GAZ-24-02 was equipped with derated engines ZMZ-2401, 85 hp, designed for cheap

AI-76 gasoline. The car had cheaper seat upholstery, there was no receiver, a

meter and a green light in the upper right corner of the windshield were

installed. This cargo-passenger taxi was nicknamed "the barn".

The station wagons

served on the basis of the GAZ-24 and in the medical service. In 1975, the

production of the sanitary modification GAZ-24-03 began. In this modification,

the interior with special equipment was separated from the front seats by a

metal partition with a sliding window. The car was adapted to transport one bed

patient and two accompanying persons, for which it was equipped with a

retractable stretcher. In the medical compartment, an additional heating device

was installed under the flooring, on the roof - a luminous indicator, on the

right side of the body near the front window - a search light. The car was used

to provide emergency care to patients and for doctors to visit their homes. Due

to a shortage of cars at ambulance stations, some GAZ-24-03 ambulances entered

the ambulance line service, as a result of which they acquired the appropriate

special paint with red stripes, a radio station and a blue flashing beacon with

special signals.

The Finnish

company TAMPO built specialized ambulances with an original interior on the

Volga GAZ-24-03 chassis. It is known that such machines were operated in

Leningrad.

GAZ-24-02 also served in the Police as operational, propaganda

vehicles and patrol vehicles of the State Traffic Inspectorate. Unfortunately,

the older brother of the GAZ-24 sedan has become widespread in the police.

As mentioned

above, GAZ-24-02 was exported to the fraternal countries of Eastern Europe,

where it managed to serve in the Czech Police, for which it was re-equipped

accordingly.

They puddled

GAZ-24-02 and in the service of Aeroflot in the Ministry of Civil Aviation. On

the basis of the station wagon, a special aircraft escort vehicle of the

"Escort" type was created, intended for the operational control of

the movement of aircraft at the airfield. This modification was developed by

the MGA at its own pilot plant No. 408 in Moscow. The first escort car on the

GAZ-24-02 chassis was created in 1972 to escort US President Richard Nixon in

Minsk. The escort car was equipped with the Palma and R-860 II radios for

communication with the control room and the aircraft. On the roof of the car, a

special flashing light and a lamp with the inscription "Follow me" on

its rear side were mounted. The car itself was painted a bright orange with red

stripes. Since 1974, the GAZ-24-02 "Escort" has been produced in

small-batch by the forces of the pilot plant of civil aviation №408 in Moscow.

A total of 39 copies were produced, which arrived at major airports in the

USSR.

One of the Volgas

in the Czech Republic began an unusual service. One of the GAZ-24-02 was

converted into a trolley. To create the trolley, a diesel engine from Mercedes

was installed on the Volga. Also, the trolley car was equipped with a special

turning device, which is a lowering support installed under the bottom,

strictly under the center of gravity of the car. In the working position, it is

lowered onto the rails using the built-in jack, the machine is lifted above the

rails and rotated 180 ° around the jack axis.

A similar railcar

was also created in Serbia. Separately, I would like to say that such railroad

cars are very popular in Eastern Europe, most of them are created on the basis

of domestic cars GAZ-12, GAZ-13, GAZ-20, GAZ-21, GAZ-22, GAZ-24 and others.

REINCARNATION

 

The serial

production of the GAZ-3102, which replaced the GAZ-24, was continuously delayed

due to the difficulties that arose at the subsidiary enterprises of GAZ, so it

was decided to leave the production of the GAZ-24 in the mass model, but at the

same time to unify as much as possible with the new GAZ model -3102. The

modernization of the outdated model was worked on without enthusiasm. In 1984,

the GAZ-24-10 model was demonstrated. In 1985-1986, its mass production began,

combining elements from the old GAZ-24, which were in abundance at GAZ. In

1986, the production of a full-fledged restyled model GAZ-24-10 began. The

station wagon based on the GAZ-24-10 appeared only in 1987, under the symbol

GAZ-24-12. Its sanitary modification received the GAZ-24-13 index. All the

differences between GAZ-24-12 and GAZ-24-02 were the same as those of the

GAZ-24-10 sedan from GAZ-24.

BELGIAN

 

GAZ-24-02, in

addition to the CMEA countries, was exported to Belgium for which its special

modification GAZ-24-77 was created. The modification differed only in the

installation of the Peugeot Indenor diesel engine. Initially, car kits were

supplied to Belgium, where C.I.V.A. diesel engines were installed. From April

1976, diesel engines began to be installed at GAZ itself, after training GAZ

specialists at C.I.V.A. There were no differences between export versions and

those that went to the domestic market. Leading designer Nevzorov achieved the

abolition of the division of the stream into export and domestic cars.

 

So, the cars

delivered for export were no different from the standard serial ones, with the

exception of diesel GAZ-24-77. On this version, the importers applied

nameplates in English Volga, there was a better upholstery of the passenger

compartment. In the 80s, the export Volga GAZ-24-77 acquired a plastic grille

and alloy wheels. Subsequently, a black plastic grille was used on the

GAZ-24-10. In the 80s, the re-export of the Volga was noticed, when diesel

Volga appeared on the secondary car market. In the USSR, GAZ-24-77 was

nicknamed "Belgian". There was an export station wagon GAZ-24-52 for

countries with a tropical climate, it was distinguished by a different

thermostat, upholstery in the form of leatherette, different tires, no heater

and special oil drenched. The author knows nothing about the presence of export

right-hand drive station wagons in nature.

There was an

attempt to create an export modification of the van based on the GAZ-24-77,

which received its own designation GAZ-24-78. The van was built in a single

copy.