The GAZ-13 Chayka is a luxury executive car produced by the Gorky Automobile Plant, manufactured from 1958 to 1981. It became GAZ's fourth postwar civilian model and the first that never entered taxi service or went on sale to private individuals: the car was distributed exclusively through the nomenklatura allocation system.[1] The model was inspired by the American Packard Patrician. Among the technical innovations of the GAZ-13 for its era were power steering, a brake booster, a four-barrel carburetor, electric windows, and an automatic transmission.[2][2]

History and Production

The official birthday of the GAZ-13 is considered to be January 16, 1959, although the first production units were assembled at the plant as early as autumn 1958. The Chayka's predecessor in the executive car class was the GAZ-12 (ZIM), produced from 1949 to 1960.[1] A year after the launch of the main model, in 1960, production of the GAZ-13B convertible began. No other production body variants were manufactured by the Gorky Automobile Plant.[1]

After the model was discontinued, the stamping tooling was destroyed — according to the account told by guides at the GAZ Museum, the plant had no space to store it.[1]

Special Status and Distribution

Chaykas were allocated to leaders of union republics, ministers, USSR, academicians, directors of defense enterprises, and other high-ranking officials. The car's price remained a mystery to the general public: it was estimated that in the 1960s it was equivalent to the cost of three GAZ-21 Volgas, which sold for 5,500 rubles each.[1]

Among the first recipients of the GAZ-13 was the Special Purpose Garage: in 1960–1961 alone, 45 cars were added to the Kremlin motor pool. They were used to service state receptions, official visits by foreign delegations, congresses of public and creative organizations, and award ceremonies. Chaykas also served as rental cars in the Intourist system.[1]

A number of Chaykas were presented on behalf of the state to prominent figures: Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov, Cuban leader Fidel Castro, the first female cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, ballerina Galina Ulanova, and writer Mikhail Sholokhov. Leonid Brezhnev personally used a 1965 Chayka until 1976, after which he gave it to the chairman of a collective farm in Kuybyshev Region; however, registering the car proved impossible and it was abandoned. It was subsequently discovered and restored by a local entrepreneur, who found during the restoration that the odometer read only around 60,000 kilometers and the engine was still in working order.[2] A service Chayka was assigned to chief designer Sergei Korolev.[1]

Colors and Variants

The classic color of the GAZ-13 was black — used for both the official and personal cars of government officials and for Intourist rental vehicles. Exceptions are known: Valentina Tereshkova's car was entirely white, and the command vehicle of the Moscow Fire Service was red. Early production models from the late 1950s and early 1960s were sometimes finished in two-tone paint schemes.[1] A modification existed without the bird emblem on the chrome radiator grille.[1]

Over 22 years of serial production — from 1959 to 1981 — just over 3,100 units of the GAZ-13 were built, making the Chayka one of the lowest-volume Soviet automobiles ever produced.[2]

In 1977 the GAZ-13 was succeeded by the next-generation model, the GAZ-14 Chayka, although production of the GAZ-13 continued until 1981.[4]

The sheet metal on the hood, pillars, roof, and trunk lid of many Chaykas was copper-plated — a distinctive constructional feature of the model.[2]

Sources

  1. 5koleso.ru — Rise and Fall of the Chayka: the History of the Soviet Limousine GAZ-13 (archive)
  2. auto33.ru — GAZ-13 "CHAYKA", 1973 — Over 22 years of serial production — from 1959 to 1981 — just over 3,100 units of the GAZ-13 were built, making the Chayka one of the… (archive)
  3. Wikipedia (ru) — Chayka (automobile) (archive)
  4. Wikipedia (ru) — GAZ-13 — In 1977 the GAZ-13 was succeeded by the next-generation model, the Chayka GAZ-14, although production of the GAZ-13 continued until 1981.