The plant was built to increase the production of RAF-977 delivery vans and minibuses. The documentation was transferred from Riga to Yerevan, and in 1966 the first YerAZ-762s were assembled, outwardly from the "rafiks" did not differ in any way.
While the RAF already in the mid-70s switched to more modern model RAF-2203 "Latvia", at YerAZ, archaic buses with rounded shapes continued to be built right up to 1996! So almost all such machines that can still be found on Russian roads, - these are Yerevan, and not Riga products, although the Yerevan plant ended its existence in 2002.
But, of course, there was a design department at YerAZ, which was engaged in new developments, albeit not always successful ones.
1966, ErAZ-762. The first version of the delivery van, still without side stiffeners. Produced from 1966 to 1976 under RAF documentation.
1971, ErAZ-762R. Refrigerated van based on the modified YerAZ-762A. These machines had almost no external difference from the 762nd.
1976, ErAZ-762B. IN new version van appeared stiffeners and "relief" of the body. The car was produced from 1976 to 1981, when it was replaced by another modification.
1981, ErAZ-762V. The most massive version of the van received new form stiffening ribs and a number of chassis modifications, as well as the replacement of some units. It is these YerAZs that have mostly survived to this day.
1988, ErAZ-762VGP. Introduced in the late 80s passenger bus wagon based. The “facelift” is also clearly visible (in the picture, a modification of the mid-90s).
ErAZ-762G. Truck version with a wooden body.
1972, ErAZ-762P. Pleasure train tractor.
1992, ErAZ-762VDP. A five-seat passenger-and-freight pickup truck appeared in the early 90s, when the plant, which was in an extremely difficult economic situation, needed to somehow “spin”.
1968, ErAZ-773. In fact, they began to look for a replacement for the 762 back in the late 60s. One of the running layouts was the 773rd.
1970, ErAZ-763 "Armenia". The 763 won the fight for the right to be next, and in the 70th year a full-size prototype was built. This car hit the conveyor with a huge delay - 15 years later, although initially it was even more perfect than the RAFs.
1974, electric car ErAZ-3731. The first batch of 26 "kapotniks". Unfortunately, until 1985, YerAZ hoods were produced exclusively in small batches for the needs of specific enterprises.
On December 31, 1964, the Council of Ministers of the Armenian SSR decided to produce vans with a carrying capacity of 0.8-10 tons. This is how the history of the Yerevan Automobile Plant began.
In the conditions of the Soviet planned economy, the Yerevan project from the very beginning looked almost spontaneous and therefore doomed to be an “eternal stepson” domestic auto industry. The need to increase the production of light vans as a strategic task was announced by the State Planning Committee of the USSR in the first half of the 60s.
At the same time, the State Planning Committee was well aware that the economic effect from the use of such vans was not so great as to seriously redraw the budget of the five-year plan, which means that for the implementation of the project it would be necessary to “find reserves”.
Initially, it was about mastering the production of the RAF-977K van developed in Riga. But the option with the reconstruction and expansion of the Riga Automobile Plant (RAF) was not even considered on a scale (too costly). erect new plant the more it was expensive. And industry strategists drew attention to the construction near Yerevan factory forklifts.
The enterprise was designed for the production of completely different products and for smaller production volumes, but it was possible to quickly and with minimal cost turn part of the unfinished workshops into a car factory. This determined the further fate of YerAZ. Throughout its history, it has been continuously completed, rebuilt, reconstructed, expanded, and all this only in order to acquire the appearance of a full-fledged automobile plant. For the development of new production areas all funds left, already small, from time to time tossed from the country's budget. For Armenia car factory was important not so much from an economic point of view as for national pride and self-respect.
During 1965 the first core of the team was created, and 66 people were trained at the Riga and Ulyanovsk enterprises automotive industry. The first production building was built, the first machines were mounted, the first parts were processed.
September 10, 1965 of the year by order of the Council of Ministers of the Armed Forces. SSR N795, the forklift plant under construction is named the Yerevan Automobile Plant (YerAZ).
- In 1966, the first director of the plant was appointed the head of the department of mechanical engineering of the Council of National Economy of Arm. SSR Zaven Simonyan. His name is associated with the development of the plant, the creation of a master plan and the rationale for financing capital construction.
During the period of its activity, the production of the first samples was mastered, capacities were created for mass production of 2500 cars per year, the production volume was brought up to 1000 cars per year. - May 1, 1966 of the year the factory employees went to the May Day parade in their own assembled cars.
- Factory director from 1968 to 1973 - Stepan Ivanovich Avanyan. During its work, the first reconstruction of the plant was carried out and capacities were created for the production of 6500 cars per year. The volume of products produced is from 1000 pcs. in 1968 grew to 6500 pcs.
- In 1972, the construction of the second press-forging production building continued at an accelerated pace. Construction was completed in 1973. Acquisition of basic equipment provided. At this stage, the housing problem has been solved - 4 buildings have been commissioned.
Immediately after the completion of the first reconstruction, the second one begins - to create capacities for the production of 12,000 pieces. cars per year. - In 1972-1975. assembly overhead-pushing conveyor is being installed - the second in the USSR. First conveyor of this type in the USSR was designed, manufactured and assembled by an Italian firm Fiat at the Volga Automobile Plant in Togliatti.
After some time, the ErAZ production association was created, which includes: Yerevan Automobile Plant - the parent company; Yerevan plant spare parts; Yerevan forklift plant; Yerevan plant of hydraulic equipment; forklift plant under construction in Charentsavan.
Along with the production of YerAZ vehicles and 4022 forklift trucks, the task is set before the association to master the production of 4091 forklift trucks with a capacity of 1 ton and a 2 ton model developed by the Lvov GSKB Avtogruzik.
Along with the RAF, UAZ, VAZ, YerAZ-e began work on the creation of electric vehicles, 26 samples were made and sent for testing to the Moscow Automobile Plant. ErAZ-3730 was recognized as the most convenient for vehicles in operation due to the large volume of the body. But due to imperfections in the power sources, work on the YerAZ-e was stopped. An international symposium was held in Armenia with the participation of prominent specialists from the USSR and the USA, in which YerAZ specialists also took part. - In November 1983, the ErAZ association was re-registered as the ArmAvto Charentsavan Production Association, and Vladimir Galustovich Nersesyan was appointed director of the Yerevan Automobile Plant. Work has been done on technological preparation, reconstruction, creation of capacities and mastering the production of cars of the new YerAZ-3730 model. The volume of production of cars 762V from 12000 units. rose to 16000 units. in year.
- In May 1984 ErAZ becomes an independent enterprise.
- In 1984-1987. body assembly-welding workshop is being reconstructed. The welding lines of the ErAZ-3730 car body and the system of overhead pushing conveyors with a total length of up to 3.5 km are being installed. The reconstruction of the press shop is being completed.
- In 1984, a cooperation agreement was signed with the Lubinsky automobile plant "Zhuk" (Poland).
- In 1986, the YerAZ-37301 van ErAZ-37301 with an isothermal body, made on the basis of the ErAZ-3730 van, was demonstrated for the first time in the history of the plant. international exhibition abroad in Poznan, Poland.
During the work of Eduard Surenovich Babajanyan (director of the plant from 1989-1991), the reconstruction of the body production of the car of the new YerAZ-3730 model was completed. Ties with the NKR are being strengthened. The reconstruction of the body assembly and welding shop is nearing completion. - From 1991 until the closure of the plant, Hamlet Stepanovich Harutyunyan has been the director. During its work, new modifications of mass-produced cars were mastered, mastered mass production ErAZ-3730 model and its modifications.
- In 1992, on the basis of the mass-produced YerAZ-762V car, new modifications were created and produced: YERAZ-762 VGP (cargo-passenger), YERAZ-762 VDP (double pickup) and a trailer for cars.
- In May 1995, the plant was privatized and a joint-stock company was created. open type"YerAZ". The plant director Hamlet Harutyunyan is elected as the first president of YerAZ JSC. Relations are being established with foreign countries. A recreation center of a sanatorium type is being created in Jermuk. The exit from the crisis begins.
- In 1995 for children's recreation park railway Yerevan, 2 sets of pleasure road trains are being manufactured.
- In November 2002, at the request of creditors, ErAZ OJSC was declared bankrupt by the Economic Court of the Republic of Armenia.
- And in November 2004 it was sold at auction. The new owner of the former ErAZ automobile plant, and then JSC ErAZ, was Mik Metal.
- EpA3-3945. Only 480 kg remained for the cargo. The main disadvantage of this modification was the lack of a second row of doors, which made it difficult to access rear seats. ErAZ-3218, minibus. EpA3-3945 mobile station technical control GAI. It is easy to guess that such control was under the jurisdiction of the State traffic inspectorate, so the car looked accordingly: blue and yellow body color, the inscription "GAI" on the hood.
The purpose of the cargo-passenger version of the van (with a double cab and a shortened cargo compartment) has changed over time. In the early 70s, designers saw this modification as a training machine. In market conditions, cargo-passenger vans were in demand without any special stuffing (EpA3-37308). And at the end of the 80s, two experimental cargo-passenger models EpA3-3945, officially called the "mobile technical control point", were undergoing preliminary tests at the NAMI auto-proving ground. Technical control, as conceived by the creators, was to be carried out "for technical condition units, assemblies and systems vehicles affecting safety traffic in terms of their compliance with the requirements of standards related to traffic safety”.
As a training vehicle, however, the practice of operating Polish Zuk vans with a body of this type in the USSR showed that passenger-and-freight modifications of light-duty vehicles are in demand by many organizations.
With the development in the territory former USSR market economy, the number of potential EpA3-37308 buyers has increased dramatically due to private entrepreneurs. - Minibus on the chassis of the 3730 family It was produced in three variants of the interior layout. Common to all three options was the lack of a right front seat (to the right of the driver), which allowed free access to the salon from the sidewalk. At the same time, the right door was made hinged, not sliding. In addition, the first two rows passenger seats also arranged in the same way: two seats on the left side of the aisle, one on the right.
After the collapse of the USSR, the development of some modifications became impossible due to the loss of economic ties. - The original modification with a "double cab". The layout of the rear of the cabin was different.
In the first version, designed for nine passengers, the third row of passenger seats exactly repeated the first two (2 + 1). At the same time, it was possible to get into the salon through the right wing of the rear swing door.
In the second option (for ten passengers), the passage to back row closed with another seat. Thus, rear doors were completely blocked.
And, finally, in the third version (also ten-seater), two seats were placed behind the backs of the outer seats of the second row along the sides facing each other. This made it possible to enter the salon not only through the side door, but also through both rear doors.
- In the first half of the 70s, an industry program for the creation of electric vehicles was carried out in the country - this direction seemed promising to some of the officials.
In 1974, the Yerevan enterprise joined the Riga, Ulyanovsk and Volga automobile plants, which participated in the project. According to some reports, a total of 26 experimental EpA3-3731 electric vehicles were manufactured on the EpA3-3730 platform. All of them, along with experimental analogues of other plants, were tested in Moscow, including operational ones. Ultimately, Yerevan electric cars were recognized as more successful than their counterparts, but the project was curtailed due to the bulkiness and insufficient capacity of the batteries available in those years.
- Rechargeable batteries 96-EIZH-200 set in motion an electric motor with a power of 22 kW. Max Speed electric car was 60 km / h, and the power reserve was only 45 km.
I have many Armenian friends. Here one of them once throws me a link, and there are aramobiles in the truest sense of the word)))
If interested, then the history of ERAZ is under the cut.
I must say right away that all the information was completely taken by copy-paste.
Well, so the history of the Yerevan Automobile Plant laid its foundation on December 31, 1964, when, by order of the Council of Ministers of the Armenian SSR, a decision was made "On the organization in Yerevan in the buildings of the Avtogruzik plant under construction, a plant for the production of vans with a carrying capacity of 0.8-1, 0 t".
During 1965, the first core of the team was created, and 66 people were trained at the Riga and Ulyanovsk enterprises of the automotive industry. The first production building was built, the first machines were mounted, the first parts were processed.
On September 10, 1965, by order of the Council of Ministers of the Arm SSR N795, the forklift plant under construction was named the Yerevan Automobile Plant - YerAZ.
In 1966, Zaven Simonyan, head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Council of National Economy of the Armenian SSR, was appointed the first director of the plant, whose track record includes many senior positions in enterprises and institutions in Moscow and the GDR.
His name is associated with the development of the plant, the creation of a master plan and the rationale for financing capital construction. During the period of its activity, the production of the first samples was mastered, capacities were created for mass production of 2500 cars per year, the production volume was brought up to 1000 cars per year.
During his work at the plant, the first reconstruction of the plant was carried out and capacities were created for the production of 6500 cars per year. The volume of products produced is from 1000 pcs. in 1968 grew to 6500 pcs. in 1973. The capital construction of the press-body and assembly facilities has been completed. Acquisition of basic equipment provided. At this stage, the housing problem has been solved - 4 buildings have been commissioned.
Stepan Ivanovich Avanyan (factory director from 1968 to 1973)
In 1972, the construction of the second press-forging production building continued at an accelerated pace.
Immediately after the completion of the first reconstruction, the second one begins - to create capacities for the production of 12,000 pieces. cars per year. 1972-75 The installation of an assembly overhead push conveyor (developed by the Minsk SKB-3) is underway - the second in the USSR. The first conveyor of this type in the USSR was designed, manufactured and assembled by the Italian company Fiat at the Volga Automobile Plant in Togliatti.
During his work at the plant, the installation of equipment was completed and the press-body building was put into operation, the second reconstruction of the main production workshops was carried out, bringing the production capacity to 13 thousand vehicles per year, the main conveyor was launched, the technological preparation of the car of the new YerAZ-3730 model was started, the volume of output from 7,000 vehicles has been increased to 10,000 units. in year.
Albert Hayrapetovich Danielyan (factory director from 1974 to 1980)
In 1976, the main assembly line was launched at the plant and the first German press with a force of 500 tons was installed in the new press shop. Yerevan plant of spare parts; Yerevan forklift plant; Yerevan plant of hydraulic equipment; forklift plant under construction in Charentsavan. Along with the production of YerAZ vehicles and 4022 forklifts, the task is set before the association to master the production of 4091 forklift trucks with a capacity of 1 ton and a 2 ton model developed by the Lvov GSKB Avtogruzik.
Along with the RAF, UAZ, VAZ, YerAZ-e began work on the creation of electric vehicles, 26 samples were made and sent for testing to the Moscow Automobile Plant. ErAZ-3730 was recognized as the most convenient for vehicles in operation due to the large volume of the body. But due to the imperfection of the power sources, work on the YerAZ-e was stopped. An international symposium was held in Armenia with the participation of prominent specialists from the USSR and the USA, in which YerAZ specialists also took part.
Norayr Atomovich Hovsepyan ( CEO associations from 1980 to 1983)
During his work, the production of cars from 10,000 units increased to 11,200 units. in year. Technological preparation and development of the production of parts and assemblies of forklifts has been carried out. The painting shop is being reconstructed at the plant. New painting and drying booths, overhead pusher and floor conveyor systems are being installed.
In April 1982, from the main assembly line the 100,000th YerAZ is coming out!
Jim Zavenovich Abrahamyan (general director of the association from July 1983 to November 1983)
Under him, work was intensified on the technological preparation for the production of YerAZ-3730 vans and new models of forklifts.
November 1983 The ErAZ association is re-registered as the Charentsavan production association ArmAvto, and Vladimir Galustovich Nersesyan is appointed director of the Yerevan Automobile Plant. In May 1984 ErAZ becomes an independent enterprise.
Vladimir Galustovich Nersesyan (factory director from 1983 to 1988)
During his work, work was done on technological preparation, reconstruction, creation of capacities and mastering the production of cars of the new model ErAZ-3730. The volume of production of cars 762V from 12000 units. rose to 16000 units. in year.
In 1984-1987. body assembly-welding workshop is being reconstructed. Welding lines of the ErAZ-3730 car body and a system of overhead pushing conveyors with a total length of up to 3.5 km are being installed. The reconstruction of the press shop is being completed. In 1984, a cooperation agreement is signed with the Lubinsk automobile plant Zhuk (Poland). ErAZ-3730 YerAZ-37301 motor van with an isothermal body for the first time in the history of the plant is demonstrated at an international exhibition abroad in Poznan, Poland.
Eduard Surenovich Babajanyan (factory director from 1989-1991)
During its work, the reconstruction of the body production of the car of the new model ErAZ-3730 was completed. Ties with the NKR are being strengthened. The reconstruction of the body assembly-welding shop is being completed. In 1991, the plant created a subsidiary farm "Nadezhda" in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, where a 15-hectare garden was planted and a reservoir was built.
Hamlet Stepanovich Harutyunyan (factory director from 1991 until closing)
During the work of Hamlet Harutyunyan, new modifications of mass-produced cars were mastered, serial production of the ErAZ-3730 model and its modifications was mastered. In May 1995, the plant was privatized and the YerAZ Open Joint Stock Company was created. The plant director Hamlet Harutyunyan is elected as the first president of YerAZ JSC. Relations with foreign countries are being established. A recreation center of a sanatorium type is being created in Jermuk.
In 1992, on the basis of the mass-produced ErAZ-762V car, new modifications were created and produced: ErAZ-762 VGP (cargo-passenger), ErAZ-762 VDP (double pickup) and a trailer for cars. In 1995, for the recreation park of the children's railway of Yerevan 2 sets of pleasure road trains are being manufactured.
And here are the aramobiles =)
ErAZ 762 (762A, 762B)
Technical specifications:
Type - Van, VAN
Dimensions and weight:
Weight of transported cargo -1000kg
Curb weight - 1475kg
Gross weight - 2625 kg
Number of seats - 2
Engine:
Number of cylinders - 4
Maximum speed - 110
Transmission, suspension:
Wheel formula - 4х2
Wheelbase - 2700
ErAZ 762 (762 VGP)
Technical specifications:
Type - cargo-passenger, cargo & passenger
Dimensions and weight:
Weight of transported cargo - 500 kg
Curb weight - 1525kg
Gross weight - 2625 kg
Capacity fuel tank– 37l
Number of seats - 7
Engine:
Number of cylinders - 4
Engine power 66.2 kW at 4500 rpm
Engine displacement - 2.45
Max torque 172.5 kgm. at 2400 rpm.
Maximum speed - 110
Overall turning radius - 6.7
Transmission, suspension:
Gearbox - 3-speed 3.12; 1.77; 1.00. R3.74
Suspension front - independent, spring with transverse levers
Rear suspension - dependent, on longitudinal semi-elliptical springs
Wheel formula - 4х2
Wheelbase - 2700
ErAZ 762 (762 VDP)
Technical specifications:
Type - pickup, pickup
Dimensions and weight:
Curb weight - 1450kg
Gross weight - 2625 kg
Fuel tank capacity - 37l
Number of seats - 7
Engine:
Number of cylinders - 4
Engine power 66.2 kW at 4500 rpm
Engine displacement - 2.45
Max torque at rpm - 172.5 / 2400
Maximum speed - 110
Overall turning radius - 6.7
Transmission, suspension:
Gearbox - 3-speed 3.12; 1.77; 1.00. R3.74
Suspension front - independent, spring with transverse levers
Rear suspension - dependent, on longitudinal semi-elliptical springs
Wheel formula - 4х2
Wheelbase - 2700
ErAZ 3218
Technical specifications:
Type - bus
Dimensions and weight:
Curb weight - 1750kg
Gross weight - 2464 kg
Fuel tank capacity - 37l
Number of seats - 10
Engine:
Number of cylinders - 4
Engine power 66.2 kW at 4500 rpm
Engine displacement - 2.45
Max torque 172.5 kgm. at 2400 rpm.
Maximum speed - 110
Overall turning radius - 6.7
Transmission, suspension:
Rear suspension - dependent, on longitudinal semi-elliptical springs
Wheel formula - 4х2
Wheelbase - 2700
ErAZ 3730
Technical specifications
Type - van, bus
Dimensions and weight:
Weight of transported cargo - 800 kg
Curb weight - 1720kg
Gross weight - 2670 kg
Fuel tank capacity - 37l
Number of seats - 2
Engine:
Number of cylinders - 4
Engine power 66.2 kW at 4500 rpm
Engine displacement - 2.45
Max torque 172.5 kgm. at 2400 rpm.
Maximum speed - 110
Overall turning radius - 6.7
Transmission, suspension:
Gearbox - 4-speed 4.12; 2.64; 1.58; 1.00 R 5.224
Front suspension - dependent, on longitudinal semi-elliptical springs
Rear suspension - dependent, on longitudinal semi-elliptical springs
Wheel formula - 4х2
Wheelbase - 2700
As you know, YerAZ for a long time, since the mid-60s, produced only one model - the ErAZ-762 van, the essence of RAF 977. But in the early 70s, Yerevan began to slowly develop its own car, which a few years later would be called YerAZ-3730 . The first samples of the 3730 were ready back in the late 70s, but it was not possible to properly establish mass production. Since about 1992, the plant has been producing these vans in small quantities, leaving no hope of expanding mass production. But something constantly interfered - war, lack of energy, lack of money to modernize the conveyor ...
When I arrived at YerAZ in the spring of 1997, a respectable Armenian man, Hamlet Stepanovich Arutyunyan, was in charge there.
He considered himself the third person in the republic - after the president and chairman of the local KGB. It is possible that this was the case - the influence of Hamlet Stepanovich was quite noticeable. True, then, in March 1997, there was nowhere to fully demonstrate it - impoverished Armenia was simply trying to survive, not really thinking about car production.
By the way, I saw new YerAZiki on the streets of Yerevan. Not to say that in abundance, but there were quite a lot of them, I did not expect. I have never seen this car in Moscow. They said that local transport workers were in good demand for 3730, it seems like one YerAZik replaces six Volga in terms of capacity and efficiency. I don’t know how correct such a comparison is, but there were enough YerAZik minibuses in Armenia.
But the plant did not work. For a simple reason - there was no heating. Technological process requires running water, and it simply froze. Therefore, for several years in a row, YerAZ “fell asleep” in winter and “thawed out” only in spring. When I arrived, there were only a few people at the plant - the director, his driver, chief designer, commercial director and, possibly, someone else. There were almost no workers, the shops were empty, even the lights were not turned on. It was very cold everywhere.
Here is the chief designer, whose name I don’t remember for years:
We walked around the empty enterprise, looked into the small-scale assembly shop. In fact - large garage, where several people, manually and reluctantly, made another YerAZik. It seemed that this work would be eternal, the pace of production was such that they were more interested in the process than the result. They showed an armored car made on the chassis of the 762nd, it was standing in the back of the garage, crowded with other cars, it was even impossible to really approach it. Like, they did it on the order of a local businessman, but he either ran out of money, or something else happened ... In short, an armored car got stuck at the factory, not redeemed. I also saw how they made a pickup truck on an old chassis - apparently, a stock of components remained at the factory and they had to be put somewhere. But they did this car in the same way, a teaspoon per hour.
Took some pictures of the car:
And then we went to ride on YerAZik in Yerevan. There was a car at the factory that performed representative functions and was finished with Armenian ideas of beauty: curtains and a table in the cabin, an openwork roof rack, wheels painted in White color, striped body coloring. And, most importantly: the Cadillac emblem flaunted right on the “torpedo”, and the BMW emblem on the steering wheel hub. The seats in the front, if I'm not mistaken, were also "BMW".
I drove a bit behind the wheel, but, not knowing the city, gave way to the factory driver. Hamlet Stepanovich, of course, traveled with us and chattered incessantly. He was then occupied with one problem - what kind of car to buy. Someone offered him a used Audi 100 and he really wanted it. But traditionally, the entire directorate drove Volgas - because YerAZ had strong ties with GAZ, the aggregate base was something in common. Hamlet Stepanovich personally knew Pugin. He said that they know the Volga better than the GAZ people themselves and can make a “candy” out of a serial “turd” car. Replace shock absorbers and springs, change rear gear… I don’t remember all the improvements, I only remember that the then director’s black Volga 31029 really drove perfectly. And so Hamlet Stepanovich broke down - and Audi wants to, and in Nizhny they began to make a new "Volga" - 3110. And they also want it. And he kept pestering with the question: well, tell me, tell me what is better, huh?
Then I was told about two projects - to assemble Muscovite pickups and GAZelles in Yerevan. On the first point, it seems like all the agreements were in ointment, since Asatryan, Harutyunyan's old corefan, was already director of the AZLK. Not a bad idea, by the way: in Moscow, pickups would not have been in demand, and it was not easy to establish their production. And Armenia is a very capacious market for such machines. And about GAZelles, too, they allegedly already agreed with Pugin. “Just don’t tell anyone yet, okay? It's too early".
And then we went to Sevan. I asked for it, I wanted to see this iconic lake. We arrived, wandered around the once resort, and now completely deserted area, looked at the monument to the heroine of the Armenian epic - a girl waiting on the shore of her lover.
On an Armenian scale, they rented an entire hall in one of the local restaurants, which, it seemed, had not seen visitors all winter. They brought hake, freshly caught from Sevan. They drank, and so hard, like a man. There were five of us, along with the driver - all the management of the plant and me, gouging. For some reason, I remember this short walk along the shore of Sevan and dinner in a deserted restaurant more than the factory.
The history of YerAZ ended around the same time. They never launched the assembly line for assembly 3730, they got loans, but there is nothing to give back, you can’t collect many YerAZiks with your hands, even in summer. In 2002, the plant was bankrupted, and I don't know where Hamlet Stepanovich went.
I only remember that about six months after that trip, several messages were recorded on my answering machine. Contract. A voice with a characteristic Armenian pronunciation said: “Serozha, this is Hamlet. I am in Moscow". Then again: “Serozha, this is Hamlet. I am in Moscow". And so many times. Neither the phone number nor the place where he stopped, Hamlet Stepanovich guessed to name.
In addition, the enterprise from Yerevan was "tied" to suppliers and subcontractors - both to the manufacturer of body panels from Latvia, and to the Gorky Automobile Plant. As a result, many situational "buts" did not allow the management of the enterprise to reach the planned production volumes. And in general, the attitude of the Ministry of Automotive Industry to YerAZ, as well as to many other similar "non-passenger" plants, was peculiar - financing and support were carried out according to the residual principle. Let's not forget that at the end of the same sixties, a huge auto giant was launched in the USSR in Togliatti, where almost all the forces and money of the industry were thrown. This dealt a noticeable blow to both the automotive industry and the rest of the leading enterprises in the automotive industry. What can we say about such "pot-bellied little things" as factories that produced 5-6 thousand cars a year! On the scale of a huge country - mere crumbs.
Based on the already abundant operating experience of the YerAZ-762 and the current situation with production, it became obvious to the management, who was not indifferent to the fate of the native plant, that they first needed to get rid of dependence on the supply of components, and only then proceed to the development and implementation of a new model. Alas, after the pressing and stamping production in Yerevan finally reached the required capacity, a directive was lowered “from above” - to stamp parts for RAFs in Armenia! This again increased the workload on the plant and made it impossible for it to move on.
Pride of the Nation
However, YerAZ did not sit idly by. After all, initially a team of enthusiasts was formed there, for whom automotive production in Armenia it was not just a functional duty, but a matter of life and honor, a task associated with personal ambitions and even national pride. That is why at YerAZ from the very beginning they worked on the principle of “we will do it as best as possible”, and not “how it will turn out”. Restrictions on the part of the relevant ministry in a certain way tied the hands of only production workers and technologists, but not design engineers, for whom the manufacture of only the "Armenian" Rafik "without windows and seats" was clearly not enough.
The Department of the Chief Designer (OGK) formally had to improve the very ErAZ-762, which the specialists of the enterprise carefully and responsibly did. Indeed, with the release of each new "literal" modification (ErAZ-762A, -762B, -762V), the car became stronger, more durable and even more attractive in appearance. But at the same time, the designers made dozens of generally invisible from the outside, but such important "notices" - that is, upgrades and "bug fixes" of previous modifications. Nevertheless, who, if not the engineers who carried out the improvement, knew for certain that the "seven hundred and sixty-second" had exhausted itself, as they say, conceptually, almost at the very beginning of the journey. After all, it was never designed to carry a ton of cargo - neither the design of the load-bearing body, nor the components and assemblies of the usual "twenty-first" Volga contributed to this. And no matter how much you tie a flimsy structure with twigs, it will not become a brick house anyway ...
My own game
Of course, they couldn’t completely leave the old platform in Yerevan - there was simply nowhere to get a new one power unit and chassis units. However, the delivery van needed, first of all, a completely different body and a more rational layout.
Work on the project was carried out not alone, but together with NAMI engineers and NIIAT specialists, for whom similar tasks were an excellent opportunity to move from theory to practice.
The design of the cargo van must be absolutely original, without reference to the layout of some existing minibus. Its main highlight was the frame instead of a load-bearing body.
After ErAZ-762, it became obvious that a vehicle for transporting goods, albeit a small one, needs a solid base - a spar frame, since the load-bearing body does not provide the required rigidity and mechanical strength.
The prototype YerAZ-763 was distinguished by a cabover cab, behind which there was an all-metal cargo compartment of a peculiar shape, which in its linear dimensions exceeded the front part. original part: sliding doors were provided on the right sidewall - but not for access to cargo compartment, but for the passage to the cockpit! For loading and unloading luggage, double-leaf swing doors were provided in the stern of the car.
A prototype YerAZ-763 "Armenia" made in a single copy (1970)
However, it turned out that in order to get rid of the second chronic problem of the old YerAZ, namely the overloaded front axle, you will have to make the car not a cabover, but a half-bonnet layout. Due to a different redistribution of masses, the load on the front axle has become much less, because the cab has moved into the wheelbase. The very first sea trials showed that the YerAZ-763A has a much better weight distribution. It is interesting that these prototypes were not unified in terms of the aggregate base with the Volga, as it was before, but with ... Muscovites (by motor) and Ulyanovsk off-road vehicles (drive axle and gearbox).
In the course of the “research”, the next version of the prototypes with the ErAZ-763B index appeared, in which the designers nevertheless returned to the “Volgovsky” engine. According to the new industry standard of 1966, the future van received an index of 3730 and was designed for payload in 1000 kg. It was assumed that the new car will have several different modifications for the purpose: a minibus, ambulance, fixed-route taxi, refrigerator, isothermal van and even a cottage on wheels!
Mobile technical control station of GAI ErAZ-3945 Looking back almost half a century ago, you understand: the designers of YerAZ, together with scientific specialists, developed a car of exactly the layout, which soon became practically the only one in this class.
A typical example: the little-known, but at the same time the legendary American Grumman LLV mail van, famous for its indestructibility, both in layout and appearance very similar to ErAZ-3730. But Yerevan car was designed 12 years earlier!
However, it was smooth only on paper. Prototypes, as expected, were tested in various climatic zones of the USSR and already in 1973 passed the state acceptance, having received a recommendation for mass production.
And then ... perhaps, ErAZ was the first Soviet car that "never found its way to the conveyor" after approval at the state level. This happened to, and many others Soviet cars that appeared in an unsuccessful period - just before the collapse of the USSR. However, a completely different story happened to YerAZ, which even sounds somewhat implausible for the prosperously stagnant seventies.
1 / 7
2 / 7
3 / 7
4 / 7
5 / 7
6 / 7
7 / 7
The new van fell victim to the old one, which the country still needed. To launch YerAZ-3730, the plant would have to abandon production previous model, since the capacities for the parallel production of new and old cars YerAZ simply didn’t have them - and they weren’t expected. Due to the difference in platforms within the same conveyor, the cars did not get along - with the exception of the motor, they had nothing in common. This meant that a radical readjustment was required and even the replacement of bodywork, the renewal of the press shop, and so on. Of course, this required money - and a lot of it.
If other Soviet automobile plants saved the prospects for exporting new models abroad, the Yerevan enterprise could not count on this - its "crumbs" in the form of tens of thousands of vans a year were easily swallowed up by the huge domestic market.
It was also impossible to stop the production of the old YerAZ for the reason that the plant in Armenia was a supplier of "bodywork" for the RAF, which in 1973 was still being produced with might and main, because the new "Latvia" appeared only three years later - in 1976. This means that a change in the model in Yerevan would have caused damage to the Balts as well. Here is such an intra-production auto-geopolitics multiplied by planned-administrative macroeconomics...
Sopor
Eventually new model as if "hanging" between the successfully passed state acceptance and launch into mass production. Not for a day, not for two, for years. From time to time, at YerAZ, as they say, “by the piece” they collected small batches of new vans, often using them to “promotion” of the novelty, which by that time had already turned several years old. Fortunately, the angular body was designed so well that it looked like “out of time”.
In an effort to somehow get the coveted “ticket” for the conveyor, YerAZ even fussed and converted two dozen of their cars “for electric running” - the topic of electric vehicles in the USSR started just in the mid-seventies, and Yerevan designers became pioneers of new technologies, ahead of to this indicator, even the Volga Automobile Plant with it.
The Olympics-80 was not ignored either, which was serviced by specially prepared 10 ErAZ-3702 refrigerators. In a word, the new (more precisely, almost ten years old!) van "shone" where and as soon as they could, trying to arouse interest not only among the Ministry of Automotive Industry, but also among potential consumers.
Thus, participation in the Avtoprom-85 exhibition brought the van a bronze medal, and a year later, in cooperation with Polish factory"Lublin" YerAZ-37301 isothermal van was also shown to the Poles, sending the car to an exhibition in Poznan.
 |
 |
Until the mid-eighties, the production of old YerAZ trucks was constantly increasing, reaching 15 thousand cars a year. But the poor “thirty-seven-thirty” remained out of work, being “between heaven and earth” in the form of an eternal prototype, which “one of these days, or even earlier” will get on the conveyor. But the prosperous time for the automobile industry of the USSR, as well as for the country itself, has, in fact, already ended, even though no one suspected it then.
During the period that YerAZ toiled in a pre-production state, the model went through some improvements that improved its consumer qualities. It is a pity that the consumer never appreciated them.
After all, since 1987, the auto industry began to gradually “cut off oxygen” in terms of finances, and then problems began with the Soviet state itself, which soon broke up into several independent countries. Armenia was far from in the best position, so the launch of a new model into mass production was out of the question - the enterprise had to at least just survive, waiting out a difficult time with the old YerAZ. Moreover, due to lost connections and broken "threads" - both in the supply of components and in sales commercial vehicles– the Yerevan enterprise was on the verge of collapse.
When, in the mid-nineties, the “eternally alive” YerAZ-762 finally retired, already within the framework of the activities of YerAZ OJSC, it was finally possible to start mass production of the YerAZ-3730. It happened in 1995 - just imagine, 22 years after positive recommendation State Commission! The path of the van to the conveyor turned out to be Moiseevsky long ...
Alas, the conveyor life itself was short-lived: the van was produced from 1995 until the beginning of the 2000s - until YerAZ finally went bankrupt in 2002. However, in last years It was difficult to call the release of single copies by hand “production”.
In the late nineties, vans enjoyed some success on domestic market- well, where else can you buy a new one for a little over $ 5,000 cargo van capable of carrying a ton of luggage? Armenian buyers also liked the passenger-and-freight vehicles, which allowed them to carry six people and half a ton of luggage. However, like the enterprise itself, YerAZ was simply doomed to “free float”. A good platform, but other people's units, small production capacity, lack of access to foreign markets- in fact, the national pride of the Armenian automobile industry has remained a “thing in itself”, which no one really knew.
Could the future of the project become successful if it was put into series?
