1941 During the entire production period, 8,752 cars were produced, of which about 600 were modernized model ZIS-101A.
| ZIS-101 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Manufacturer | ZIS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years of production | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assembly | ZIS (Moscow, USSR) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Class | Higher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Design | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Body type | 4-door limousine (7-seater) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Layout | front-engine, rear-wheel drive | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Engine | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Transmission | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Characteristics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mass-dimensional | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 5720 mm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Width | 1892 mm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1950 mm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Clearance | 190 mm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wheelbase | 3605 mm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rear track | 1550 mm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Front track | 1500 mm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 2550 kg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full mass | 3075 kg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dynamic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum speed | 115 km/h | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| On the market | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Similar models | Buick Limited Chevrolet Master 85 |
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| Other | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Volume of the tank | 85 l | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Media files on Wikimedia Commons | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Background
The creation of the ZIS-101 was preceded by the development of the seven-seat executive limousine "Leningrad-1" (L-1) by the Krasny Putilovets plant at the direction of VATO (All-Union Automotive and Tractor Association). At Krasny Putilovets, in the early thirties, the outdated Fordson tractor had just been discontinued, and accordingly, production space was freed up.
It was an almost exact copy of the Buick-32-90, which by American standards belonged to the upper-middle class (above most brands, but lower than Cadillac or Packard).
In 1933, Leningraders produced six L-1 cars. It was a very advanced and structurally sophisticated car for those times, with an abundance of automation and servos. For example, it had very complex dual carburetors with automatic air control, a thermostat that automatically opened and closed the radiator shutters, and adjustment of the stiffness of lever shock absorbers from the driver's seat. Therefore, the development of the “Soviet Buick,” as the car was quite openly called in the press, was rightly considered in those days a cause for pride and a great victory for Soviet industry.
In addition to “Krasny Putilovets”, other related enterprises were involved in the production of the first batch of L-1, including the Leningrad “Red Triangle”, “Vulcan”, carburetor and many others. "Red Putilovets" had enough production capacity and space: the transition to full-scale production required 150 million investments (compared to 400 million for the construction of a new plant). “All procurement shops, as well as more than 80% of the equipment in the mechanical assembly shops of the tractor department, were easily adapted to the automotive industry.” The Putilovites had no less experience in mechanical engineering than the Muscovites. The motor rally to Moscow and back was completed successfully, without any breakdowns. However, the modification of the L-1 was transferred to the Moscow ZIS, and Krasny Putilovets retained its specialization in tractor, ship and tank building.
At the ZIS plant, based on this car, the ZIS-101 model was created. The work was supervised by Evgeniy Ivanovich Vazhinsky.
History of creation
At the Plant named after Stalin in Moscow, the designers did not copy the Buick, but followed the path of creating own car based on its design solutions. From the design, in particular, such questionable components were eliminated - difficult to manufacture and not reliable - assemblies such as automatic control clutch, remote adjustment of shock absorbers. The frame and chassis have been strengthened for use in road conditions USSR, which also required their processing.
Nevertheless, the basis of the design of the ZIS still remained the Buicks of the 1932-34 models, in particular, from them the car inherited a very advanced overhead valve (OHV) eight-cylinder engine at that time; some design solutions were also borrowed from Packard models - for example, steering and rear suspension.
Since the Buick body no longer corresponded to the fashion of the mid-thirties, it had to be redesigned. This work was entrusted to the American body shop Budd Company, which, based on Soviet sketches, designed an elegant and outwardly modern body for those years, and also supplied everything necessary for serial production equipment It cost the state half a million dollars and took 16 months.
The Budd company specialized in small-scale production of cars for individual orders based on ready-made chassis, which was reflected in the design of the body - it remained wooden and metal. First, the frame was made of hard wood (beech), then stamped metal panels were sewn onto it. It was difficult, mostly handmade. The manufacture of the frame was especially labor-intensive, and perhaps the most difficult thing was to achieve noiselessness while moving - the connections of wooden parts are prone to creaking at the slightest fit defect. The abundance of large, easily deformed stamped parts made of sheet steel also did not help speed up the assembly of machines. This technology was well suited for small-scale assembly of cars in body shops, but it made production on a mass scale very difficult. Mass models, such as the GAZ-M-1, in those years already had all-metal bodies.
It is noteworthy that in the magazine "Behind the Wheel" for 1934, an early prototype of the car was shown, which had a sedan-type body (not a limousine) with a protruding trunk, externally copying (as noted in the article) the Buick of the 1934 model , and it was stated that the car would be produced in exactly this form and with this body type. However, the car went into production with a significantly changed design and a “limousine” body.
The first prototypes (two cars) were manufactured in the spring of 1936; on April 29, 1936, in the Kremlin, prototypes were shown to the Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, I.V. Stalin. Conveyor assembly began on January 18, 1937.
Unlike later ZILs, ZIS-101 cars served not only senior party and government officials, but also ordinary citizens, and were produced in orders of magnitude larger quantities. This car was destined to remain in history as the most popular representative ZIS/ZIL model in general (for comparison: the ZIS-110 was produced four times less, and the ZIL-111 and ZIL-114 were 78 (!) times less than the ZIS-101). Of course, there was no talk of selling for personal use in those years (although the ZIS-101 could be won in a lottery or received as a special incentive) - but in large cities of the USSR, executive ZIS models were quite widely used as taxis on long routes .
In 1936, the 13th taxi fleet was created in Moscow, equipped with 55 ZIS-101 vehicles. Unlike government ones, they had “cheerful” colors - blue, light blue and yellow. Since 1938, the “101st” ZISes from the 13th taxi fleet began to operate on routes connecting train stations, airports and main transport routes, as well as the cities of Noginsk and Bronnitsy with Moscow. Such taxis were also used in other cities. For example, in 1939 in Minsk there were three ZIS-101 taxis.
After the Great Patriotic War for some time, the ZIS-101 turned out to be one of the most common Moscow taxis: the bulk of the Emoks were sent to the front during the war years, where they ended their days; ZISs were distinguished by relatively poor cross-country ability, so they were mothballed until 1945. Immediately after the war, they plied along the Garden and Boulevard rings and on the Rizhsky Station - Sverdlov Square line. Their gradual replacement by Pobeda and ZIS-110 cars began only in 1946-47.
Design and characteristics
In those years, each new car model was a milestone for the Soviet automobile industry, and the ZIS-101 was no exception: for the first time in the industry, such innovations as an interior heater, a radio, a thermostat in the engine cooling system, and a damper were used torsional vibrations engine shaft, two-chamber carburetor, vacuum servo clutch and brake boosters. The three-speed gearbox, also an industry first, had synchronizers in 2nd and 3rd gears. The suspension of all wheels is dependent, on longitudinal springs, the brakes are drum brakes, with a mechanical drive, and a vacuum booster.
Modernization
| External images | |
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| ZIS-101A | |
The modernized car received the designation ZIS-101A. The main difference was the body with more modern design and all-metal construction. Other differences included a boost to 116 hp. With. engine with aluminum pistons and new carburetor. Externally, the car was distinguished, first of all, by a different radiator mask, with a semicircular cross-section. The maximum speed of the car was 125 km/h. Serial release The machine was discontinued on July 7, 1941.
At the beginning of 1941, a single copy of the car was made ZIS-101B, which differed from the ZIS-101A by its protruding trunk, rectangular shape instruments on the panel and chrome ring sound signal on the steering wheel.
Overview of modifications
In 1936, a single copy of the car was made ZIS-101L(“Lux”) - with a telephone. At the end of 1937, a modification was developed with open body"phaeton" - ZIS-102. The front and rear doors opened in the direction of the car (on the ZIS-101 the rear doors opened against the direction). The ZIS-102 was painted only in gray-silver color, the interior was upholstered in dark blue leather. During 1938, 8 ZIS-102 vehicles were produced.
In January 1939, 2 ZIS-102 cars with a convertible body were produced, painted in dark cherry color, the interior was upholstered in dark red leather (these cars did not receive a separate index). In August 1939, the only copy of the modernized “phaeton” was manufactured ZIS-102A, which had similar ZIS-101A engine and radiator trim. This car took part in the parade on Red Square on May 1, 1941. A photograph of him taken in 1949 in the Krasnodar Territory has survived. 2 cars were also produced ZIS-101E(“Extra”) - armored (glass thickness 70 mm). In 1939, based on the ZIS-101A, it was created sport car ZIS-101A-Sport. In addition, modifications for taxis and ambulance services were produced in small series. ZIS-101 taxis were not uncommon in large cities of the USSR and were used on fixed routes or intercity lines.
Also known is the auto-automotive sound broadcasting installation on the ZIS-101, which had the nickname “three-ton gramophone.” In 1942, the writer Yuri Nagibin, an instructor of the 7th department of the Political Directorate of the Volkhov Front, worked on such a ZIS-101. In 1942, a mobile sound recording unit was created on the ZIS-101 for the Leningrad radio with captured German tape recording equipment.
In 1949, the Aremkuz plant built a batch of 30 ambulances on the ZIS-101A chassis, which received the AKZ-4 index.
There were also single copies of the ZIS-101 with six-cylinder engines Packard and Studebaker
The decision to master the production of comfortable large displacement passenger cars in our country (according to the terminology of that time) was made in 1932. To implement the idea, we first chose Leningrad plant "Krasny Putilovets", where not at first they decided to do exact copy newest American Buick-32-90, model 1932. By the May 1933 demonstration in Leningrad, they were able to assemble a small batch of 6 Soviet Buicks under the name “L-1” (“Leningrad-1”).
L-1 machines for domestic automotive industry of that time had a rather complex design: overhead valve eight-cylinder in-line engine(105 hp), dual carburetor, hydraulic shock absorbers with adjustable stiffness from the driver’s seat, etc. As a result, things did not go further than the production of a pilot batch: the plant began to develop tractor-tank themes. And two Leningrad-1 passenger cars were transferred to ZIS, which was supposed to take over the baton of limousine production from Krasny Putlovets.
Soon on ZIS They brought the original one too. Buick model 1932 with instructions to study it. The design of the new car, which received the name, was headed at the plant by chief designer Evgeny Ivanovich Vazhinsky.
One of the four layouts was accepted, and further design began on it. We even managed to prepare some technical documentation and build the frame of a prototype body, but... at the top they decided to still order the body, along with drawings and stamps, abroad, in America, from the company Budd. And the approved layout was sent to America as a sample. For the development of the body, body stamps and welding jigs, we had to pay 1.5 million dollars - a huge amount of money at that time.
Company Budd design experience car bodies had almost none, and, according to domestic experts, the project was done very poorly. For example, the wooden frame of the body was simply “inscribed” into the surface without the slightest consideration of technology and calculation of loads. Then this created great difficulties in processing wooden parts in the woodworking shop. In general, the body turned out to be surprisingly low-tech. The wooden beech frame was connected by numerous gussets, corners and braces and sheathed on top with painted stamped metal sheets. To assemble such a body, it was necessary to conscientiously tighten thousands of screws, otherwise the structure would quickly become loose and begin to creak during use.
Dies and the first 500 sets of stampings for the ZIS-101 arrived in the USSR in 1935. Prototype vehicles had to be built by April 1, 1936. The task was not easy: the plant had never made a high-class passenger car before, but here there were so many new, unexpected, and incomprehensible things. The significance of the upcoming event was so great that the selection of the assembly team for the first batch was personally carried out by the plant director.
The display of two ZIS-101 cars took place in the Kremlin on April 29, 1936. I.A. Likhachev, A.A. Evseev and other plant managers went to see him. The cars were inspected by Stalin, Ordzhonikidze, Mikoyan, Khrushchev and many others. The new Soviet cars made a good impression on senior government officials, and the comments made were not of a fundamental nature.
It was a very comfortable car, especially for the 30s. Its body was equipped with a heater and a radio, and the passenger compartment was separated from the driver by a rising glass partition. Only high-quality fabrics were used in the interior decoration, and the seats were upholstered in cloth or leather. The instrument panel and window frames were finished with expensive types of wood. Wicker handrails with chrome tips were installed on the interior partition and on the body pillars. At the rear of the car there was a trunk, which was accessed through a special luggage hatch, and bulky items could additionally be secured behind the car on a folding grille.
The engine design and layout of the ZIS-101 were borrowed from Buick almost unchanged. The eight-cylinder in-line engine (5.77 l) developed a power of 90 hp. and was capable of accelerating a three-ton car to 115 km/h. The ZIS-101 engine has used such technical solutions as crankshaft with counterweights and torsional vibration damper, two-chamber "Marvel" carburetor with exhaust gas heating, thermostat in the engine cooling system. For effective braking in braking system a vacuum booster was added to the car.
The first car was produced on January 18, 1937. Initially, the rate of production of cars was very high, up to 17 cars per day, but after 1939 production volumes were reduced, since the cars were expensive, and the consumers for whom they were intended were provided quite quickly. The cars were delivered exclusively to public service, and were transferred into private hands to in rare cases, individual representatives of the intelligentsia and generals for outstanding services to the Motherland.
Modernization
No matter how beautiful and comfortable the serial ZIS-101 were, their weight was 600-700 kg more than imported analogues. The fact is that, for the sake of strength and reliability, many components were too heavy, and as a result, dynamic performance suffered. For a large and solid car, the engine is 90 hp. turned out to be rather weak, so the first modernization affected the chassis. By replacing cast iron pistons with aluminum ones, it was possible to increase the engine power by 20 hp, which provided the car with a maximum speed of 120 km/h. But these were half measures; more significant modernization was required.
The car has been thoroughly redesigned. Without achieving a significant reduction in the weight of the car, a more powerful 116-horsepower engine and an improved transmission were installed on it. The maximum speed increased to 125 km/h. At the same time, a new, more fashionable radiator grille was installed on the limousine. The modernized machines received a name and began to roll off the assembly line in 1940.
Emblem
The passenger car must carry a new emblem - this is what was decided at the factory. To select her, a competition was announced in which anyone could participate. The winner among fifty different drawings was an inconspicuous sketch made with a grubby chemical pencil on a piece of paper torn from a school notebook in a square. But its author, a simple worker in the plant’s reinforcement shop, managed to grasp the main requirement for such an emblem: it should be laconic and at the same time reflect the symbols of the Soviet state. So a waving red banner appeared on the radiator grill of the ZIS-101.
"Foundling"(dir. Tatyana Lukashevich, 1939)
An unforgettable film of the pre-war era, included in the golden fund of Soviet cinema. A simple plot: five-year-old Natasha slowly runs away from home, turning out to be a “foundling” whom a variety of people sincerely wish to adopt. The baby's travels are filled with adventures. One of them is unsafe: after chasing a cat, the girl almost ends up under the wheels of a passing ZIS-101. However, everything ends well, and this story has been added to the collection catch phrases the brilliant Faina Ranevskaya: “Comrade policeman, what is it like to run into completely living people?!”
OUTSIDE AND INSIDE
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| Dials lined up in a row are a sign of the car’s solidity. On simpler cars back then they made do with one or two devices | The oil pressure gauge and coolant temperature sensor are made in one housing | The rear doors opened against the direction of the car |
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The well-made interior of the ZIS-101A cannot be called luxurious and spacious, especially from the standpoint of a modern automotive design. The steering wheel and steering column switch are installed here from later ZIL trucks | |
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Photo on the left: On the ZIS-101A, side lights were installed on the wings next to the headlights, rather than direction indicators Photo on the right: The strict pediment of the radiator grille and the red flag on top personified the inviolability of the Soviet system |
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| The neck of the gas tank with a chrome cap simply sticks out from the body - they haven’t thought of hiding it under a special hatch yet | A reputable car was supposed to have two rear marker lights, while most cars of that time had only one, on the left | The spare wheels on the front fenders are placed in metal covers, which drivers nicknamed “frying pans.” |
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| The rear sofa provided the utmost comfort to two passengers; there was absolutely no need for a third person there | Folding sprapontines were intended for accompanying people - very comfortable, despite their unsightly appearance | As in any limousine, in the ZIS-101A the driver and passenger parts of the cabin were separated by a glass partition with a mechanical rather than electric drive. Therefore, passengers had to turn the handle, like a door window lifter |
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| It was very expensive and difficult to make the roof as a single piece with deep drawing at that time, so it was combined, with an insert of wood and leather on top | The hood flaps on the ZIS-101A opened to the side, providing free access to the engine | The interior trunk of the car was very small. Therefore, for bulky items (suitcases, boxes) there was a folding luggage rack at the rear and leather straps included/center> |
Cars executive class always arouse increased interest among people, and their production is not available in all countries. Even today, such cars are often used to judge the technical and economic level of a country, and already in the 30s of the last century, limousines were an indispensable attribute of a powerful state. The Soviet Union could not help but use such important aspect to promote the socialist system. In addition, high-class cars were really necessary to service the apparatus of power
State symbol
The decision to master the production of comfortable large displacement passenger cars in our country (according to the terminology of that time) was made in 1932. To implement the idea, they first chose the Leningrad plant "Krasny Putilovets", where at first they decided to make
an exact copy of the latest American Buick 32-90, model 1932. Drawings for the car were carried out at the Lengipro-VATO Institute (VATO - All-Union Automotive and Tractor Association) under the leadership of L. V. Klimenko. By the May 1933 demonstration in Leningrad, they were able to assemble a small batch of 6 Soviet Buicks under the name L-1 (“Leningrad-1”).
L-1 cars for the domestic automotive industry of that time had a rather complex design: an overhead valve eight-cylinder in-line engine (105 hp), a dual carburetor, a gearbox with synchronizers in 2nd and 3rd gears, hydraulic shock absorbers with adjustable stiffness from the driver’s seat , a closed seven-seater limousine-type body with a partition. As a result, things did not go further than the production of a pilot batch: the plant began to develop tractor-tank themes. And two cars
“Leningrad-1” was transferred to ZIS, which was supposed to take over the baton of limousine production from “Krasny Putilovets”.
Soon the original one was brought to the ZIS Buick model 1932 with instructions to study it. The design of the new car, named ZIS-101, was headed at the plant by chief designer Evgeniy Ivanovich Vazhinsky. To start Buick dismantled "to the bones"
and all design groups (including the body department, headed by Ivan Fedorovich German) began copying it. Angular body Buick bodybuilders didn’t like it - it was clearly outdated, then streamlined shapes were coming into fashion... And what’s the point of making a copy of the body Buick, If I still need to order new stamps?
In the body department they made a lot of drawings of the appearance of a passenger car - the designers dreamed of their own car.
Then Herman obtained conditional consent to start making his own body models. Of course, all of them in one way or another had something in common with American cars of those years and represented combinations of the most successful solutions of various companies, while not being copies of certain models. In total, four different options were developed.
Production car ZIS-101
One of these layouts was accepted as the main one, and further design began on it. We even managed to prepare some technical documentation and build the frame of a prototype body, but... at the top they decided to still order the body, along with drawings and stamps, abroad, in America, from the company Budd. And the approved layout was sent to America as a sample.
For the development of the body, body stamps and welding jigs, we had to pay 1.5 million dollars - a huge amount of money at that time.
Company Budd She had almost no experience in designing automobile bodies, and, according to domestic experts, she did the project very poorly. For example, the wooden frame of the body was simply “inscribed” into the surface without the slightest consideration of technology and calculation of loads.
Then this created great difficulties in processing wooden parts in the woodworking shop. In general, the body turned out to be surprisingly low-tech. The wooden beech frame was connected by numerous gussets, corners and braces and sheathed on top with painted stamped metal sheets. To assemble such a body, it was necessary to conscientiously tighten thousands of screws, otherwise the structure would quickly become loose and begin to creak during use. Dies and the first 500 sets of stampings for the ZIS-101 arrived in the USSR in 1935. Assembly conductors and master models also came. Prototype vehicles had to be built by April 1, 1936. The task was not easy: the plant had never made a high-class passenger car before, but here there were so many new, unexpected, and incomprehensible things. The significance of the upcoming event was so great that the selection of the assembly team for the first batch was personally carried out by the plant director. When in March 1936 the first chassis of the car, still without a body and wings, was rolled out of the workshop, Likhachev personally tested it, making a dash to Podolsk and back in terrible bad weather.
Experimental machines ZIS-101 were ready by the end of April. As always, one day was not enough to clean somewhere, polish somewhere, eliminate a squeak somewhere, correct a crease in the upholstery, and so on, and the first cars already had to be presented to the country's leadership.
The display of two ZIS-101 cars took place in the Kremlin on April 29, 1936. I.A. Likhachev, A.A. Evseev and other plant managers went to see him. The cars were inspected by Stalin, Ordzhonikidze, Mikoyan, Khrushchev and many others. The new Soviet cars made a good impression on senior government officials, and the comments made were not of a fundamental nature.
Inspection of prototypes of the ZIS-101 by the country's leadership in the Kremlin in the spring of 1936
The ZIS-101 was a very comfortable car, especially for the 30s. Its body was equipped with a heater and a radio, and the passenger compartment was separated from the driver by a rising glass partition. Only high-quality fabrics were used in the interior decoration, and the seats were upholstered in cloth or leather. The instrument panel and window frames were finished with expensive types of wood. Wicker handrails with chrome tips were installed on the interior partition and on the body pillars. At the rear of the car there was a trunk, access to which was through a special luggage hatch, and bulky items could additionally be secured behind the car on a folding grille. Interesting detail: the capacity of the body was most often indicated as seven seats, but there is data on the capacity of only six passengers. The fact is that on dirt roads, the vehicle's rated capacity was artificially limited to six people in order to reduce the load. The engine design and layout of the ZIS-101 were borrowed from Buick almost unchanged. The eight-cylinder in-line engine (5.77 liters) developed a power of 90 hp. With. and was capable of accelerating a three-ton car to 115 km/h. The ZIS-101 engine uses such technical solutions as a crankshaft with counterweights and a torsional vibration damper, a two-chamber Marvel-type carburetor with exhaust gas heating, and a thermostat in the engine cooling system. For effective braking, a vacuum booster was added to the car's braking system.
The assembly of the first ZIS-101 was organized in the basement, under the gearbox workshop. By the end of 1936, only 11 copies of the ZIS-101 were assembled. Later, after the construction of a new press building at the plant, the assembly moved there, to the 6th and 7th spans, where they organized assembly line. The first car was manufactured there on January 18, 1937. Initially, the rate of production of cars was very high, up to 17 cars per day, but after 1939 production volumes were reduced, since the cars were expensive, and the consumers for whom they were intended were provided quite quickly.
Since the beginning of 1937, ZIS-101 cars were assembled on the assembly line re
The cars entered exclusively public service, and were transferred into private hands in rare cases, to individual representatives of the intelligentsia and generals for outstanding services to the Motherland.
Interesting fact
Preparing the production of the ZIS-101 for release was not complete without anecdotal incidents. For a luxury car, it was necessary to make a good passenger seat, and the upholsterers at the ZIS were simply wonderful (Sekin, Pugachev, Trofimov, Melnikov), they worked cleanly and beautifully, but they could not get the required softness of the seat. There were no necessary materials: cotton wool, merino wool and eiderdown. The masters could not please I.A. Likhachev, who all the time compared the ZIS-101 seat with the Packard seat. Unwitting bias played a role. And the upholsterers decided to play a prank on Ivan Alekseevich. They switched the upholstery from the Packard pillow to their own, and installed the upholstery from the ZIS on the American seat. In the evening Likhachev came and immediately asked: what were they able to achieve in a day? He was asked to try today's sample (a Packard seat under our upholstery). The director sat down on it: “Nothing, but still it’s a long way... from the Packard,” and, moving to our seat, upholstered in Packard leather, he remarked: “This is another matter, you can immediately feel that the springs are chosen correctly, and the pitching is good.” Then the upholsterers revealed the secret to him and showed him that he had fallen for the bait. Likhachev not only was not offended, but laughed joyfully and ordered bigger seat do not touch.
The passenger car must carry a new emblem - this is what was decided at the factory. A competition was announced to select her, in which
Everyone could participate. The winner among fifty different drawings was an inconspicuous sketch made with a grubby chemical pencil on a piece of paper torn from a school notebook in a square. But its author, a simple worker in the plant’s reinforcement shop, managed to grasp the main requirement for such an emblem: it should be laconic and at the same time reflect the symbols of the Soviet state. So a waving red banner appeared on the radiator grill of the ZIS-101.
Modernization
No matter how beautiful and comfortable the serial ZIS-101 were, their weight was 600-700 kg (!) higher than their imported counterparts. The fact is that, for the sake of strength and reliability, many components were too heavy, and as a result, dynamic performance suffered. For a large and solid car, the engine is 90 hp. With. turned out to be weak, so the first
the modernization affected the chassis. By replacing cast iron pistons with aluminum ones, it was possible to increase the engine power by 20 hp. s., which provided the car with a maximum speed of -120 km/h. But these were half measures; more significant modernization was required.
The car has been thoroughly redesigned. Without achieving a significant reduction in the weight of the car, a more powerful 116-horsepower engine and an improved transmission were installed on it. The maximum speed increased to 125 km/h. At the same time, a new, more fashionable radiator grille was installed on the limousine. The modernized vehicles were named ZIS-101A and began rolling off the assembly line in 1940.
The well-made interior of the ZIS-101A cannot be called luxurious and spacious, especially from the standpoint of modern automotive design. The steering wheel and steering column switch are installed here from later ZIL trucks
Lined up dials- a sign of the car's reliability. On simpler cars back then they made do with one or two devices
The oil pressure gauge and coolant temperature sensor are made in one housing
The rear doors opened against the direction of the car
On the ZIS-101A, side lights were installed next to the headlights on the wings, rather than direction indicators
The strict pediment of the radiator grille and the red flag on top personified the inviolability of the Soviet system
The fuel filler neck with a chrome cap just sticks out from the body.- They haven’t figured out hiding it under a special hatch yet
Spare wheels on the front fenders are placed in metal covers,
which drivers nicknamed “frying pans”
A respectable car was supposed to have two rear marker lights, while most cars of that time had only one, on the left
The rear sofa provided the utmost comfort to two passengers; there was absolutely no need for a third person there
Folding strap-on seats were intended for accompanying people-
Very comfortable, despite the unsightly appearance
As in any limousine, in the ZIS-101A the driver and passenger parts of the cabin were separated by a glass partition with a mechanical rather than electric drive. Therefore, passengers had to turn the handle, like a door window lifter
It was very expensive and difficult to make the roof as a single piece with deep drawing at that time, so it was combined, with an insert made of wood and leather on top
– there is an opinion that six copies of the Leningrad-1 (L-1) car, which was the forerunner of the “one hundred and first”, assembled in 1933 at the Krasny Putilovets plant, appeared formally at the direction of the All-Union Automotive and Tractor Association, but in fact at the suggestion of the Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party ( b). The prototype of “Leningrad” was an American car, but not Stalin’s beloved Packard - it was large and belonged, along with Cadillac, to the highest class of North American cars of those years - but the Buick 32-90 of 1932, standing half a step below the Packard. hierarchically and belonging to the American upper-middle class. The task was not to make a car for the government, but to master a more or less serial and at the same time quite large and luxury car- read, catch up and overtake America.
In this regard, it is interesting to note that the L-1 was practically a copy of the Buick 32-90, but this circumstance, oddly enough, was not considered shameful in the slightest: in Soviet newspapers promising development That’s what they called it – “Soviet Buick” (yes, with a small letter and without a soft sign). From the “American”, the Leningrad prototypes almost entirely inherited their appearance, as well as a number of elegant engineering solutions: dual carburetors with automatic air supply control, an automatic thermostat that opens and closes the radiator shutters, and even adjustable lever shock absorber stiffness from the driver’s seat...
The time for mastering the machine seemed to be good: in the early 1930s, the Fordson tractor was discontinued from production at Krasny Putilovets, as a result of which space was freed up. However, the plant did not have the capacity to launch a new car model, nor did it have qualified workers to assemble such complex equipment - some of assembled cars on the return route of the Leningrad-Moscow-Leningrad run it broke down. Four more vehicles were assembled from already manufactured vehicle kits, bringing the total number of prototypes to ten, but in the end the Leningrad plant was not modernized to produce a new passenger car, but was entrusted with the task of a more familiar profile - the development of the T-28 tank, thereby finally transferring the enterprise to development of tractors and armored vehicles. And the finalization of the L-1 was delegated to Moscow, to the ZIS.
In 1934, a package was delivered to the ZIS necessary documents and one more, completely new Buick of the 90 series - so to speak, for study. At the Moscow plant, the project was headed by Evgeny Ivanovich Vazhinsky, who just took the position of chief designer. Vazhinsky’s right hand in the development of the ZIS-101 was Grigory Georgievich Mikhailov. And the work on the complex new body and its introduction into production was headed by Ivan Fedorovich German, who had once graduated from the St. Petersburg Art School - he was an excellent drawer, and therefore partially took on the functions of the project designer. However, there is a separate story about the design of the first Soviet limousine that is worth telling separately.
Pictured: Buick Series 90" 1932 The Moscow team left many advanced technical solutions at the heart of the car. American cars period 1932-1934. Soviet version The limousine received a structurally based on Buick (and, in fact, “moved” from L-1) overhead valve inline eight-cylinder engine, with 5.8 liters of volume producing about 110 hp. at 2,800 rpm. The engine with a cast-iron block had a crankshaft with counterweights and a vibration damper, a gas distribution system with suspended valves (driven from the camshaft through pushrods), a two-chamber carburetor with heated working mixture and a thermostat with the function of controlling the radiator blinds (“curtains”). There were a diaphragm fuel pump and an oil and air filters. Steering and rear suspension the car was practically borrowed from Packard. The suspension of all wheels with drum brakes was dependent.
Some of the frills were immediately abandoned - "minus" went, for example, automatic clutch control and shock absorber adjustment - of the six American modes in a Soviet car, only one was needed - "for the most bad roads" Something was decided frankly to the detriment of progress in the name of reliability and cost reduction - so a simple double-disc clutch appeared on the car. But the mechanical brakes received an innovative vacuum booster. And in general, the car turned out to be comfortable and justified its status - the base of 3,650 mm provided spaciousness in the cabin, which also had a heater (completely unprecedented for the Soviet automobile industry of that era!), and in addition, it was decided to equip some of the cars with radios, which at that time was a very luxury option.
As a kind of summary of new products, we present the following list. On ZIS-101 for the first time for Soviet car The following were used: an interior heater, a radio, a thermostat in the cooling system, a crankshaft torsional vibration damper, a two-chamber carburetor, vacuum clutch and brake boosters and a three-speed gearbox with synchronizers in second and third gears.
The chassis of the “original” L-1 (or Buick) was revised and carefully strengthened so that it could withstand the Russian open spaces. But with the body it turned out to be more complicated. I didn’t have enough strength to design my own body, albeit with a serious eye on Buick. Therefore, the work was entrusted to the American Budd Company, ordering it to take the sketches provided by the Soviet side as a basis. The design embodied by the Americans, although secondary in terms of the trends of those years, still inspires awe - of course, the appearance of this limousine is the embodiment of elegance and chic. Under the contract, the Americans also supplied all the equipment necessary for production and 500 finished stampings. All these conditions were met.
One bad thing - Budd Company did original bodies under ready-made chassis for small-scale, if not piece-by-piece production, and therefore the body architecture was appropriate: under large, stamped metal parts that were afraid of deformation during assembly, there was hidden a beech frame, hand-assembled with screws, with numerous filigree adjustments required in order to avoid the slightest squeak on the move - and yet the GAZ-M1 emka, which was already produced in those years, had an all-metal body. Why, even the experimental L-1 had it, which, as we know, grew into the ZIS project... The contract with the Budd Company was implemented in 16 months and cost the Soviet state $500,000.
In the photo: GAZ-M1 "1936–1943 In the history of the ZIS-101, one can consider many interesting “near-automobile” moments. For example, one of the first (if not the first) case in Russia when the information contained in the magazine about the expected car turned out to be... to put it mildly, inconclusive, if not “very inaccurate.” In October 1934, Vazhinsky himself wrote in the magazine “Behind the Wheel” about the ZIS-101 car: “The appearance of the car will be very close to the 1934 Buick car with closed body Sedan type." In the photo it really is a sedan, that is, a body without a “deep” limousine-like rear part of the cabin, but with a clearly defined trunk. But no ZIS-101 sedans ever went into production - although much later a ZIS-101B prototype with a protruding luggage compartment, but it was also a limousine.
In the photo: ZIS-101B Experienced "1941" And if we return for a minute to L-1, there is another interesting journalistic story. According to the observations of Sergei Trufanov (“The short life of the Soviet Buick”, M-Hobby, No. 3, 2012), the interpretation of the letter “L” as “Leningrad” was first made already in 1993 - almost at the same time, such a decoding of the name appeared in the magazine “ Behind the wheel" and in Lev Shugurov's book "Cars of Russia and the USSR 1896-1957." Before that, in the literature of the 1940-1980s, the index “L-1” was used without any decoding at all, but in the 1930s the letter “L” in the name of a car model simply meant “passenger car”.
In the photo: ZIS-101 Pre-production "1936" Two prototypes of the ZIS-101 were assembled in the spring of 1936 and on April 29 they were shown in the Kremlin to the top of the Politburo - Stalin and Ordzhonikidze. An interesting fact: it was from this moment that a tradition arose in Russia to present all new models to the top officials of the state. The factory workers were very worried that day, but the Secretary and the People's Commissar were in a good mood. The latter assured Stalin that the car turned out to be no worse than the American one, which could not but please the “father of nations.” He inspected the car meticulously - the limousine, and even according to American patterns, was obviously very interesting to him - and at the end of the inspection he approved the ZIS-101. They say that it was Stalin who proposed using a star with a red banner as a car emblem. Everything was great. The troubles started later.
In the photo: ZIS-101 Pre-production On November 3, 1936, assembly of the first batch started at ZIS (this date is considered the birthday of the “one hundred and first”), and assembly line production began on January 18, 1937. Destiny serial ZIS vehicles It turned out to be complex, but interesting: they transported not only (and not so much!) senior party officials, but completely different categories of citizens. It turned out this way largely because the model had problems serious problems– both with build quality and design. The plant's conveyor belt, which did not always cope with the plan even for trucks, did not allow me to be scrupulous in assembling the wooden frame of the limousine body, and on most assembled ZISes it began to creak almost immediately (and on the rest the creak appeared after the wood dried out), and in general the design and car assembly technology turned out to be so complex that workers often coped with their operations somehow. The cars were brought to perfection as best they could after they came off the assembly line.
In the photo: ZIS-101 "1936–39 To the people
Although in 1937 the ZIS-101, along with the GAZ-M1, represented the USSR at the Paris World Exhibition, its life in its homeland was far from cloudless. At first, the assembled limousines, according to their rank, were sent to the Garage special purpose, but they didn’t take root there, because they were inferior to the foreign cars there technical specifications. Then the cars were transferred to the garage of the NKVD operational department as escort vehicles for the transport of top officials of the state, but even there the ZISs were not welcomed. As a result, they began to be transferred to regional committees, people's commissariats, embassies...
In the photo: ZIS-101 "1936–39 Rejected by the top of the government, the ZIS-101 became a car much closer to the people. No, of course, it did not go on sale for free, but, in addition to being assigned to officials of middle and low ranks, the cars were “distributed” among scientists and artists - the “one hundred and first” was, for example, owned by Alexei Tolstoy. In addition, in the pre-war years it could be won in a cash and clothing lottery (at least in theory - the car was regularly included in the list of prizes). But there was more real way ride a new product - in big cities, limousines worked as taxis on long routes!
In 1936, the 13th taxi fleet was created in Moscow, which included 55 “one hundred and first”. The body color of these cars differed from the “official” black - it could be blue, light blue or even yellow. Since 1938, these vehicles have served routes connecting train stations, airports and main highways, as well as the cities of Noginsk and Bronnitsy with Moscow. It is also known that in 1939 three “one hundred and first” were listed in Minsk taxis. In some places, ZISs were even used as ambulances.
In the photo: ZIS-101 "1936–39 Flaws as a crime
In October 1937, literally a year after the release of the first batch of limousines, ordinary drivers and mechanics who had to deal with ZIS spoke out - “Behind the Wheel” published an open letter from three employees of the Narkomtyazhprom motor depot, where as many as 14 “one hundred first” worked. The letter was titled “Several questions to the Automobile Plant named after. Stalin" and, in fact, did not contain any questions - it described in detail the typical shortcomings of ZIS vehicles: engine knocking due to a defective flywheel, breaking valve springs, unreliability of the power system, capricious electrical equipment, plastic (!) linings requiring frequent replacement brake pads, low quality control devices, body seals that cannot cope with their functions, a battery draining sound signal and titanic fuel consumption - at the level of 28-31 liters per 100 km, while the American Lincoln of a similar class, noted “Behind the Wheel”, consumed only 22.5 liters. According to the magazine, the problem was partially solved by changing the carburetor from the original one to a Buick carburetor, although it is not entirely clear where the car depot employees could get one.
In the photo: ZIS-101 "1936–39 IN Soviet time Such publications were not made just like that and could have the most serious consequences. Also in 1937, the leading designer of the ZIS-101, Evgeny Vazhinsky, was removed from his post and “demoted” to head of the chassis department. Most likely, they tried to protect him from more serious consequences with this measure, but they did not save him. A few months later, in March 1938, Vazhinsky was arrested, recognized as an enemy of the people and shot, and although this was not directly related to the ZIS-101, it certainly had significance. The “red director” of the plant was seemingly harmlessly transferred to the position of head of the People’s Commissariat of Medium Engineering of the USSR, but even despite the fact that the plant once entrusted to him would later be named after him, the “hand” punishing for mistakes in the development of the limousine got to him too.
In June 1940, a special commission was created to analyze the defects of the limousine, headed by a member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Evgeniy Chudakov, automotive expert and, in fact, the founder of the discipline “Theory and design of a car” in our country. Based on the results of the commission meeting, a government decree was issued, automatically raising the problem with the ZIS-101 to the highest, state level. The commission’s conclusion, in particular, said: “It should be noted that there are a large number of defects in ZIS-101 passenger cars produced by the plant named after. Stalin, in particular: a strong smell of gasoline in the body, gearbox noise, engine knocking and increased gasoline consumption, frequent breakdown springs and suspension rigidity, rapid failure of electric clocks, gas indicators, windshield wipers, etc. The presence of these defects is the result of a careless attitude towards the quality of manufactured machines on the part of the former director of the plant named after. Stalin, now the People's Commissariat of Medieval Machinery Comrade Likhachev, and the current director of the plant named after. Stalin Comrade Volkov, especially recently... People's Commissar of Medium Machinery Comrade Likhachev both as People's Commissar and as a former director of the plant. Stalin allowed the production of substandard machines from the plant, did not take measures to eliminate the defects, and hid the presence of these defects from the government...”
In the photo: ZIS-101 "1936–39 Updates and prototypes
ZIS recognized all these mistakes and was ready to correct them, but there were not enough resources, both financial and personnel, for a full modernization. Essentially the decapitated design staff of the plant (Vazhinsky was no longer alive), moreover, constantly losing valuable specialists (arrests and disappearances of people became the norm), did what they could: under the leadership of Vazhinsky’s former deputy, Mikhailov, they managed to develop and transfer into production an all-metal body, and also launch a series engine with aluminum pistons and a compression ratio raised from 4.8 to 5.5, which made it possible to achieve a power of 116 hp. Plus, ZIS vehicles now have a single-plate clutch and a carburetor with a falling flow (Stromberg type) rather than an ascending flow (Marwell type), as before. Externally, the modernized version, called ZIS-101A, could be distinguished by its aerodynamic front end - a more rounded (in top view) radiator grille (“mask”) and elongated, teardrop-shaped headlight housings.
In the photo: ZIS-101A "1940–41 With all this, somehow it was possible to create even modifications based on the basic model - alas, most of them remained at the stage of single prototypes. In 1936, one single ZIS-101L (“luxury”), equipped with a telephone, appeared. At the end of 1937, a modification of the ZIS-102 with a body open type“phaeton” and all four doors opening in the direction of the car (the rear doors of the “one hundred and first” opened against the direction). In 1938, eight such gray-silver cars were created. In January 1939, two more open cars with the same designation, ZIS-102, appeared, but they were already called convertibles - the cars differed from phaetons by lowering, hidden in the doors, and not “attached” side windows. In August, another phaeton was made, but using modernized components and an updated appearance: it received the ZIS-102A index, participated in the parade on Red Square on May 1, 1941, and after the war it “lit up” in a photograph taken in 1949 in Krasnodar region and has survived to this day. In addition, we know about two armored ZIS-101E (“extra”) with 70 mm windows and one single beautiful roadster ZIS-101A-Sport, built in 1939...
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The modernized version of the “one hundred and first”, ZIS-101A, went into production in August 1940, and in parallel with it, albeit almost individually, ZIS-102 convertibles began to be made. It was clear that it was impossible to stop the progress of the model, because overseas “analogs” were updated literally every year. Therefore, the plant began to prepare two options for further modernization at once. Firstly, at the beginning of 1941, the only ZIS-101B was built, which had a pronounced closed trunk, which replaced the traditional grille at the stern, sixteen-leaf springs instead of nine-leaf ones, a new instrument cluster with rectangular dials and a new steering wheel with a chrome signal ring. And secondly, a version of the ZIS-103 was conceived, which, as follows from the index, could generally be positioned as independent model– it was planned to have a modified body design and an independent front suspension, most likely tailored according to American progressive designs with springs and fork arms. This car could have a 130-horsepower version of the engine, and the “one hundred and third” was seen as a slightly more distant prospect, but the start of production of the ZIS-101B was planned for 1942...
In the photo: ZIS-101A "1940–41 Testing of the "Beshka" started in May 1941, and on July 7 the production of the original version of the ZIS-101 limousine was stopped. And on the 22nd the war began, the first air strikes swept across Moscow. But work on new car on a ZIS... we went right up to October! Meanwhile, on October 13, the Germans were in Kaluga, on the 14th - in Kalinin, and only on October 15, 1941, all work on passenger car on the ZIS were stopped. In just four days, a state of siege was introduced in Moscow. But already in 1942, a government decree was issued on the development of a new executive class model at the ZIS. Yes, the ZIS-110 is a completely different story, but the bumps filled with designers and technologists on the “one hundred and first”, as well as the experience of its modernization (say, that same independent front suspension) definitely came in handy for the “one hundred and tenth”.
In the photo: ZIS-110 "1945–58 Piece heritage
However, it is worth admitting: not a single executive car after the ZIS-101 even came close to it in terms of mass popularity and “nationality” - over the next ten to twenty years, limousines turned into a piece product and finally became the prerogative of the Soviet celestials. “One Hundred First” managed to produce 8,752 units, of which, unfortunately, only about 600 were modernized ZIS-101A, and literally within a few dozen were open ZIS-102. In the first post-war years, the ZIS-101 was the most common taxi in Moscow - these cars could be seen on the Garden and Boulevard Rings, as well as on the route Rizhsky Station - Sverdlov Square. This popularity could be explained simply: the GAZ-M1 emkis were destroyed in large numbers during the war, and the “one hundred and first” for the most part did not make it to the front due to their relatively poor maneuverability, and therefore were mothballed throughout the war. When peace reigned, they found work again. But in 1946-1947 they began to be gradually replaced by more modern ZIS-110 and, of course, . The victory was more perfect, simpler, more compact, and more economical, which was especially valued in the post-war period.
The ZIS-101 had somewhat similar fates with Pobeda: both had a huge bouquet of “childhood illnesses” that hit their reputation hard, but in the case of Pobeda the situation was corrected. If circumstances had turned out a little differently (if we imagine some ideal world in which there are no repressions and wars) - and the ZIS-101 could have had a much more successful life path... Very few of the “one hundred first” have survived to this day - we are most likely talking about about several copies. There is no evidence at all about the surviving open ZIS-102, just as there is no information about the pre-war prototypes ZIS-101B and ZIS-101-Sport. And alas, of course, not one of the ten L-1s built at Krasny Putilovets has reached our time.
In the photo: ZIS-101 "1936–39 Those ZIS-101s that occasionally shine at exhibitions are equipped, as a rule, with non-original engines - in the post-war years, when the car was “capitalized”, the manufacturer recommended that repair plants install engines from trucks and, as well as from the ZIS-110, on the “one hundred and first”. and ZIS-120. But whatever one may say, the surviving “one hundred and first” still remind us of those times when a simple Russian driver could, at a minimum, imagine himself in the place of his overseas colleague - behind the wheel of a powerful, large and truly beautiful car.
There was a special attitude towards this car in the USSR. The executive car, as they used to say - the highest class, was under the close attention of not only the management of the Stalin plant, but also the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. It is no coincidence that the need to modernize the ZIS-101 in June 1940 was discussed by a government commission headed by one of the most respected motorists in the country, Academician Evgeniy Alekseevich Chudakov.
The updated ZIS was supposed to hit the production line already in the third five-year plan - in 1942. By that time basic version The 101st would have been produced for six years...
Pre-production sample ZIS-101 (at serial cars"windshield wipers" were installed from below). The car reached a speed of 115 km/h.
Of course, in 1936, the first passenger car (the staff car based on the AMO-F-15 does not count) from the Moscow plant was accepted by the Politburo headed by Stalin himself. Showing the equipment to top management was the norm, but the leaders inspected the seven-seater limousine, of course, especially meticulously. The factory workers were very worried - they knew how Stalin’s displeasure could end. But on April 29, when two ZIS-101s drove into the Kremlin gates, the “father of nations” was clearly in a good mood. He smiled and joked, he liked the car. In addition, Ordzhonikidze was very convincing, assuring that the car was no worse than the American one. Partly the People's Commissar was right...
The ZIS-101, the design of which was largely copied from the Buick, in the spring of 1936 really looked good compared to many of its classmates. The spacious seven-seater limousine, with a wheelbase of 3650 mm, was comfortable, and even had an interior heater, unheard of by most domestic drivers. Some of the cars were also equipped with radios. The overhead valve eight-cylinder engine with a volume of 5.8 liters was in-line, but some eminent companies also adhered to this design in those years, including Packard, which was especially respected by the leadership of the USSR.
The ZIS-101 engine developed about 110 hp at 2800 rpm. With. With aluminum pistons and a compression ratio increased from 4.8 to 5.5, the unit could be boosted to 116 hp. With. But technological problems did not allow such an engine to be mass-produced.
The mechanical brakes, even if equipped with a servo booster, looked far from the last word technology, like a double-disc clutch.
The creation of the machine was led by Evgeny Ivanovich Vazhinsky, the chief designer of the plant since 1935. Grigory Georgievich Mikhailov became his right hand, Ivan Fedorovich German was in charge of the bodywork. He once graduated from the St. Petersburg Art School, dreamed of becoming an architect, and drew very well. Herman partly performed the work of a designer, but his main concern was the design of a complex body that was completely new for the plant. Therefore, it was he who, from 1937, became responsible for the production of the ZIS-101.
Serial production began in November 1936. The body, the frame of which was partially made of beech, required special attention and diligence. If you don't tighten the screws a little, spacious interior An unpleasant, not at all representative, creak was heard.
Of course, it was impossible to buy a ZIS. It was possible... to win a cash and clothing lottery (at least until the war, a car was included in the list of prizes). And also to deserve it: ZISs were given to prominent scientists and masters of art, such as, for example, the “red count” Alexey Tolstoy. At the same time, both ordinary Muscovites and guests of the capital could ride in a ZIS: in the capital, limousines worked as taxis.
The production of the ZIS-101 was given to the plant with great difficulty. And with regard to trucks, the plan was not always fulfilled, and many vehicles had to be finalized after the assembly line. The quality of limousines was also constantly poor. But the government commission headed by Chudakov, which included representatives of the People's Commissariat, motor transport and taxi companies, noted not only the production, but also the design shortcomings of the car. In particular, the weight of the ZIS-101 was 600-700 kg higher than that of its analogues: one engine pulled 470 kg, while not impressing with power. The factory workers understood that the commission was right, but there were not enough funds to improve the car. In addition, the plant, like the whole country, was constantly losing specialists. Among those who were to modernize the 101st was no longer Vazhinsky, who was arrested in March 1938 and soon executed.
One of the few ZIS-101A from 1940 that has survived to this day..
The designers, led by Mikhailov (he became the main one), did what they could under these conditions. Motor with aluminum pistons, developing 116 hp. s, went into the series. The body was stripped of its wooden parts. The car received a single-disc clutch, a Stromberg-type carburetor with a falling rather than an ascending flow. In accordance with fashion, the appearance was updated: a rounded (so-called aerodynamic) radiator grille and more elongated headlights appeared. The ZIS-101A began production in August 1940. At the same time, ZIS-102 convertibles were produced in very small quantities.
The first convertibles had a radiator grille like the ZIS-101.
The second prototype of the ZIS-101B from 1941. Only two samples were made.
However, everyone understood: they couldn’t stop there. ZIS was increasingly lagging behind its overseas and European peers. Therefore, the factory prepared two at once upgraded versions. The ZIS-101B was externally distinguished by a protruding trunk, which replaced the archaic luggage grill. The instrument panel was noticeably changed: the large rectangular dials looked quite modern, as did the new steering wheel with a chrome horn ring. The ZIS-101 B had modernized shock absorbers and sixteen-leaf springs instead of nine-leaf ones.
The interior of the 101B model looked quite modern..
The ZIS-103 model was created in parallel, apparently with the same modified body and, most importantly, with an independent front suspension. Most likely, it was similar to the American designs of that time: fork levers and springs. By the way, the post-war ZIS-110 had a similar one. The designers also worked on boosting it to approximately 130 hp. With. motor, but it is not known for certain whether one was installed on the pre-war prototypes. The ZIS-103 was apparently being prepared for a longer term, and the 101B model was planned to be produced already in 1942.
Tests began in May 1941. On July 7, production of the ZIS-101 was stopped, on the 22nd Moscow experienced the first raids, and work on the ZIS-101B continued... until October 15. Two days earlier the Germans entered Kaluga, and on the 14th they entered Kalinin.
And four days after work on the ZIS passenger car was stopped - on October 19 - the State Defense Committee issued a decree introducing a state of siege in the capital...
Most likely, about the designers and testers involved in a passenger car, in the chaos they simply forgot. And they did their job. And for good reason: already in 1942, a government decree was issued on the creation of a new executive car. The ZIS-110, of course, was a completely different machine, but the experience of modernizing the 101st undoubtedly came in handy.
A total of 8,752 ZIS-101s were assembled, of which about 600 were in the 101A version, and there were very few open 102s. The fate of pre-war prototypes, including the ZIS-Sport (ZR, 2003, No. 11) and ZIS-101B, is unknown.
Only a few 101s have survived to this day (apparently, not a single open ZIS-102), usually with non-original engines. But even today, pre-war limousines look impressive.
Magazine "Behind the wheel" about ZIS-101:
Illustrations:
This is what the ZIS-101 prototype looked like in 1934 Behind the wheel, 1934 No. 19
ZIS 1937 (ZR 1937 No. 21-22)
1939 (ZR 1939 No. 2)
