Yerevan Automobile Plant

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Like most Soviet car factories Yerevan Automobile Plant was created in the mid-1960s. On December 31, 1964, by order of the Council of Ministers of the Armenian SSR, a decision was made “On the organization in Yerevan, in the buildings under construction of the Autoloader plant, of a plant for the production of vans with a carrying capacity of 0.8-1.0 tons.

In the early 1980s, ErAZ could become one of the manufacturers of electric vehicles. In 1980, work began here on the creation of electric vehicles. The same developments were carried out at RAF, GAZ, UAZ and VAZ, but it was the Armenian version, created on the basis of the ErAZ-3730 model, that was recognized as the most convenient electric car (due to the large volume of the body). But for a number of reasons, the main one being the imperfection of power supplies, work in this area at ErAZ was stopped.

History of the creation of the YERAZ plant

The history of the Yerevan Automobile Plant began 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 under construction of the Autoloader plant, of a plant for the production of vans with a carrying capacity of 0.8-1.0 tons.” . During 1965, the first core of the team was created and 66 people were trained at Riga and Ulyanovsk enterprises automotive industry.

The first production building was built, the first machines were installed, and the first parts were processed. On September 10, 1965, by order of the Council of Ministers of the Armenian SSR N795, the forklift plant under construction received the name Yerevan automobile plant- ErAZ. First director of the plant from 1966 to 1968. Zaven Abramovich Simonyan was appointed. On May 1, 1966, plant employees went to the May Day parade in their own assembled cars. In 1971, the plant's designers began creating a new generation of vans, the ErAZ-3730 model. In 1972, construction of the second press and forging production building continued at an accelerated pace. Immediately after the completion of the first reconstruction, the second begins to create capacity for the production of 12,000 units. cars per year. 1972-75 The installation of an overhead-push assembly conveyor (developed by Minsk SKB-3) - the second in the USSR - is underway. First conveyor of this type was designed, manufactured and installed in the USSR Italian company"Fiat" at the Volzhsky Automobile Plant in Togliatti. In 1976, the plant launched the main assembly line and installed the first German press with a force of 500 tons in the new press shop. The ErAZ production association is being created, which includes: Yerevan Automobile Plant - the parent enterprise; Yerevan spare parts plant; Yerevan Forklift Plant; Yerevan hydraulic equipment plant; a forklift plant under construction in Charentsavan. The association is faced with the task, along with the production of ErAZ cars and 4022 forklifts, to master the production of 4091 forklifts with a capacity of 1 ton and a 2 ton model, developed by the Lvov GSKB Avtogruzchik. In 1980, to service the Moscow-80 Summer Olympics, 10 refrigerated trucks based on the ErAZ-3730 model were manufactured.
Along with RAF, UAZ, VAZ, work began on the creation of electric vehicles at ErAZ-e, 26 samples were manufactured and sent for testing to the Moscow Automotive Plant. The ErAZ-3730 was recognized as the most convenient for cars to operate due to the large volume of the body. But due to the imperfection of power supplies, work on the ErAZ-e was stopped. An international symposium was held in Armenia with the participation of major specialists from the USSR and the USA, in which YerAZ specialists also took part. In April 1982, from the main assembly line The 100,000th ErAZ is coming out! In November 1983 The ErAZ association is reorganized into 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. In 1984-1987 The body assembly and welding shop is being reconstructed. Welding lines for the ErAZ-3730 car body and a system of overhead push conveyors with a total length of up to 3.5 km are installed. The reconstruction of the press shop is nearing completion. In 1984, a cooperation agreement was signed with the Lubinsk Automobile Plant “Zhuk” (Poland). In 1986, the ErAZ-37301 van with an isothermal body, manufactured on the basis of the ErAZ-3730 van, was demonstrated for the first time in the history of the plant at international exhibition abroad in Poznan, Poland. A new administrative building is being commissioned. The new model is being modernized. On its basis, new modifications are created and the first samples are manufactured. In 1992, based on the serially produced ErAZ-762V vehicle, new modifications were created and produced: ErAZ-762 VGP (cargo-passenger), ErAZ-762 VDP (double pickup) and trailer passenger cars. 1995 - The ErAZ Automobile Plant was privatized and reorganized into the open joint-stock company ErAZ.
Entrepreneur and owner of the largest number of shares Hovsep Seferyan was elected chairman of the board of shareholders of YerAZ OJSC, and Hamlet Harutyunyan was elected executive director. November 2002 - YerAZ OJSC, at the request of creditors, was declared bankrupt by the Economic Court of the Republic of Armenia. In 2003, it was planned to establish assembly at ErAZ cargo models cars of the Moskvich brand, which were in demand not only in Armenia, but throughout the Caucasus region. November 2004 - ErAZ OJSC was sold at auction. Mik Metal became the new owner of the former ErAZ automobile plant, and then ErAZ OJSC.

In the sixties, in the USSR there arose a need to service trade and service enterprises - post offices, public catering establishments, consumer services and other sectors of the economy involved in the transportation of low-tonnage and small cargo.

The use of trucks like the GAZ-51 for this purpose brought huge losses to the country’s economy, because often tens of liters of government fuel had to be spent for the sake of several hundred kilograms or small-sized cargo.

And even though gasoline in the USSR literally cost a penny, throughout the entire country there was a large overconsumption of fuel, used irrationally. And, as you know, a penny saves a ruble.

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State approach

The issue was resolved at the level of the country's top leadership - that is, the Council of Ministers. Thanks to the calculations of economists, it became obvious to government members that National economy early sixties, he urgently needed his own car - no longer an ordinary passenger car, but not yet big truck. At that time, the RAF-977 minibus was already being produced in Riga, in which officials saw the future van.

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Indeed, produced on the components and assemblies of the Volga M-21 passenger minibus was perfectly suited to the role of a delivery van. It was enough just to “not glass” the passenger compartment and not install seats, and there was enough space inside for about a ton of cargo. Which, in fact, was what was required to be achieved.

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It is important that this approach did not require the development of a new car, which, in turn, also saved not only time, but also money.


Prototype RAF-977K

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Already in 1962, a prototype was made on the basis of a regular RAF minibus cargo van RAF-977K according to the simple scheme described above. The vehicle was declared suitable for use as a delivery van, but...

RAF itself did not have production facilities that would allow required quantities produce such cars.

From Latvia to Armenia

An unexpected solution was found: at the very end of 1964, the Council of Ministers of the Armenian USSR adopted a decision “On organizing in Yerevan, in the buildings under construction of the Autoloader plant, a plant for the production of vans with a carrying capacity of 0.8-1.0 tons.”

It is clear that no one in the Armenian ministry would have issued such an order just like that, without a corresponding directive “from the very top.” By another decree No. 795, the same Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic renames the Autoloader plant into the Yerevan Automobile Plant (abbreviated as ErAZ). At that time, the construction of a plant for the production of forklifts was at an early stage when changes in the profile and specialization of production had not yet particularly affected anything.

Employees of the newly formed enterprise were trained at RAF and UAZ, and after the production building was built and the machines were installed, production began in Yerevan... of that same RAF-977K, called ErAZ-762. After all, earlier Riga bus builders handed over to ErAZ specialists all technical documentation for the production of this model, and specifically a cargo van, and not a passenger minibus.

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Employees of the Yerevan enterprise went to the May Day demonstration in 1966 in brand new vans of their own production. So the Riga car received an “Armenian registration”, and the small mountainous republic had its own automobile industry.

It should be noted that by that time the shortcomings of the RAF-977D minibus had long been known to both factory specialists and ordinary users of the Rafiks.

Alas, the single-volume car, built on the units of a Volga passenger car, did not have the most successful weight distribution, because front axle The cabover car was heavily loaded. In addition, actual operation of the vehicles revealed insufficient rigidity of the body, which simply began to collapse under active loads.

To somehow correct the situation, the designers undertook whole line improvements. So, inside the body, the cargo compartment and passenger compartment were separated by a strong metal partition, which also played the role of a kind of amplifier, increasing the torsional rigidity of the body. For the same purpose, a pair of single-leaf doors were provided for access to the cargo compartment - on right side body and rear.

The floor and sides were reinforced with special wooden slats, and for the convenience of loading and unloading luggage at any time of the day, two lampshades were provided in the cargo compartment, which turned on both automatically (when the doors were opened) and using a toggle switch. In addition, exhaust ventilation slots were provided on the side walls - after all, as you know, there are a variety of loads.

Tests carried out in Latvia showed the professional suitability of the vehicle with a load capacity of about 850 kg.

Yes, it was not possible to reach a ton in the process of transforming the minibus into a van, but it was not possible to squeeze more out of the Volga units and the load-bearing body. However, such an indicator for the machine, based on the specifics of its future work, was quite enough. It is important that the control gas consumption in comparison with a full-size truck turned out to be half as much, and Ulyanovsk cabovers could not boast fuel efficiency at the level of a Riga van.

Modernization and growth of production

The first batch of 66 copies of ErAZ-762 was produced in December 1966, and in the first two years of ErAZ’s activity, under the leadership of the head of the mechanical engineering department of the Economic Council of the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Zaven Simonyan, it was possible not only to create production capacity to produce 2,500 vehicles per year, but also to reach the level of 1,000 manufactured vans per year.

Further - more: under the leadership of Stepan Ivanyan, who headed ErAZ from 1968 to 1973, production capacity increased significantly - after the first reconstruction, 6,500 ErAZs began to be assembled per year. This is largely due to the launch of a new building with an area of 26 thousand square meters. m and the completion of the construction of the press-body production, which made it possible to sharply increase the volume of products produced by the plant. After all, now absolutely all body panels were produced in Yerevan, and not brought from RAF, as was previously the case.

No sooner had the first reconstruction been completed than the company began the second phase to double its production capacity - that is, to 13,000 cars.

Interestingly, in the mid-seventies, ErAZ became the second enterprise in the USSR to operate a push-and-hang assembly conveyor. The first plant with such a conveyor was, of course, VAZ. This technology for the Volzhsky Automobile Plant was developed, supplied and installed by the Italian partner Fiat, but in the case of ErAZ they did it on their own - the conveyor was made by Minsk SKB-3.

The launch of a new assembly line and a press shop with a German press with a force of 500 tons also influenced the structure of the Yerevan plant: in 1976, the ErAZ production association was created, which included both an automobile plant as the parent enterprise, and factories for the production of forklifts and hydraulic equipment and automobile spare parts.

A characteristic feature of the activities of the Yerevan Automobile Plant is constant modernization and growth in production volumes. In the early eighties, up to 12,000 vans were assembled at ErAZ per year, thanks to which the hundred thousandth ErAZ-762 vehicle was produced in April 1983.

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The installation of new lines and another reconstruction of the body production and press shop made it possible to increase the production volume of cars to 16,000 units by the mid-eighties.

Punching games

What about the minibus itself? The ErAZ-762, after a number of minor upgrades, was produced for exactly three decades - until 1966. During this time, the car became infinitely outdated, but in the eighties it was still in demand in the USSR as a utilitarian delivery van.

Cars of the first years of production, produced before 1971, could be distinguished by the smooth walls of the sides. There was also a version with an isothermal body, which received the index 762I and was produced in small quantities, while the 762P refrigerator, developed a year later, remained a prototype.

The modernization of body and press production did not fail to affect the appearance of the car, which received stampings in the form of false cones on the sides of the body for greater rigidity. This modification bore the index 762A.

In 1971, both the first and second modifications even received a pair of awards - an Honorary Diploma of the All-Union Chamber of Commerce at the Moscow international exhibition "Intorgmash" and a third degree VDNKh diploma.

The next update affected not only the body, where a couple more new bulges appeared: since 1976, ErAZs with the designation 762B were transferred to units of the more modern Volga GAZ-24, since the previous “donor” GAZ M-21 was discontinued back in 1970.

In 1979, ErAZs began to be equipped with an engine from the modification for the GAZ-24-01 taxi, running on A-76 gasoline. Moreover, in the Union, the enterprises that owned them used this kind of fuel everywhere, and not “ninety-third”. ERAZ-762V also received concave lines on the sides of the body and differed from earlier versions in the presence of reverse lights.

In 1988, ErAZ “remembered its minibus roots” own car: production of a five-seater cargo-passenger van with the VGP index with a carrying capacity of 575 kg began in Yerevan. Due to its versatility, in the late eighties this machine was in good demand among cooperators and so-called “shop workers”.

Alas, the collapse of the USSR put an end to the fate of ErAZ: inflation, social unrest, the severance of economic ties of the former Soviet republics and the loss of a huge market with a solvent customer in the person of a huge state led to the fact that ErAZ began to be produced less and less - production volumes dropped to half a thousand copies per year.

In 1992, however, the management of the enterprise and the enthusiasts who worked there tried to somehow save the situation with the help of the five-seater ErAZ-762VDP pickup truck, but the aged car, like the enterprise that produced it, were simply doomed in the new economic conditions. No attempts to modernize helped appearance cars with the help of plastic trim, nor barter supply schemes, which the Armenian enterprise constantly resorted to in the first half of the nineties in order to survive and stay afloat.

It’s hard to believe, but in neighboring Ukraine they still offer a couple of dozen ErAZ-762s on the Internet! Owners want about 650-800 dollars, that is, approximately 50,000 rubles, for cars that have been pretty beaten up by life and mercilessly “scarred”

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In 1995, the aged and honored ErAZ was finally taken out of production, and Yerevan Automobile Plant Before it finally went bankrupt in 2002, for several years it produced the successor to the 762 with the index 3730 in small batches. But this is a completely different story that deserves a separate story.

Let's see what happened to the automobile factories that produced equipment during the USSR.

On December 31, 1964, by order of the Council of Ministers of the Armenian SSR No. 1084, a decision was made “On the organization in the city of Yerevan, in the buildings under construction of the Autoloader plant, of a plant for the production of vans with a carrying capacity of 0.8-1.0 tons.” It was there that the charming ErAZ vans, brothers of the Latvian Rafiks, were created.

In November 2002, the plant was declared bankrupt, and two years later its premises were sold at auction. The new owner was the Mik Metal company, which produces fittings, nails and other metal products. This is what the plant looks like today.

Riga Automobile Factory

Well, RAFs themselves began to be produced in 1953 on the basis of the Riga Automobile Factory, which was built in 1949 on the site of the Riga Automobile Repair Plant No. 2. Until 1954, the plant bore the name RZAK - Riga plant bus bodies. Its brightest years were in the 50s-70s, but after Latvia left the USSR, the plant began to die.

The company was declared bankrupt in 1998 and now the plant's premises have been partially looted and destroyed, and partially given over to warehouses and office rooms. Ironically, latest cars The plant was created for funeral services.

Kutaisi Automobile Plant

Even though the name “Kolkhida” became synonymous with an unreliable truck in the Soviet Union, vehicles under this brand were produced until 1993. Later, attempts were made to revive production through agreements with GM, Mahindra, KhTZ, but they did not lead to anything concrete. As a result, since 2010 the plant, which was built in 1951, has been idle. Most of its equipment was looted and cut into metal; only the administrative building remained in a “living” state, which is guarded (pictured).

Vilnius Vehicle Factory

Forge of the fastest rally cars Soviet Union, located in Vilnius, was created in the late 70s on the basis of the Vilnius Automobile Repair Plant. The new enterprise was named Vilnius Factory Vehicle(VFTS) and existed for a long time even after the USSR became history, switching to the construction of rally cars based on individual projects.

Now the territory where VFTS was located is occupied by a Volkswagen service station, and there is little that reminds us of its former rally greatness.

Lviv Bus Plant

Lvovsky's last big order Bus Factory, which has produced many magnificent cars since its construction in 1945, was the delivery of a batch of buses and trolleybuses to the cities of Ukraine that hosted the Euro 2012 football championship. Today the plant is a huge empty premises, from which almost all the equipment for assembly has been removed.

Russo-Balt

The automobile department on the basis of the Russian-Baltic Carriage Works appeared in 1908, but during the First World War the enterprise “dispersed” to other parts of Russia for the purpose of evacuation. Cars were produced within their native walls for not so long - only seven years. And on July 1, 1917, the “Second Automobile Plant Russo-Balt” began operating. Now the plant in Riga looks like this. And even though its condition seems dilapidated, the former grandeur is still felt within these walls.

Dux

The Dux plant, which turns 124 this year, began its history with the production of bicycles, but soon expanded production to cars and airplanes. The first “loop” performed by Nesterov was performed on the Dux plane. Now on the territory of the plant complex, which was returned to its historical name “Dux” in 1993, weapons for air-to-air aircraft are produced.

Part of the buildings of the complex at the address: Moscow, Pravdy Street 8 has been transferred to office premises and retail areas.

Plant named after Likhachev

Muscovites know very well what happened to ZiL. One of the oldest car factories in the country, founded back in 1916, under the influence of urban processes turned out to be unnecessary to anyone. As a result, the factory premises were razed to the ground and in its place stands the Zilart residential complex, next to which the Zil park will appear in the fall.

The highlight of this park will be a terrace in the form of a conveyor line - as a tribute to the historical past.

Moskvich

Construction of a plant at the intersection of the current Small Moscow Ring railway and Volgogradsky Prospect started in 1929, and already in 1930 the enterprise began its activities. The dawn of the plant, which later received the name "Moskvich", fell on post-war years. But by the beginning of Perestroika, clouds began to gather over Moskvich; in 2001, production was stopped, and in 2010, the bankruptcy procedure of the enterprise was completed.

One of the workshops of the plant, where it was planned to assemble engines, now belongs to Renault Russia. On the territory of another, the Radius Group company planned to open a cryptocurrency mining farm.

Yaroslavl Automobile Plant

101 years ago, Vladimir Lebedev began producing Crossley cars in Russia - under license. Which marked the beginning of the plant, which is now known as Yaroslavl motor plant. Where copies of British cars were assembled a century ago, diesel engines are now being made.

In the interval between these eras, the company gathered a variety of automotive technology, including Ya series trucks and YTB trolleybuses.

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 stepchild” domestic auto industry. The need to increase the production of light-duty vans as a strategic task was voiced by the USSR State Planning Committee 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 to implement the project it would be necessary to “find reserves.”

Initially, the talk was about mastering the production of the RAF-977K van developed in Riga. But the option of reconstructing and expanding the Riga Automobile Plant (RAF) was not even considered on a large scale (too costly). Erect new plant especially since it was expensive. And industry strategists paid attention to the construction under construction near Yerevan factory forklifts.

The enterprise was designed to produce completely different products and for smaller production volumes, but it was possible quickly and with minimal costs convert part of the unfinished workshops into a car plant. This determined the future fate of ErAZ. Throughout its history, it was continuously completed, rebuilt, reconstructed, expanded, and all this only in order to acquire the appearance of a full-fledged automobile plant. To master new production areas All the funds, already small, from time to time from the country's budget, were spent. For Armenia, its own automobile plant was important not so much from an economic point of view, but for national pride and self-esteem.

During 1965 The first core of the team was created, and 66 people were trained at the Riga and Ulyanovsk automotive industry enterprises. The first production building was built, the first machines were installed, and the first parts were processed.

September 10, 1965 of the year by order of the Council of Ministers of Armenia. SSR N795, the forklift plant under construction is named Yerevan Automobile Plant (YerAZ).

In 1966, the head of the mechanical engineering department of the Economic Council of Armenia was appointed the first director of the plant. SSR Zaven Simonyan. His name is associated with the development of the plant, the creation of a master plan and the justification for financing capital construction.
During the period of its activity, the production of the first samples was mastered, capacities were created for serial production of 2,500 cars per year, the production volume was increased to 1,000 cars per year.
May 1, 1966 of the year plant employees went to the May Day parade in cars they had assembled themselves.
Plant director from 1968 to 1973. - Stepan Ivanovich Avanyan. During its work, the first reconstruction of the plant was carried out and capacity was created to produce 6,500 cars per year. The volume of products starts from 1000 pcs. in 1968 it grew to 6,500 units.
In 1972, construction of the second press and forging production building continued at an accelerated pace. In 1973, construction was completed. Procurement of basic equipment was ensured. At this stage, the housing problem has been solved - 4 buildings have been commissioned.
Immediately after the completion of the first reconstruction, the second begins - to create capacity for the production of 12,000 units. cars per year.
In 1972-1975 The installation of an overhead-push assembly conveyor is underway - the second in the USSR. The first conveyor of this type in the USSR was designed, manufactured and installed by the Italian company Fiat at the Volzhsky Automobile Plant in Tolyatti.
After some time, the ErAZ production association was created, which included: Yerevan Automobile Plant - the parent enterprise; Yerevan spare parts plant; Yerevan Forklift Plant; Yerevan hydraulic equipment plant; a forklift plant under construction in Charentsavan.
The association is faced with the task, along with the production of ErAZ vehicles and 4022 forklifts, to master the production of 4091 forklifts with a capacity of 1 ton and a 2 ton model developed by the Lvov GSKB Autoloader.
Along with RAF, UAZ, VAZ, work began on the creation of electric vehicles at ErAZ-e, 26 samples were manufactured and sent for testing to the Moscow Automotive Plant. The ErAZ-3730 was recognized as the most convenient for cars to operate due to the large volume of the body. But due to imperfections in power supplies, work on the ErAZ-e was stopped. An international symposium was held in Armenia with the participation of major specialists from the USSR and the USA, in which YerAZ specialists also took part.
In November 1983, the ErAZ association was reorganized into the Charentsavan production association ArmAuto, 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 vehicles of the new ErAZ-3730 model. The production volume of 762B cars is from 12,000 units. increased to 16,000 units. in year.
In May 1984 ErAZ becomes an independent enterprise.
In 1984-1987 The body assembly and welding shop is being reconstructed. Welding lines for the ErAZ-3730 car body and a system of overhead push conveyors with a total length of up to 3.5 km are installed. The reconstruction of the press shop is nearing completion.
In 1984, a cooperation agreement was signed with the Lubinsk Automobile Plant “Zhuk” (Poland).
In 1986, the ErAZ-37301 van with an isothermal body, manufactured on the basis of the ErAZ-3730 van, was demonstrated for the first time in the history of the plant at an international exhibition abroad in Poznan, Poland.
During the work of Eduard Surenovich Babajanyan (plant director from 1989-1991), the reconstruction of the body production of the new ErAZ-3730 model car was completed. Ties with 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 worked as director. During his work, new modifications of mass-produced cars were mastered, mass production ErAZ-3730 model and its modifications.
In 1992, based on the serially produced ErAZ-762V vehicle, new modifications were created and produced: ErAZ-762 VGP (cargo-passenger), ErAZ-762 VDP (double-pickup) and a trailer for passenger cars.
In May 1995, the plant was privatized and a joint stock company was created open type"ErAZ". Plant director Hamlet Harutyunyan was elected as the first president of ErAZ JSC. Connections are being established with foreign countries. A sanatorium-type recreation center is being created in Jermuk. The recovery from the crisis begins.
In 1995, 2 sets of recreational road trains were manufactured for the Yerevan Children's Railway Recreation Park.
In November 2002, ErAZ OJSC, at the request of creditors, was declared bankrupt by the Economic Court of the Republic of Armenia.
And in November 2004 it was sold at auction. Mik Metal became the new owner of the former ErAZ automobile plant, and then ErAZ OJSC.

EpA3-3945. There was only 480 kg left for the load. The main disadvantage of this modification was the absence of a second row of doors, which made access difficult. rear seats. ErAZ-3218, minibus. EpA3-3945, mobile unit technical control Traffic police It is not difficult to guess that such control was under the jurisdiction of the State Traffic Inspectorate, which is why the car looked accordingly: blue and yellow body paint, the inscription “GAI” on the hood.
Purpose of the cargo-passenger version of the van (with a double cabin 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 turned out to be in demand without any special filling (EpA3-37308). And at the end of the 80s, at the NAMI test site, preliminary tests were carried out on two prototype cargo-passenger models EpA3-3945, officially called a “mobile technical control point.” Technical control, according to the creators, was to be carried out “for technical condition components, assemblies and systems vehicles affecting safety traffic in terms of their compliance with the requirements of standards related to ensuring traffic safety.”

As a training vehicle, however, the practice of operating Polish Zuk vans with this type of body in the USSR showed that cargo-passenger modifications of light-duty vehicles are in demand by many organizations.
With development in the territory former USSR market economy, the number of potential buyers of EpA3-37308 has increased sharply due to private entrepreneurs.
Minibus based on the 3730 family chassis was produced in three interior layout options. Common to all three options was the absence of a right front seat (to the right of the driver), which allowed free access to the cabin from the sidewalk. At the same time, the right door was made hinged, not sliding. In addition, the first two rows passenger seats were 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.
Initial modification with a “double cabin”. The rear cabin layout varied.
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 hinged door.
In the second option (for ten passengers) the passage in back row covered 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, the country carried out an industry program to create electric vehicles - this direction seemed promising to some officials.
In 1974, the Yerevan enterprise joined the Riga, Ulyanovsk and Volzhsky automobile plants that 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 from other plants, were tested in Moscow, including operational ones. Ultimately, the Yerevan electric cars were considered more successful than their counterparts, but the project was canceled due to the bulkiness and insufficient capacity of the batteries available in those years.
Rechargeable batteries 96-EIZH-200 was driven by an electric motor with a power of 22 kW. Maximum speed electric car was 60 km/h, and the range was only 45 km.

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 ErAZ-762s were assembled, outwardly no different from the Rafiks.

While the RAF already in the mid-70s switched to more modern model RAF-2203 “Latvia”, at ErAZ archaic buses with rounded shapes continued to be built right up to 1996! So almost all such cars that can still be found on Russian roads, - these are precisely Yerevan, not Riga products, although the Yerevan plant ended its existence in 2002.

But, of course, ErAZ had a design department that was engaged in new developments, albeit not always successful.

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 a modified ErAZ-762A. These cars had almost no external differences from the 762.

1976, ErAZ-762B. IN new version The van received stiffening ribs and a “relief” of the body. The car was produced from 1976 to 1981, when it was replaced by another modification.

1981, ErAZ-762V. The most popular version of the van received new uniform stiffening ribs and a number of modifications to the chassis, as well as the replacement of some units. It is precisely these ErAZs that have mainly survived to this day.

1988, ErAZ-762VGP. Appeared in the late 80s passenger bus based on a van. The “facelift” is also clearly visible (the picture shows a modification from the mid-90s).

ErAZ-762G. Truck version with wooden body.

1972, ErAZ-762P. Tractor of a recreational road train.

1992, ErAZ-762VDP. The five-seat cargo-passenger pickup truck appeared in the early 90s, when the plant, which found itself in an extremely difficult economic situation, needed to somehow “spin.”

1968, ErAZ-773. In fact, they began looking for a replacement for the 762 back in the late 60s. One of the popular models was the 773rd.

1970, ErAZ-763 “Armenia”. The fight for the right to be next was won by model 763, and a full-size prototype was built in 1970. This vehicle arrived on the assembly line with a huge delay - 15 years later, although initially it was more advanced than even the RAF.

1974, electric car ErAZ-3731. The first batch of 26 bonnets. Unfortunately, until 1985, ErAZ bonnets were produced exclusively in small batches for the needs of specific enterprises.

State approach

From Latvia to Armenia

Modernization and growth of production

Punching games