ZIL museum is a very interesting place, but is not available for everybody. Guides here have a talent to narrate, passion for their work but also a very hard work schedule. So only students and those who are free from 9 a.m. till 15 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday can get here.
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The automobile factory history begins from a glade on Moscow outskirts in 1916. Its first name was Automobile Factory AMS ( Automobile Factory Society) and its founders were a family of Russian manufacturers, the Ryabushinsky. The factory planned to make the 1,5 tonne truck after a model of 1915.
But the revolution changed all these plans. In 1918 the factory was passed on to the government. The first manager was Dmitry Bondarev.
In 1918-1923 the plant repaired foreign trucks and cars. The most popular one was the American truck White.
Manufacturers even wanted to make these trucks but then decided to make “Fiat-15″ which was lighter.
The automobile factory was restored and in 1924 the first 1,5 tons truck AMO-F-15 was constructed.
The award for good running.
The bus ZIS-8 (1934-1938)
The award for the good work.
The cemetery of broken instruments.
The caricature about the ZIL factory.
The pilot`s award.
Assembling of the luxury car ZIS-101,1938.
During the Great Patriotic War the factory made not only weapons but also the main war car.
The truck ZIS-5V. Its construction was made considering the shortage of materials, but the car preserved its solidity. Metal was replaced by wood and the truck had only one headlight.
Anti-fascists` placard.
A lathe.
After the war the factory continued to make trucks and started to manufacture buses…
And also bicycles and fridges.
These fridges worked from 1953 without any repair.
A bicycle fragment.
The city bus ZIL-158
ZIS-110.
ZIS-127 on the southern sea coast in the Crimea.
The truck ZIL-130 and the car ZIL-157 with high cross-country ability.
The truck ZIL-170 or KAMAZ 5320. Its the factory ZIL that started treir manufacturing.
The minibus “Unost” (1961).
2000 buses were planned to be made but only 5 were really manufactured.
ZIL-433100 (1986)
ZIL fridges are another story…
Interesting to see the product range. However it would probably be more interesting if the car models would be replaced with real cars like e.g. in the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart.
The Blue Birds look like a 6 wheel duck. Which is not a knock.
I wonder how well it fords and if it’s seaworthy.
A museum to a sub-par line of products. They should have copied the American auto industry of the time
Right … acres of useless chrome, tail fins, gas guzzling pollution machines. These were Russian cars for the Russian reality. Notice how some of them look just like the American equivalent? Because sometimes the American design fits the Russian need.
I like the smaller models, they’re cute. Can you tell I know absolutely nothing about cars, trucks and buses?
Interesting. It was quite obvious that many of the models were based on U.S. models. That’s understandable. Why reinvent the wheel? I especially noticed the Russian model that is a copy of the Packard from the mid 50′s. That was a good car. I don’t know if the degree of replicating ended with the physical appearance or if they included the engineering as well. But as someone said, the U.S. cars did work for the Russian people. It’s the environment that might be the challenge.