Chronicles of ceremonial gigs. "Americans" on Red Square
Ceremonial "Tiger" from St. Petersburg. Source: autoreview.ru
The birth of the elite dynasty ZIL
The first portion material on the parade phonets of Red Square, we stopped at the open ZIS-110B, which for the first time appeared at the main military reviews of the country only after the death of Stalin. Automotive fashion was changing, this was closely monitored by the Central Committee of the CPSU, and on May 1, 1961, a new open car appeared on the scene - ZIL-111V. By the way, this brainchild of the Moscow Automobile Plant a little earlier gained worldwide fame - on April 14, 1961, the open ZIL became the ceremonial car of Yuri Gagarin who returned from space.
ZIL-111V. Source: en.wheelsage.org
ZIL-111V, developed on the basis of a limousine with the same index, was a serious breakthrough for the Soviet automobile industry, which no one was able to repeat later. First of all, it is the country's first "passenger" eight-cylinder engine with a capacity of 200 liters. sec., providing a machine weighing 2,8 tons outstanding for its class and time dynamics. The engine was also called ZIL-111 and was developed specifically for the government limousine. Of course, a considerable part of the engine power was consumed by a two-stage hydromechanical gearbox (a copy from the Chrysler unit), but, nevertheless, the car was able to accelerate to 170 km / h. The new passenger flagship of the Soviet Union received its own air conditioning (car with index A), power windows, a transistor radio, power steering and vacuum brake booster, as well as tubeless tires.
ZIL-111V. Source: en.wheelsage.org
The stylistically open ZIL very much resembled the GAZ-13 Chaika, which is not surprising, since the appearance of the limousine was drawn by the designer of the Gorky Automobile Plant (then this profession was called an industrial artist) Lev Mikhailovich Eremeev. The laconic bodies of the legendary ZIM-12, GAZ-21, Moskvich-402 and, of course, the GAZ-13 "Seagull" came out from under Yeremeyev’s brush. Why didn’t the Zilovs themselves draw a new body? They tried, but the ZIL-111 “Moscow” turned out to be excessively conservative both in appearance and in technical stuffing - the base was from the ZIS-110. As a result, they ordered to create a new car of the highest class, and the design was turned over to the Gorky Automobile Plant. History the exterior of the 111th car comes from 1956, when a closed display of equipment purchased abroad was held at US. They looked for an analogue for the future Seagull and found it at Packard Patrician. Yeremeyev creatively redrew the project, it turned out very well, and now he had to scale it on the ZIL-111 platform.
ZIL-111V. Source: en.wheelsage.org
As you know, the American auto industry has become a role model for domestic high-class cars. This was not the exclusive prerogative of limousines - for overseas reasons, they designed cargo vehicles, for example, ZIL-157. But for the machines of the mass sector, they chose smaller overall European analogues (Opel, later Fiat), which made it possible to seriously save production resources. Everyone knows a bit of a paradoxical story with the forced release of an open modification of the GAZ-M20 Pobeda, which was made cheaper than the base all-metal car. This is one of the rarest cases in the global auto industry when a soft-top car was more affordable than the less prestigious closed version. Everything was very simple - there was not enough high-quality rolled steel, and we had to organize the production of a convertible at a reduced price. However, these machines, due to the climate in the country, did not become widespread, and a considerable part of them were redone by owners in closed versions.
Unsuccessful development option ZIS-110. Source: ru.cars.photo.ru
Lev Yeremeyev, the author of the design ZIL-111V. Source: yandex.ru
And the ZIL-111V convertible, which appeared in 1960, did not become a mass machine, but turned into a unique small-scale exhibit. The version in gray full dress was built in 7 copies, and later this series was supplemented with five machines designed for representative functions. Taught by the difficult experience of working with the ZIS-110B phaeton, ZIL factory workers took seriously the reinforcement of the machine frame, as a result of which the ground clearance even decreased from 180 to 170 mm. Some help to the engineers was brought by a partition in the middle of the cabin, which allows, firstly, to strengthen the power structure, and, secondly, to hang back doors on it. The side windows were equipped with an electric drive and gasket guides, creating the necessary frame for the soft top in the closed position.
A small engineering masterpiece can be considered a soft top folding mechanism, equipped with an electrohydraulic drive and remote control from the driver's seat. The factory workers had to individually configure the operation of a complex unit on each convertible. It took 7 seconds to lower / fold the top, and it was a real technical ballet.
The status of the ceremonial ZIL was much higher than its predecessors. Nikita Khrushchev did not give out cars even to the leaders of the Warsaw block countries. An exception was made only for the ceremonial calculation of the Polish capital - in the early 60s he got two cars. Interestingly, the Kremlin garrison needed three cars — two main and one swap (which, by the way, was never needed in the work). How the Poles managed with just two is unknown. It should be separately mentioned that it was with the ZIL-111 model that all the representative cars of the Moscow Automobile Plant became truly elitist means of transportation. Now, the functionality of limousines and convertibles included only servicing top management, meeting personalities of national scale and working in ceremonial calculations. The more democratic “Stalinist” ZIS-110 was produced, firstly, on a large scale (2089 cars), and, secondly, it had modifications for taxis and ambulances.
Soviet evolution
About how the parade began with the participation of steel-marshal ZILs, the profile Soviet publication “Behind the Wheel” will best tell:
“Chimes on the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin struck ten. A car with the USSR Minister of Defense is leaving her gate, and, swaying a little on the cobblestones, moves to the center of Red Square. Towards him - the same car commander of the parade. Here they gathered in the center of the square, opposite the Lenin Mausoleum. The commander reports to the minister, and the detour begins. With this ceremonial parade, every year on November 7, a military parade opens on Red Square, and two steel-gray ZILs are an integral part of the ceremonial ritual. ”
Actually, on May 9 the parades were adopted on the same principle, only cars and colors changed.
ZIL-111D, which was not on Red Square. Source: en.wheelsage.org
One of the results of the creative rethinking of American automobile fashion was the rapid obsolescence of the ZIL-111's appearance, which was especially striking in Nikita Khrushchev's foreign trips. The US auto industry could afford to change the styling of cars every two to three years in the battle for American wallets, sometimes radically changing body contours. In addition, the main opponent of the Soviet leader John F. Kennedy moved to the luxurious Lincoln Continental X-100, surpassing the ZIL-111 in all respects. It is for this reason that in 1961 Khrushchev actually forced ZIL to start developing a new machine, called ZIL-111G. Here, they have already gone from the analogies with Packard and based on the style of the aforementioned Lincoln, as well as the 75 Cadillac Fleetwood Limousine Series 1962 and the 1960 Chrysler Crown Imperial. In fact, the Soviet novelty was only a product of facelift, or “facelift” - the internal filling did not change. According to the same recipe, a convertible was renamed ZIL-111D and released in only eight copies (according to another version, there were 12 cars), of which not one appeared on Red Square. Some sources mistakenly note that the new convertible has become a full-time parade since November 7, 1967. However, the archived video confirms that they were taking the celebration all the same on the ZIL-111V. At least two "Khrushchev" ZIL-111D were presented to high statesmen - Fidel Castro and Eric Honecker. And in North Korea, the car was used for its intended purpose.
ZIL-111D with a closed top. Source: en.wheelsage.org
The ZIL-117V two-door convertible, which first appeared at the parade on November 1, 1972 and spent exactly 8 years in this role, became a fundamentally new car on Red Square. And in the recent history of Russia, these machines participated in parades in St. Petersburg until the mid-2000s! The remarkable strength of Zilov’s cars, together with low mileage (annually no more than 4 thousand km) and careful maintenance, did their job. It is noteworthy that at the very beginning of his career ZIL-117V made his creators an unpleasant gift. At the rehearsal of the parade, which took place on the Khodynka field, the adjutant of Marshal A. Grechko could not open the door the first time. I couldn’t from the second, third, and in the end the marshal simply stepped through the door. Naturally, he expressed himself firmly on the results of the incident both to the developers and to the responsible officers of the GABTU. This did not happen again.
Front ZIL-117B Brezhnev era. Source: en.wheelsage.org
The American Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham can be considered a role model for the ZIL-117, although the domestic limousine was much more concise. A distinctive feature of the new machine was the abundance of servos. In addition to the usual electric windows, it was possible to remotely lock the locks, raise the antenna and tune the radio. The main achievement in the government limousine of the new generation was the ZIL-114 engine, developing decent 300 liters for its class. with. Located under the hood of the ZIL-117V parade convertible, which appeared in 1972, this engine allowed the car a lot on the road. It is believed that the development of a two-door open car was personally initiated by Leonid Brezhnev, a well-known lover of fast cars. In total, ten cars were built, of which only three were in a gray-steel ceremonial livery (the soft top was also the same as the body color), the rest of the convertibles were painted black. On the front door of the ZIL-117V, due to the two-door layout, the right front seat was removed - in its place they left a flat platform with a strong handrail for the left hand. In the Special Shop No. 6 of the Moscow Automobile Plant, which was engaged in the slipway assembly of machines for the Special Purpose Garage (GON), they released, among other things, one copy of the ZIL-117VE with a shielded ignition system.
ZIL-41044, the last Soviet parade convertible. Source: en.wheelsage.org
The next evolutionary step of the parade gigs was ZIL-41044, released in triplicate in 1981. This car was also named after the factory nomenclature ZIL-115V and, in fact, was a stylistically redesigned convertible of the previous generation. The ceremonial cabriolet met the collapse of the USSR as part of the GON, a change of centuries, and waited for the post of Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov, after which ZIL-41044 resigned.
Times Serdyukov
The new Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation decided to replace Soviet-era cars with new ceremonial gigs. In 2007, an open GAZ-SP46 Tiger was developed for St. Petersburg, which looks a bit bulky for a festive event. It took only 7 months to develop the machine and build three copies. The two-door SUV was equipped with a Brazilian Cummins diesel engine with a capacity of 205 liters. with. and automatic transmission Allison Transmission 1000 series, as well as completely alter the interior with gray leather. Now the color of the parade phaetons was strictly black with stripes and a coat of arms. Naturally, the developers from Arzamas removed the carrier armored, replacing the civilian, which reduced the weight of the car from 7200 to 4750 kg. But even in this case, the Tiger is now the heaviest parade convertible in the world, some trucks are lighter. As a result, the ceremonial Tigers are now on the balance of the Leningrad Military District and take parades on Palace Square instead of the well-deserved ZIL-117V.
GAZ-SP46 "Tiger". Source: en.wheelsage.org
Nizhny Novgorod ZIL-41041 AMG, built on the basis of the American GMC Sierra 2500 pickup truck. Source: en.wheelsage.org
For the main parade of the country, SUVs from Arzamas were not allowed for reasons of a specific appearance, as well as a name. Ponder the Tigers on Red Square! But it was impossible to leave the ancient ZIL-41044. The work on the development of a new convertible was entrusted to the Atlant-Delta office in Nizhny Novgorod, with Yury Kruzhilin, the former head of GON, as the general director, and military engineer Igor Mazur, who previously worked as personal driver Oleg Deripaska, who was responsible for this project. It was from this venture that the true "American" was born, who occupied Red Square for several years. Stylistically, the car copied the last limousine of the Soviet Union ZIL-41047, but as the base they chose the overseas frame pickup GMC Sierra 2500 with an engine of 353 liters. with. We bought three cars, took off all the body panels and ... But the domestic body panels from the government ZILs were nowhere to get.
It was supposed to present this particular car at ZIL at the 65th anniversary of the Victory. It didn’t work out very well. Source: en.wheelsage.org
The appeal to the Moscow Automobile Plant did not lead to anything - the Zilovites were hurt by such inattention on the part of Serdyukov and did not share anything. They say that Luzhkov also personally banned. In addition, an alternative version of the parade convertible to the peak of Atlant-Delta was developed in the special workshop No. 6 of ZIL. I had to buy used ZIL-41041 sedans with well-worn bodies and “on my knee” to tap three front gigs. As a result, cars that received the name ZIL-41041 AMG first appeared on Red Square exactly ten years ago at the parade dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the Victory. The Moscow version of ZIL-410441 was canceled due to a controversial appearance ("Chinese" lighting equipment and a hump of a folded awning), as well as a lag behind the schedule - the Zilovites managed to make only one convertible for testing. In addition, to the car of Nizhny Novgorod was initially more supportive of the leadership of the Ministry of Defense. Nevertheless, the debut of the “American” at the parade was overshadowed by cracks that appeared after the rapids and the body, which, however, Atlant-Delta engineers eliminated for the 66th anniversary of the Victory. And the unsuccessful ZIL-410441 was bought by the then President of Ukraine Yanukovych in 2011 and for some time used a convertible in Yalta. Where the car is now is unknown.
Representative of a new era of domestic parade gigs. Source: autonews.ru
In 2019, the era of "American" cars in many ways on Red Square is over. On May 9, the Aurus-412314 convertibles drove into the cobblestones. The history of these convertibles is just beginning ...
Information