On 28 June 1946, the first mass-produced model of the famous Soviet car “Pobeda” (victory), which became a symbol of the county’s revival after the war, was assembled.

Motorisation in the Soviet Union took place later than in Europe. The first Gorky Automobile Plant (GAZ) was built in 1932 with the help of specialists from the Ford Motor Company, and in the early years only licensed models were produced there. Plans to produce cars of Soviet design were disrupted by the war, but still in December 1941 GAZ was given a government assignment to develop a domestic car.

The prototype for “Pobeda” was the Opel Kapitan 1938. The cars have the same suspension design and load-bearing elements. However, the appearance of the bodywork of “Popeda” was completely original. Its engine was an improved version of a Dodge engine, which had been mastered even before the war. Soviet designer Andrey Lipgart was the author of the project.

The first mass-produced cars caused dissatisfaction among customers, mostly among important Soviet officials, due to poor assembly quality and numerous manufacturing defects. On 1 September 1948, the assembly line was stopped until the defects were corrected. All defective cars produced before September 1948 were returned to the factory. In 1949 the second production series of "Pobedas" began. The size of the passenger salon was changed and the height of the back seat was decreased. The obsolete gearbox was replaced by a synchromesh gearbox with the control lever on the steering wheel. In 1949, the GAZ-M20 "Pobeda" and its creators were awarded the Stalin Prize.

The engine remained a weak point on the car, but the clearance and suspension were adjusted to actual vehicle conditions. The first Soviet auto shop was opened in Moscow on 21 Bakuninskaya Street. “Pobeda” cost 16,000 roubles (an average monthly salary was anywhere from 223 to 512 roubles. Prices of retail goods were the following: top grade beef - 150 roub/kg, butter - 370 roub/kg, vodka 0.5 litre - 100 roubles, a man’s coat - 3,000 roubles, laundry soap - 137 roub/kg, "Kazbek" cigarettes 40 roub/pack). Over 12 years, 23,999 “Pobeda” cars were manufactured. Production was stopped in 1958.

Source: 

Ivan Paderin, Denis Orlov. Pobeda and other events. Moscow: Gorkyclassic, 2015