GAZ-3302 became the workhorse for a new generation of small, medium, and growing businesses. For the Gorky Automobile Plant, the GAZelle, which began production in 1994, marked a turning point—the first mass-produced post-war vehicle in this category. Its success owes much to the deliberate unification with existing Nizhny Novgorod models, while foreign influence in the design remained minimal.
As factory benchmarks, the designers looked at Iveco Daily, which inspired the Soviet KiAZ-3727 prototype that never reached production, and Ford Transit. The GAZelle bears a certain kinship with the Transit, sharing some external traits such as side cabin stiffeners and door handles, yet direct copying was avoided.
The core model in the family was the GAZ-3302 low loader with a 2900 mm wheelbase. The vehicle weighs 3500 kg, supports a permissible load of 1650 kg, and accommodates the driver and two passengers. The cabin itself was completely redesigned into a three-seat layout with new headlights and indicators, echoing features later seen on the Volga GAZ-31029.
The base engine, a ZMZ-4025 inline four from the Volga engine line, displaces 2.45 liters with a bore and stroke of 92 mm. Its compression ratio stood at 6.7, delivering 90 horsepower and 173 Nm of torque in a band around 2400 to 2600 rpm. An upgraded version, the ZMZ-4026, increased the compression to 8.2, producing 100 horsepower and 182 Nm of torque.
The gearbox was tightly aligned with the five-speed Volgovskaya family transmission, though gear ratios were adjusted. Passenger boxes used a ratio sequence of 3.62 / 2.19 / 1.30 / 1.0 / 0.79, while the GAZelle employed 4.05 / 2.34 / 1.40 / 1.00 / 0.85 to suit its utility profile.
Suspension on the GAZ-3302 is straightforward, employing longitudinal springs at both ends. This arrangement favors low cost, robustness, and easy maintenance, characteristics highly valued by users in the early transition years.
The Transit frame in the dual-rear-wheel version (as seen on the GAZelle) was more complex than its single-rear-wheel Ford counterparts, which used a simpler frame and a wheelbase ranging from 2850 to 3570 mm.
GAZ-3302 adopted the simplest frame, and with only modest tweaks it proved adaptable for all-wheel-drive builds and extended variants that appeared in the market later. The braking system on the Gazelle was notably modern for its time in Soviet truck design, featuring front disc brakes and a consolidation with Volga components. The design evolution relied on a floating caliper setup and parts developed for the Volga GAZ-3105, which remained in limited scale.
A vacuum brake booster similar to the Volga’s was used, an efficient and reliable unit built under license from Lucas. The result was braking action that felt light and dependable for a wide range of operating conditions.
The GAZ-3302 dashboard and instrument panel stood out for its practicality. It avoided the extravagances of some contemporaries while including a tachometer, a feature not common on the older Volga dashboards. The overall interior conveyed solidity and straightforward usability, complemented by a modestly modern aesthetic.
Good luck hooves
The GAZelle’s blend of affordability, contemporary touches, and straightforward engineering helped lift the plant to a new operational level during the early 1990s. It was a vehicle that the country needed at precisely the moment of its appearance, filling gaps in the market and logistics networks.
Admittedly, GAZ’s workmanship did not always meet every standard of the era, especially in the early years. Yet this was a common challenge across several Nizhny Novgorod plants at the time, not a unique fault of the Gazelle line.
For the Nizhny Novgorod plant, the basic GAZ-3302, which became the backbone for many variants, proved to be a gamble in some respects. In the broader sense, vehicles of this class have continued to support the company’s stability and ongoing operations.
Requires 7,000 tires in popular sizes
Public order and essential services depend on reliable transportation. The effort to secure tires was a collective endeavour. A collaboration between the movement Behind the Wheel and the Popular Front launched a fundraising drive for tires to equip vehicles used by the People’s Police, the operational services of the LPR and DPR, ambulances, emergency services, humanitarian aid delivery vehicles, and military equipment. Contributions could be made on the collection page to support these critical needs.