The long-standing pattern of Soviet designers and stylists drawing on Western approaches has been widely acknowledged for years. And the outcome was largely successful. The capability to absorb advanced Western experience—creatively rather than directly—played a crucial role in shaping the evolution of Soviet industry.
This story goes beyond simple licensing or copying. It centers on pivotal, decisive choices that steered Soviet technologies and designs for decades.
Prominent European and American companies also contributed to this development.
Ford
GAZ-A, commonly known as Ford A, emerged from collaboration with the American carmaker and the Austin construction company in Nizhny Novgorod (renamed Gorky in 1932). This partnership helped establish a large, modern car factory in a remarkably short span.
In the early 1930s, Ford A passenger cars and Ford AA trucks were not cutting-edge by Western standards, but their simplicity and ease of maintenance made them highly suitable for Soviet field conditions. Through mastering Ford designs and conducting in-depth technical analysis, a distinct technical school developed in Gorky, eventually leading to original Soviet car designs. Some Ford components, such as the Ford AA gearbox, were produced for many years with only minor modifications.
The automatic transmission design later used in the Volga and Chaika projects drew on Ford engineering. This Ford-inspired concept became the foundation for the USSR’s first serial automatic transmission in the GAZ-M21 Volga. Although the Volga did not achieve mass scale, a modified version of this transmission later equipped Volga models with eight-cylinder engines and the Chaika family GAZ-13 and GAZ-14.
The KIM-10 was based on the Ford Prefect. In the late 1930s, Ford technology was honored as the model for the Soviet Union’s first mass-produced small car, the KIM-10. The body of the Ford Prefect with the Anglia frame underwent noticeable changes, but all units and assemblies traced their lineage to Ford. The resulting car was respectable, yet its mass production was interrupted by the outbreak of war.
Car
The ZIS-5 grew out of an Autocar truck design. The American company, though now largely forgotten, left a lasting imprint on Soviet automotive engineering. Autocar’s concepts formed the basis for a major reconstruction of the AMO plant in Moscow, which had existed long before the revolution and was renamed ZIS in 1931.
Afterward, the Autocar CA was modernized—its clutch, brakes, and gearbox improved—and became the prototype for the three-ton ZIS-5. The fundamental design endured for many years, and variations on the ZIS-5 theme rolled out in Miass in the Urals until 1958. The six-cylinder engine with a 5.6-liter displacement, while repeatedly modernized, remained in production until 1993.
Chrysler
The six-cylinder GAZ engine line traces a lineage to Dodge. Chrysler’s influence on Soviet engine design was substantial. The late-1930s Dodge D5 engine, a six-cylinder inline with a 82 mm bore and 110 mm stroke and a 3.48-liter displacement, found production in GAZ-branded models such as GAZ-11, GAZ-51, and GAZ-52 in Nizhny Novgorod until the late 1980s.
Chrysler roots also appear in the ZIL V8 engine family, including a 6-liter (100×95 mm) variant that produced about 200 horsepower, debuting on the ZIL-111 in 1958 and appearing in a 150-horsepower version on the ZIL-130. The Chrysler design mindset inspired the ZIL-111 engine, among others. The ZIL-111’s first automatic transmission was borrowed from Chrysler’s PowerFlite unit of 1952.
Opel
The Moskvich-400 represents a new stage of Opel Kadett influence. Opel held a central position in postwar Soviet automotive planning. The Kadett was selected as the model for the first postwar small car, the Moskvich-400. Production and design adaptations followed, with the Opel design aging by 1938 standards, yet continually updated after the war. Through 1956, the Moskvich-401 was in production, receiving improvements to the engine and transmission. In the Moskvich-402, Opel’s influence was more modest, though the larger-cylinder block and the independent front suspension drew from Opel Olympia Rekord’s 1953 designs. When engineers drafted the early postwar Pobeda in Gorky, they studied Opel’s approach—especially the all-metal load-bearing body and the independent front suspension—so that Pobeda could carry Soviet styling forward in the 1940s.
FIAT
The AMO-F15 truck, launched in 1924, borrowed heavily from the FIAT 15 Ter. The F15 is widely recognized as one of the first Soviet cars, with the Russo-Balt collaboration preceding it in Moscow during 1922 as Prombrone. The Soviet automotive lineage traces back to Italian design influence from the Ryabushinsky era, which established AMO in 1916.
The Moskvich-444 prototype and the future ZAZ-965 borrowed the body structure from FIAT 600. FIAT’s footprint in the USSR extended into a pivotal project: the Zaporozhets ZAZ-965 drew heavily on FIAT minicars, chosen for their mass production capabilities. Soviet engineers studied many foreign compact cars and ultimately selected FIAT 600 as the mass-production body model. The concept matured on the Moskvich-444 prototypes before transferring to Zaporozhye.
The VAZ-2101, a heavily redesigned FIAT 124, epitomizes a major collaboration. Thanks to close cooperation with FIAT, a vast and modern factory arose in Stavropol-on-Volga (now Togliatti). FIAT 124’s engineering was thoroughly revised well before mass production, underscoring not only the car itself but also the scale of the factory and the advanced Western production technologies adopted. VAZ also spurred the creation of numerous modern components—from rubber items to Weber carburetors—manufactured in Dimitrovgrad under the DAAZ name.
Porsche
The VAZ-2108 on display in a German factory museum’s Porsche collection serves as a reminder of Porsche’s broader impact. The German brand is renowned for racing and sports cars, yet its engineering departments also influenced Soviet automotive design through shared insights into engines, transmissions, brakes, and other subsystems. Soviet engineers who spent time in Germany gained exposure to advanced practices, contributing to parallel development abroad. Through collaboration with leading foreign companies, the ability to access best practices and, in some cases, to license designs and technologies—such as braking systems for the Moskvich-2140 and Volga GAZ-3102 via a Girling license—helped the Soviet car industry produce more capable, competitive vehicles. [citation: historical automotive collaborations and licensing records]
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