The automobile department of the Russian-Baltic Transport Works in Riga was established in 1908. The enterprise, whose main focus was railway wagons, began exploring diversification early on. In addition to phaetons, it produced automobiles and aircraft at different stages of its operation.
Ivan Aleksandrovich Fryazinovsky became the director of the newly formed automobile department. Twenty-six year old Julien Potter, formerly chief designer for the Belgian carmaker Fondu, was invited to join on a five year contract. The company supplied railway equipment to the Russian-Baltic Plant and also produced cars in small quantities.
In Riga, an engineer originally from Switzerland reproduced two Fondu designs with factory indices C and K, and in 1909 the cars began to be produced under the Russian-Baltic brand, as noted by the historian Lev Shugurov on the brand’s centennial anniversary.
Russo-Balt cars were introduced in 1910 in St. Petersburg and drew public interest at the international auto show held there. Their appeal, however, was tempered by a high price and modest orders; the show yielded far fewer sales than expected, with only ten units sold.
From 1910, the automotive department of the Russian-Baltic Plant was led by Russian engineer Dmitry Bondarev, who took the helm after successfully completing the first task of designing a car engine. The division later assembled engines for Russian aircraft, and in time Bondarev would become the first director of the Likhachev Plant, later known as ZIL.
state order
The expansion of government orders aided the production of Russo-Balts. Captain Peter Sekretev, who had commanded a training automobile company in St. Petersburg, joined the enterprise in Riga. Due largely to his efforts, the Russian-Baltic Plant began receiving orders, and its cars became widely used for headquarters needs within the imperial army. The army purchased nearly two thirds of the output, exceeding four hundred vehicles.
In 1910 two Russo-Balts were acquired for His Imperial Majesty’s garage, though these machines were not used directly to serve the royal family. They served broadly as personnel vehicles across military units throughout the empire, reaching as far as Vladivostok.
Wide model range
The first Russian industrial car offered a growing range of modifications. The initial model featured a 4.5 liter engine delivering about 30 horsepower. Production of new variants began in 1912 and 1913 with engines rated at 30 and 40 horsepower respectively. A broad selection of bodies was offered, including a double phaeton, an enclosed limousine, an open-back caravan, and two-seater sports variants. The limousine stood out with its sloped roof, the elegant curve of the A-pillar behind the driver, and the glass rear doors. Only 17 of these cars were produced. The Russo-Balt with an open torpedo body became the most common model, with 285 built over nine years. Trucks in the Russo-Balta series appeared in 1912 and were built for three years, totaling more than sixty units of types D, M and T. The Type T boasted a five ton capacity and rear wheel drive by chains.
The first D Type trucks, carrying one ton, were produced in fire department, postal, and cash register configurations. In 1913 a Russo-Balt copy designed by French engineer Adolphe Kegresse appeared, featuring a half-track propulsion unit. At that time the half-track Rolls-Royce with a Kegresse drive could be seen in the Moscow region’s Gorky Leninskie museum reserve.
sports success
Racing proved a vital avenue to popularize the cars in those years. Soon after the first release, the Riga based team led by Potter drove a Russo-Balt from Riga to St. Petersburg for the St. Petersburg to Riga rally, finishing fourth without penalties. In 1912, Andrei Nagel and Vadim Mikhailov took part in the Monte Carlo Rally. Their lightweight two seater featured a large fuel tank and a four speed transmission; the crew finished ninth overall and earned a special prize for covering the longest distance traveled from St. Petersburg to Monaco alone.
forced relocation
With the outbreak of World War I the front approached Riga quickly, prompting evacuations. Car production moved inland to Tver, while the Moscow facility took over automobile manufacture. Some equipment was transferred to Petrograd, and armored vehicles based on the Russo-Balt chassis were produced at the Izhora plant during and after the war.
The portion of the factory relocated to Moscow reopened in the Fili district on July 1, 1917 under the name Russian-Baltic Transport Plant Moscow Automobile Plant. After nationalization in 1919 the plant was redesigned as an armored tank factory and by 1922 was operated under a concession to the German company Junkers, which already had aircraft production in the USSR. A handful of older Russo-Balt cars were renamed Prombron in Moscow in 1922, and later the plant’s workshops became part of the Khrunichev Center.
what’s left
The sole Russo-Balt example preserved in Russia is housed in the Polytechnic Museum collection in Moscow. It was originally ordered by the Aviation School in Tver and later purchased for personal use in 1929 by Alexander Orlov, a resident of Kimry. Orlov drove it until the onset of the Great Patriotic War, when he went to the front in 1941. The car’s engine froze in winter but survived. In 1966 Orlov sold the vintage car to Moscow’s Gorky Film Studio, and it later joined the Polytechnic Museum collection. Another Russo-Balt replica, built from remnants of the original cars, is kept in the Riga Motor Museum where a fire truck is on display. For many people born in the late Soviet era, Russo-Balt was a childhood figure, and a model of this car was a common birthday gift in the 1980s.