GAZ-64


The GAZ-64 was a 4x4 vehicle made by GAZ, succeeding the earlier GAZ-61. Its design was led by Vitaliy Grachev. The design process was exceptionally quick, taking only a few weeks. Over 90,000 were produced in total, but the majority of the wartime production went to produce the BA-64 armoured car.

Design

The curb weigh of the car was. It was powered by a 3285 cc, inline-4 engine giving and a top speed of. It was produced using existing commercially available parts.

Development

The GAZ-64 was developed from a requirement developed during the 1940 war between the Soviet Union and Finland. Although it appears superficially similar to the American Jeep , it was developed using commercially available parts already available in the Soviet Union.
It was designed to replace the earlier GAZ-61, which was totally reconstructed in a very short period under the leadership of Vitaly Grachev to create a 4×4 jeep, which was named the GAZ-64. It was later succeeded by the more popular GAZ-67 and the GAZ-67B. The GAZ-64 and GAZ-67 were the basis for later BA-64 armoured car.

Production

646 GAZ-64s were made between March 1941 and summer 1942 by the GAZ or Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod company. The name was translated from the Gorky automobile plant, a cooperation between the company Ford and the Soviet Union.
Due to the availability of American made Jeeps provided by the American Lend-Lease program, the majority of wartime production of the GAZ-64 was dedicated to the BA-64 armored car. Due to GAZ-64 production being tied to BA-64 production, only around 2,500 were produced during the war. Post war production increased greatly, and more than 90,000 GAZ-64 were produced by the time production ended in 1953.

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