GAZ-3105
The GAZ-3105 is an automobile manufactured by the Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (GAZ, Gorky Automobile Plant) from 1992 to 1996.
| GAZ-3105 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | GAZ |
| Production | 1991-1996 |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Full-size luxury car |
| Layout | FR layout |
| Related | Audi 100 |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 2,870 mm (113 in) |
| Length | 5,050 mm (198.8 in) |
| Width | 1,980 mm (78 in) |
| Height | 1,430 mm (56.3 in) |
| Curb weight | 1,450 kg (3196 lb) |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | GAZ-3102 GAZ-14[1][2] |
| Successor | GAZ-3111 |
History[edit]
During the late 1980s GAZ started developing a concept car for a future replacement for both the executive car GAZ-3102 Volga and the luxury limousine GAZ-14 Chaika. The GAZ-3102 itself was envisioned as interim project that would fill the void created by the exclusiveness of the GAZ-14 Chaika. As the Volga was smaller than the Chaika, the new car would leave ZiL to handle the upper limousine class.[1][2]
As such, GAZ set out to design a new generation of front-, rear- and all-wheel drive cars, representing the family GAZ-3103, GAZ-3104 and GAZ-3105 respectively. These vehicles were partially based on the third generation Audi 100, from which the cross-section of the body along the B-pillar, the schematic diagram of the transmission layout, alongside some other mechanical parts, were retained;[3][4] The vehicles featured MacPherson strut suspension, V8 engine with fuel injection, and CV front and rear axles. It was only the GAZ-3105 that was available with the V8, while the GAZ-3103 and GAZ-3104 had ZMZ-406 4-cylinder engines. The new vehicles also had a completely new body and only few internal components with the GAZ-24 and it's derived successors, and this was made intentionally to differentiate it from them as much as possible, while also giving it more exclusivity. The resulting GAZ-3103/3104/3105, was never to be directly part of the Volga family, would be produced on the Chaika's conveyor (then still used for the GAZ-3102), but economic problems were delaying it's production.
The hard economic crises that post-Soviet Russia was faced with meant that GAZ had no means to launch the cars into production. In the end, only the GAZ-3105 was put into production in 1992, but sales were very small, and by 1996 when production ended, only 55 such vehicles had been built. Nevertheless, GAZ hoped to re-launch its GAZ-3103 family nonetheless, but as the years went, and despite the economy improving, its mid-1980s exterior design became archaic.
As a result, the factory went to length in creating a new exterior and the "second generation" GAZ-3103 was first shown at the 1996 Moscow car show. However the archaic tooling on which the basic Volga was produced, was not up to standard on the technological level that the new car would require. Moreover, its price was well above the money that a Russian was willing to pay for a Volga. Thus, in 1997, a compromise was developed, the GAZ-3111. Retaining most of the chassis architecture from the GAZ-3110 (single rear axle with leaf springs, A-bar front suspension, traditional propshaft drive, etc.), it nonetheless featured completely new body, influenced by the GAZ-3103 with retro-styling elements from the GAZ-21.
References[edit]
- ^ a b "GAZ-3105 Information". Za Rulem. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
- ^ a b "ГОРЬКОВСКИЙ «ЧЛЕНОВОЗ» ИЛИ ИСТОРИЯ СОЗДАНИЯ ГАЗ-3105". Avtomotoprof. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
- ^ "ГАЗ-3105 «Волга»: легковой автомобиль представительского класса". Fishki.net. 11 December 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
- ^ "ГАЗ-3105: "Капиталистическата" кола на Съветския съюз". Russia Beyond. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
External links[edit]
Media related to GAZ-3105 at Wikimedia Commons- Призрак перестройки: история разработки и небытия ГАЗ-3105
