GAZ

The GAZ Volga is an executive car that originated in the Soviet Union to replace the GAZ Pobeda in 1956. Their role in serving the Soviet nomenklatura made them a contemporary cultural icon. Several generations of the car have been produced.
Despite the continuous modernisations, GAZ found it increasingly difficult to keep the ageing design competitive in a market economy. GAZ CEO Bo Andersson decided to discontinue the Volga range in 2010.
The first generation Volga was developed as a replacement for the 1946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda mid-size car, based on a brief issued in 1951. The first pre-production batch left GAZ on 10 October 1956. It was built in three distinct series; in total 639,478 Volgas were built from 1956 until 1970. There was also an estate derivative and a rare, V8-engined version developed for the KGB's 9th Directorate as an escort vehicle for motorcades....