Real USSR » automobile

Work and Travel

eugenia — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 21:50:46 +0000

Hard work and no play

A good-sized Soviet factory usually consisted of up to a hundred industrial divisions, with 200–800 workers in each. They had to be accommodated, fed, and often educated, and typically to the Soviet way of doing things, that often wasn’t handled very well. So if you ever wondered what it would be like to be a young engineer at a large factory in the Soviet Russia — please read on.

Eat

The team leaders, heads of departments and the executives of any factory would dine separately and their cafeteria would differ significantly from the one for the regular staff. An executive canteen would have nice tablecloths, waitresses, paper napkins, flowers and subdued music. The menu would be extensive and could include trout, lamb and pork cutlets, plenty of meat in borsht and fresh croutons for the soups. Well, the working class canteen would be exactly the opposite.

Lining up to up

The idea of conveyer type service was borrowed from the US as it allowed letting many staff through in a timely manner. Well, that wasn’t the case in a typical Soviet canteen. There would often be queues, lack of clean trays, shortage of tables and rude staff – oh, those workers of Soviet canteens! Usually a middle-aged lady with bad temper and poor manners; they were said to be taking the nice cuts of meat and poultry home. One day there could be a book written on the tricks of the Soviet canteen workers – what they did to balance out the shortages! For instance, if you want to keep half a kilo of sour cream to yourself, you cannot simply dilute the rest with water – that could show up if the inspection came to check. No, they would use a cheaper yoghurt (kefir) or rancid milk – and often the sour cream served in those canteens was as liquid as milk. The menu was also unimaginative, with very little meat in soups or stews, but with plenty of over-cooked pasta and over boiled potatoes.

Drink

A regular Soviet factory worker would receive 1 rouble from his wife for the daily spends. Why the wife and why so little? The problem of alcoholism was an acute one. Since the jobs were very demanding physically and drinking was often the only known way of relaxation (not to mention the peer pressure!), it was impossible for the workers not to drink. Of course, bringing alcohol to work was not allowed, but there were ways around it. Like, pay a goods driver to bring you a bottle with a delivery. Or, even better, ethanol – used widely as a solvent, or a as cleanser for machine parts, it was a very popular drink.

Beer queue, circa 1987

As everyone was paid monthly, pay day drinking was part of industrial culture – the joke went that it was drinking “for the reason”, unlike any other day.

Alcohol and alcoholism were certainly berated; and the punishment was two-fold: moral and material. The drinkers were openly reprimanded at staff meetings; satiric caricatures were drawn and displayed, but if nothing helped, the punishment became more tangible: no bonuses, time off in winter (there was even a joke: You’ve got to hate warm beer and sweaty women, take some time off in Feb!) and potentially even medical rehabilitation. However, it was very rare for a drunkard to be fired: the country needed all labour force it could have.

Stay

The accommodation for factory workers was provided and almost free; the only thing was that it was of a peculiar character. The accommodating houses of communal living were of three types: male, female and family-oriented. The last type was probably the most decent of all, as a family would usually get a room of their own. The singles had to share: usually not the most capacious room would have to fit between two to three single beds. Nothing was private: if we said that the space allocation was about 5sq m, this would not mean per person – that would mean per room, and one was lucky to be able to share with friends! There would be a couple of showers for the floor, and maybe a couple of toilets. Typically guys would not be allowed even to stay overnight – event to visit the gals was forbidden! The kitchen was communal with a few cooking stoves/ovens – borsht or meatballs often went missing if left unattended!

The law and order would be guarded by a Commandant — and this is not a figure of speech, this was actually an official title! A woman in her late 50s, usually with a mean character and a lot of unresolved issues, this lady would be very susceptible to bribes and all sorts of favour – for allowing a visitor, for coming in after the doors were locked (and they were usually locked by 10pm, with no access granted. The latecomers might as well had sleep on the street, for what a Commandant would care!).

This is what is could look like, brand new.

Work

So how come that the Soviet manufacturing went belly up? The prime reason for it was the inability to sustain any competition. The items for everyday use (TV sets, washing machines, even cars or irons) were not user-friendly and just outright ugly. The situation was even more complex with heavier manufacturing. Anybody who had visited a factory which built planes in late 1970s or early 1980s would recall what a gloomy look it had. The technological rules were broken as much and as often as it could only be: the only help was an extremely high number of manual controllers.

The waste rates were as high as 80% of the total items produced. Hardly any metal was cast: the majority was about the metal cutting, which was ineffective and costly. The technologies which were getting a wider use in the West (lasers, blast moulding, precise cast) were still unheard of. Robots were still exotic as; nothing was automated. All the machinery was Soviet-made, often dated back to 1930s and 1940s. All graphics and design was done manually, with pencils, erasers and slide rulers. Even the finishing touches for plane parts were often done manually, with a metal file, sand paper and some polish paste.

Production line

The story goes that there was even a joke: American R&D scientists were scheming against the Soviet manufacturing, until the CIA cracked a spy. The spy said:

— Do you know what you need to do to kill the Soviet manufacturing?

— What?

— Nothing!

And indeed, those factories were only good for their times of Cold Wars, when the resources were unlimited but nobody would demand a cost-benefit analysis or even a ROI report. Not anymore, so rest in peace, “Made in the USSR”.

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A Trip Around the USSR: Leningrad 1972

eugenia — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 12:53:25 +0000

The Griboedov Channel. The bridges St Petersburg is so famous for.

By many, St Petersburg (Leningrad in 1924–1991) is often considered to be so beautiful due to its architecture of Italian origin. Quite strange to see these fine buildings embellished by the symbols of the Soviet Era. Let’s take a walk around this fine city in the summer almost 30 years ago.

When I was 7 years old, there was a flower market just like that next to our house. By Erhard K.

Image by Erhard K.

Peterhof, the Russian Versailles, by Erhard K.

Peterhof by Erhard K.

The Smolny Cathedral, by Erhard K.

The Neva River embankment, Rostral Pillars. Image by Erhard K.

The Dvortsovaya Embankment. Image by Erhard K.

Summer river cruises. By Erhard K.

St Isaac’s Cathedral, the monument of Peter the Great. By Erhard K.

The Winter Palace close up, Dvortsovaya Embankment. By Erhard K.

The Winter Palace, from the Palace Bridge, by Erhard K.

Peter the Great was the one to build this city on the swamps. During the Khruschev Era, the city was further decorated.

Nevsky Avenue, by Erhard K.

The Neva embankment, the Aurora cruiser, by Erhard K.

In 1925, the Aurora cruise ship played a major part in the October Revolution: the city was flaming with revolutionary spirit and so the Revolutionary Committee was created. On 25 October 1917, Aurora refused to carry an order to take off to sea, which sparked the Revolution. At 9.45 p.m. on that date, a blank shot from her forecastle gun signalled the start of the assault on the Winter Palace.

The Church of the Saviour on Blood (Spas na Krovi), by Erhard K.

The main street: Nevsky Prospect (Avenue). By Erhard K.

The Dvortsovaya Square, Aleksandriysky Stolp, by Erhard K.

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Are You Deathproof? Then Listen Up!

Stas Kulesh — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 10:30:11 +0000

Let those people cross: respect the pedestrians

As the Soviet Union could possibly be named the country of propaganda, this array of fun educational posters only supports this notion — albeit this time in quite a positive sense. A Ukrainian authorship of the road rules and safety in a funky and engaging manner teaches drivers to give way to pedestrians, respect the zero tolerance limit, reminds of the school zone rules as well as the necessity to get the car checked regularly. Possibly kitschy, but it does get the message across. Enjoy!

School zone: be extra attentive!

Breaking the road rules affects everyone on the roads.

The sign is the boss.

Let the passengers off safely.

Keep it safe.

Do check the car’s fitness

Just a drop can catch up with you

Keep to your lane: swinging is dangerous.

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Best of Winter 2009–2010

Stas Kulesh — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:40:13 +0000

Military Discharge Handmade Scrap Book and Comics Album

You’re in the army now

The compulsory two years of military service was a rite of passage for every Soviet guy. When one turned eighteen — unless for sickness or injury — it was time to be called in for the military life — two years in the barracks. The guys usually bonded well and during their spare time created so called “Discharge Albums” — like scrapbooks, they were full of photos, songs lyrics, quick notes from the buddies etc.

Slava Kurilov: Alone at Sea. An Unbelievable Way to Escape the Iron Curtain

The only person to escape the Iron Curtain by swimming.

By job he was an oceanographer, by heart he was a dreamer, by nationality he was a citizen of the planet Earth — in short, he was an extraordinary guy. Yet his personal file in the USSR was stamped as “not worthy of an exit visa” so he was not allowed to leave the country, even if it was for a holiday. So in December, 1974 he jumped a cruise boat “The Soviet Union” off the coast of the Philippines islands — and he swam to freedom.With no food or drink, no swimming equipment apart from flips and goggles, he swam to the shores about a hundred kilometers for three days — completely alone at sea.

A Rough Guide to Moscow from the Daughter of the American Embassador

Emlen Knight Davies, at the age of 20 (ish)

Joseph E. Davies was the second Ambassador to represent the United States in the Soviet Union in 1937–1938. His daughter, the twenty years old Emlen Knight Davies, took some pictures of the surroundings. These images, courtesy of her private collection, were on display in Moscow for the anniversary of the Spaso House — the official diplomatic residence.

So! What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

You will be quite a craftsman!

The Professional Orientation in the USSR meant, first and foremost, a process of advising the youth on the future career choices. A group of teachers and fresh graduates of a college would go to high schools to give talks to school kids in order to deliver the first hand information on vocational choices. Every occupation is regarded highly in the Soviet Union — well, this slogan turned out to be quite untruthful.

Moscow Winters, Fragments of the 20th Century.

1925. A private house on the bank of the Tarakanovka river

Here is a fine collection of images of Moscow winters, dating from 1920s till 1991. Sadly many places portrayed on these photographs are gone now, just like the Soviet Union itself, yet lest we forget. Please read on to see the image of the first set of traffic lights in Moscow CBD in late 1930s, which was operated by a specially trained person; or the largest freshwater outdoor swimming pool in the world - as well as people, wooden houses, old boulevards covered with the virgin snow.

Labour Riots in Novocherkassk: Soviet ‘Tiananmen’

Meat, butter, pay rise!

Novocherkassk is a small town in the South of Russia, also known as the unofficial capital of the Cossacks, the Slavic military community. Unfortunately this town was the place of a huge tragedy, when in 1962 the civilian demonstration was opened fire on.

Russian Ice Cream In Winter — Bring It On!

The city of Khabarovsk, 1970.

In the USSR, the very first ice cream factory was opened in 1932 — when the Minister of Food Supply (if translated not too liberally) Anastas Mikoyan visited the United States of America and was so impressed with their ice cream, he decided that Russia needed something of the kind. So the ice cream making technology and equipment were imported and the ice cream supply to all and everybody began.

Novosibirsk: Then and Now.

The Communal Bridge, nowadays.

The unofficial capital of Siberia, the city of Novosibirsk was founded in 1893 with the initial population of only 8,000 people. By the time of the Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917, it grew to the population size of 80,000. The name, literally meaning New Siberian City, was adopted in 1926 — and since then, the town had become to grow and prosper.

The Fearsome Threesome – Lenin and His Lovebirds

Paris, city of love, brought them all together. A Russian movie of 1981.

The official history often misses a very important and interesting point in the course of the Russian Revolution – not everybody knows that Vladimir Lenin, a formidable mind behind the Great October Patriotic Revolution and the leader of all communists, had less than straightforward love life – apart from a wife, he had a mistress – and not only that, these two women knew each other and got on very well!

21+ Depressing Photos of Post-Revolutionary Russia by Arkady Shaikhet

Gymnasts. Red Square. 1924

When the new Soviet country was born, the people were promised a wonderful future under the socialism — just a few more years, the billboards boasted — and we’ll live in a glorious state. However the early days were more than gloomy: the rundown economy, disoriented society, the reek of fear and uncertainty — and that clearly can be seen through the photos of a prominent Soviet photographer Arkady Shaikhet.

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21+ Depressing Photos of Post-Revolutionary Russia by Arkady Shaikhet

eugenia — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:11:22 +0000

This collection of photos starts off with nice, clearcut images of what the country was portrayed as by the media and propaganda — and progresses to a unsweetened world of the simple folk, vagrants, and peasants. Please let us know if there is a photo below that has touched your heart — we always value your feedback.

Gymnasts. Red Square. 1924

Arkady Shaikhet’s life story is one of the most remarkable ever. A fourth kid in a Jewish family from the South of Russia, with no school education or special skills, he was called in the army to serve in the WWI. However, the outbreak of typhoid saved him and so, being discharged at the age of 24, he moved to Moscow in search of great opportunities. And there they were: after getting a job at a local paper, Arkady tried his luck with a camera — only to realise that he got a special talent. It was all uphill ever since: publishing in the most influential newspapers, the honour of duty to photograph Lenin and Stalin, busy exhibitions and so on. He had the most remarkable shots of the Second World War events, which we hope to publish here in the future.

The cycle parade. 1924.

Morning exersize. 1927

Morning exersize. 1932

A sportsman. 1932

At the gym. 1928

And here’s some of the less life-assuring images of the new country.

A street kid is learning a shoemaking skill. 1929

A village in the mountains. Father and son. 1929

Engineers to be. Moscow. 1930

Bathing of a vagrant kid. Moscow. 1927

Voting. 1925

Out in fields. 1927

Plowing. Samara. 1927

Test drive. Moscow. 1924

City of Elista. A school lesson for the kalmyk’s kids (a small indigenous nation).

Electrification. 1925

Visit of a tax collector. Moscow. 1928

Putting up the poles for the electrical cables. 1925

Sharpening the tools. 1939

A building site. Uzbekistan. 1939

Workmen resting by a fountain. 1926

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Best of Fall 2009

Stas Kulesh — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:08:32 +0000

A Glance at the Soviet Lifestyle, Captured by Marc Riboud.

Museum, Moscow, 1960s

This is our third post devoted to Marc Riboud, an outstanding French photographer, who traveled extensively throughout the Soviet Union. His images captured an array of everyday life episodes from the lives of the Soviet people. Here is the first lot — and here is the second one. As always, click on the magnifying glass icon to see the photos in detail.

Soviet Cars: History of the Copy-and-Paste Industry — Part 3 of 3

Volga

A good example of how the ideas to make a new car were born is the story of the factory “Communar”. The Minister of Car Manufacturing made a call to the factory where designers thought over the scheme of a new Ukrainian car and literally said: “I heard you were going to make a spring suspension from the “Volkswagen” but I actually like the Italian Fiat-600”. Shortly the factory commenced the production of ZAZ-965 –nearly the exact copy of the Fiat.

Diamond Dog’s Run 4,000 miles long: David Bowie in the USSR.

Sightseeing in the USSR

Just like John Lennon or Elton John, in 1970s David Bowie was an iconic figure of the Western music scene. Nicknamed Chameleon of Pop for his flamboyant outfits, pale make up and eccentric tunes, David Bowie made a train tour of Russia, all the way from Vladivostok to Moscow, eighteen days in a sleeper. Back in the days, when the Cold War was in its prime, getting a permission to look behind the Iron Curtain was an incredible phenomenon by itself. Well, did David enjoy himself while in the USSR? Let’s see.

Dirty Dancing Soviet Style

Dancing in the Ural Mountains, by G. Sorokin.

Just like anywhere else in the world, the Soviet youngsters wanted to socialize, to listen to the music and to dance. The nightclubs were unheard of – anything of that kind would have been announced as promoting debauchery or morally wrong lifestyle habits. So the best one would hope for were the discotheques – the special dance occasions, organized by the officials on a weekly basis. They always had a designated supervisor – a school principal or a city council representative in charge.

Declassified: the Great and Powerful Stalin.

Smiley face.

Joseph Stalin was probably one of the most multifaceted, controversial and yet unknown persons in the course of the world history. In January 1943 Time magazine featured Stalin as the Person of the Year, saying:

The year 1942 was a year of blood and strength. The man whose name means steel in Russian, whose few words of English include the American expression “tough guy” was the man of 1942. Only Joseph Stalin fully knew how close Russia stood to defeat in 1942, and only Joseph Stalin fully knew how he brought Russia through.

The Great Patriotic War: the Villainous Hitler’s Plan or the Provokation?

In accordance with the official history the Second World War (in Russia called ‘the Great Patriotic War’) was commenced on the Soviet territory by Germany: the treacherous attack on 22 June, 1941when they invaded into the USSR. This official version of the Soviet Government is written in every history book. At the same time there is numerous evidence of Stalin’s desire to start the war first with the intention similar to Hitler’s . And that is why there is the theory that Stalin provoked German aggression against the USSR.

BT-7 — High Speed Tank

Christian Dior in Moscow: a Fleeting Sense of Happiness

Girls just want to have fun!

The Khrushchev’s Thaw was to cover many aspects of the Soviet life, and fashion was one of them. The decision to allow the Soviet fashion designers to learn off their French counterparts was made as high as at the government level, which implicitly put fashion above politics or international ideological regimes. The colour of the Soviet Union, a generic grey, was about to be mixed up with the motley and lithe palette of the French fashion.

Ethusiastic Photography from Soviet Russia, 1950s — 1960s.

Waiting for the play off.

Just a very pleasant collection of photos from a private family archive. All photos were taken in 1950s — 1960s, in the streets of Yaroslavl, a small town not far from Moscow. Simple things — outdoor sports, fishing, swimming, enjoying the music or spending time with the family — these 38 photos are relishing small pleasures and bringing a smile to a face.

The 50th Anniversary of the Soviet Union in Old American Mags

Life and Look on the 50th Anniversary of the USSR, 1967.

In 1967, when the USSR turned 5o, it was a big day for both the country and the world. The Soviet Union had made it through, despite everything — and the world now had to take it seriously. The Cold War, which was at its highest at the time, kept the USSR in the spotlight, too, so the media were more than interested in the young Russian country. It really is a shame that the writing cannot be deciphered due to the low resolution of these scans. However, these images convey the atmosphere of the times quite well — a wild yet sophisticated country in the eyes of the civilised world.

Picturing the Soviet Republics: Moldavia

Veterans by A. Simanovsky

No doubt photography was a popular art in the USSR. Here and below are pictures taken by the people all over the Soviet state of Moldavia. Today’s set based on the book called “Moldavian Art of photography”, Kishinev (recently renamed to Chisinau), 1985.

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Soviet Cars: History of the Copy-and-Paste Industry — Part 3 of 3

Dmitry Yakimenko — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 22:34:40 +0000

ZAZ-965

By the way, the next model of ZAZ was the replica of German NSU Prinz 4. This car was remembered by the nicknames “Soap Box” and “Big-eared”.

The car for the middle class which replaced “Pobeda” was labelled in the honour of the great Russian river “Volga”. The design of the car was very much identical to the design of Ford Mainline, 1954, purchased by GAZ as a pattern alongside with Chevrolet Belair and Plymouth Savoy. Even before the new car was put into production, the popular Soviet magazine “Ogoniok” awkwardly published pictures of these three cars with an arrogant headline: “New Soviet cars for the middle class”.

Volga

Despite the popularity of Volkswagen around the world their Soviet copy was not really popular among the consumers. To produce another mass car the Soviet government signed the contract with Italian Fiat. The capacity of the factory allowed to produce about five thousands cars per year.

: Italian Fiat 124

At the time, Leonid Brezhnev was ruling the country: he was passionate about cars and racing. In 1965 he got an exclusive American Lincoln Continental sent to USSR right from the Car Exhibition in New York. The car was purchased by the Soviet Ambassador and was built by the company Lehman & Peterson. This had brought stretch limousines into the fashion. Lincoln was sent to ZIL where the engineers made a copy which was sent to production by the anniversary of the Great October Socialistic Revolution in 1967. No doubt, the original Lincoln was much more elegant and graceful than its replica ZIL-114. Nevertheless, the new Soviet limo was not that bad. In early 1970s the car was redesigned, based on another American sample. A Cadillac Fleetwood 75 was turned into a ZIL-115 — to serve the aged and weak-minded Soviet leader.

: ZIL-114

Right up to the collapse of the USSR the Soviet car industry used the same procedure of shameless copying. In order to build “Moskvich-1241″, the engineers slightly disfigured Chrysler 1501. Famous “Zhiguli” was copied from Nissan Sunny 1978 although later they were slightly modernized by the engineers of Porsche.

Probably, “Niva” were the only exception – it was made in a way to make people to cry. That car was ‘too-Russian’ to be good.

Source: autopilot.kommersant.ru (in Russian)

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Soviet Cars: History of the Copy-and-Paste Industry — Part 2 of 3

Dmitry Yakimenko — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 22:00:47 +0000

In early 1930s without any licensing arrangements the Soviet engineers copied the first limousine car for the Communist party executives. In 1932 six limousines were copied off the American Buick 90L. However, later the factory production line was switched to producing caterpillar tractors,so the limousine business was shifted to Moscow Stalin Factory.

ZIS-101

The car, based on the engine of the Buick and the body copied off the Cadillac, was given another non-poetic name, ZIS — 101. It also had Buick radiator bars.

By the beginning of the Second World War there were three huge car factories in the USSR. Despite the fact that the USSR already had its own highly educated and talented engineers, the very first post-war limousine ZIS-110 was also a copy of an obsolete American car. When making a decision about the launch of a new car, the engineers selected four models – Packard 180, Packard Clipper, Cadillac 75 and Cadillac 63. Stalin himself was to make the decision, and he picked the Packard 180.

Chaika

In August 1945 the Soviet government issued a decree on the opening the Moscow Factory of Small Capacity Cars. The same decree established the technical features of the new car as well as the commencement dates for the production lines. The patterns for the new car were also selected by Stalin. The Soviet leader liked the pre-war German Opel Cadette. In order to please Stalin, the Soviet engineers urgently found several trophy C-38. The cars were dismantled and the designs of the parts were sketched. The first five engines were made by November 1946 and the cars were on the road by the end of the same year. Interestingly enough, thenext generation of cars under the brand “Moskvich” was made on the basis of American Ford Prefect and Ford Taurus rather than the German range. The samples of those cars were purchased abroad.

The denouncement of the Stalin cult and a new seven-years plan to develop the Soviet economy for the period of 1959–1965 had inspired the Soviet engineers to create more cars. The flagman cars of that time were the ZIL-111 and GAZ-13 “Chaika” developed after the trial runs of best American executives cars. The ambitions towads the rapidly changing American fashion had made the ZIL-111 obsolete by the beginning of 1960s. That is why this car was later redesigned in the Cadillac style of 1960–1961. Nevertheless, the production of GAZ-13 “Chaika” was continued without any changes in its design till the 1979.

Source: autopilot.kommersant.ru (in Russian)

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Soviet Cars: History of the Copy-and-Paste Industry — Part 1 of 3

Dmitry Yakimenko — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:53:45 +0000

Once some music composer said that “There are only seven notes which compose all the music in the world. No wodner some songs sound alike”. Undoubtedly, all cars have got four wheels, so plagiarism in the automobile industry is hard to pinch. In this article we deliberately ignore a popular Soviet point of view that a steam locomotive, an airplane and the radio were not invented in Russia. All we attempt here is to make a small digression into the history of Soviet automobile industry in order to identify its origins and its development.

ZIS-110

A Russian philosopher Vasiliy Rosanov once noted that in Russia every single case of wealth originates from theft or extortion. Historically, the economy of the Russian Empire before the 1917 was so deeply integrated into the European economy that the exchange of ideas, something, which now would have been hugely copyrighted, was very common. Like, in 1901 in St Petersburg the carriage factory Freze and the Riga bicycle factory Leitner successfully assembled the French oil engines De Dion Buton as part of Russian carriages. Another factory Aksai in Rostov-on-Don purchased the license for the production of the American Oldsmobile Carved Dash. In 1906 a Russian engineer Boris Lutskoy organised the assembling of Mercedes cars for the Russian market. At last, the main pride of Russia – the automobile Russo-Balt — was made from foreign parts – the chassis with four-cylinder engine was adopted from a Belgian company with a Swiss name Fondu.

The October revolution of 1917 created a popular in Russia myth that all things have been invented in, well, Russia. The reasons for that would be merely ideological: the new born country needed new morale. According to an old Soviet joke, even “elephants come from Russia”. The most progressive country in the World, as coined by the revolutionary communists, should strike the rest of the world with advanced technologies, the propaganda advised. In order to create the real Soviet cars, the communists established the Research Automobile Laboratory (later known as NAMI). The very first Soviet motor car NAMI-1 was actually a graduation project by a young engineer Konstantin Sharapov. The car turned out to be so successful that it was put into production right away. Later, in 1979, Konstantin confessed to copying the charts for NAMI-1 off the Czech Tatra-11.

The notorious NAMI-1

During the period from 1927 to 1930, the factory assembled 403 NAMI-1 models. Despite all its advantages, this car was not planned for the mass production. At the same time, any manager of the robust mind realised that the Soviet Industrialisation needed mass production. The Soviet Russia wanted giant factories, but what would be the product?

In 1929 the USA was stricken by a severe economic crisis. As the result of this crisis, the production of Chevrolet halved, the production of Ford dropped three times! Despite the absence of diplomatic relations between the USSR and the USA, both Chevrolet and Ford offered their production to the Soviet government. No need to guess, shortly afterward the awfully cracked Russian roads were voyaged by the dazzling American beauties of all kinds. The long rally was won by Ford A and, consequently, this car was put into production in the USSR.

The Soviet Ford

The first automobiles under the brand GAZ left the factory in December, 1932. Quite rapidly these cars got nicknamed as “Soviet Fords”. Even the logo was very similar – blue oval with the brand GAZ instead of Ford. The car was not a success, however, as the open body and the lack of boot turned to be its main downsides. Within 5 years the new car GAZ M1 replaced the old model. Now the body was copied from 1934 model of Ford, although the model was adapted to suit the severe Russian conditions. The front suspension was based on two springs rather than on one, unlike in the American version, and the wheels were of a different shape. Later on, the design charts for GAZ M1 were utilised for almost all Soviet-made cars.

To be contunied.

Source: autopilot.kommersant.ru (in Russian)

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Cold Clone War

Stas Kulesh — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 07:54:31 +0000

Buran VS Shuttle

According to the Soviet propaganda, everything which wasn’t invented by the ancient Chinese, was invented by the Soviet engineers in the USSR. Ah, they were said to invent the best weaponry, the best tanks and the best cars.

In reality, of course, the path of inventions had a very moderate development but in order to keep the morale up, Soviet government had the engineers copying things off their American, Canadian or Japanese counterparts. Certainly, nothing is wrong with it per se– such strategies usually allow to save time and money by buying and recreating a licensed version. However, the root of all evils is the mentioned Soviet brainwash on the topic of Soviet superiority in all fields of engineering research and development.

Let’s have a closer look at who really invented what.

One of the most controversial inventions was the gunfire rifle AK-47 invented by a Soviet engineer Mikhail Kalashnikov in, well, 1947. The holy war over this rifle and its true origins has been going on for more than half a century. The story goes that after the second World War, Germany was not allowed to produce weapons, which the USSR authorities used to their advantage: the prominent weaponmaker Hugo Schmeisser was invited to visit the arms plants in the Ural mountains, where later on the Soviets allegedly stole some of his ideas. As per usual, the truth is hard to find, however, we won’t be surpised if his family would file a lawsuit over the intellectual property of this particual invention.

AK 47 vs Stturmgewehr 44 by Hugo Schmeisser

Another piece of weaponry story: it is hard to tell whether it was copied off the Finnish or the Soviets just happened to invent a similar-looking rifle just a year later. The resemblance is striking, and yet again, no mention of the rights reseved.

Shpagin Rifle, 1941 vs Suomi Rifle (Finland), 1931

Next, the popular Makarov pistol of 1951– another acclaimed example of Soviet weaponry, this pistol had been copied by many as a popular military side arm.The question is still raised whether it is a scaled up version of a German pistol (minus decorative elements), but the resemblance is quite uncanny.

Makarov 9mm Pistol, 1951 vs German Walther 9 mm Ultra, 1935

Next, heavy military machinery. Every kid knows that tanks were the USSR’s frst and foremost object of pride, yet there is an opinion that the famous T-34 and its later versions were just copycats of the American Christie line.

T-34, 1940 vs Tank Christie, USA, circa 1930

The next one is probably one of the fewer honest examples of Soviet cooperation. During the WWII, seventy of American electric locomotives were shipped to the USSR as part of the Allied Forces war effort. The USSR authories kept them after the war, adopting the design to form the basis of their own line of diesel locomotives.

Diesel-Electric Loco (DA), of 1946 vs American ALCO RSD-1, of 1941

As for the planes, here even the wikipedia supports the story of the Tupolev plane Tu-4 being shamelessly copied off the American Boeing B-29 Superfortress.In 1945 the Tupolev avia construction company had meticulously reengineered the American plane to the point of ashtray locations! Certainly the whole concept of reverse engineering (ie, discoverig the technological principles of something through analysing its workings in detail) is praiseworthy.

The Tupolev TU-4 (1947) vs Boeing B-29 of 1942

Even the rockets — the endless well of Soviet pride — are rumoured to be the copies of the German development. Needless to say, it is still a remarkable act of engineering. Academic Sergey Korolev — the same scientist who sent the first human Gagarin in the outer space — was in charge of this project, so it just as successful.

The rocket R1, 1948 vs the German V-2, 1942

The following projects do not look identical, however, both the hydro electrical power station on the river Dnipro and the American Hoover Dam, NV have something in common: their chief engineer, C J Thompson, who oversaw the development of both projects.

DneproGes (1927–1939) vs Hoover Dam (1922–1933)

Another finest example of dubious engineering success — when Khrushchev started his building binge, his architect team did not invent the hideous looking apartment blocks — they just borrowed the idea of the German civil engineers. Pity both parties, in this case.

Soviet vs German Plattenbau Apartment Blocks

The automobile industry was the one with the most copied items. In some cases, even parts are said to be compatible!

Moskvich-400 (1947) vs German Opel Cadette of 1936.

Gaz Mini Truck, 1932 vs Ford AA, 1929

Volga of 1970 vs Ford Falcon, 1966

Volga of 1970 vs Ford Mainline of 1954.

Also, remember our post about Vyatka mopeds, the exact and true copies of Vespa? That one is just classic.

The bottom line here is about honesty, really. Nobody is expected to invent things from scratch — you can borrow other people’s ideas as long as they are properly copyrighted. It is also more efficient to modify the original version to suit the domestic realities better. However, it is good manners to acknowledge the work of others. And it is certainly shameful to claim the intellectual rights to things which never belonged to you. And this is where the USSR had failed dramatically.

Based on: www.worldaffairsboard.com and muacre.livejournal.com

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