CarBrandLogos archive · GAZ · 1970

GAZGAZ-24 Volga

Squared-off, unkillable, and the default car of late Soviet officialdom.

Photo: Alexander Migl · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in GAZ history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the GAZ-24 Volga, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Leonid Tsikolenko and Nikolay Kireev replaced the GAZ-21's chrome with straight lines and flat panels, and the result looked contemporary in 1970 and still recognisably itself fifteen years later. That longevity was the point: the Volga was a fleet car, and Soviet fleets valued repairability over novelty.

GAZ-24 "Volga" · DL24 · Public domain

Design and engineering

It served as taxi, ambulance, ministry transport and police car, with a five-door estate from 1971 that became the standard Soviet ambulance body. A facelifted 24-10 carried the line from 1985 to 1992. The most notorious variant, the 24-24, hid a V8 and an automatic gearbox under an ordinary shell so that security escorts could keep pace with the limousines they were following.

GAZ-24 "Volga" · DL24 at English Wikipedia · Public domain

In production

Exports again went through Antwerp, where Scaldia-Volga sold cars into Western Europe, occasionally with Western diesel engines fitted to suit local running costs. The GAZ-3102 succeeded it, though in practice the two were built alongside each other for years.

Gaz-24-engine · Stanislav S. Alexeyev / DL24 at en.wikipedia · Public domain

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1970–1985

Designer

Leonid Tsikolenko

Technical specification

The GAZ-24 Volga, in detail.

Production: GAZ-24-01: 1970–1985 ; GAZ-24-02: 1971–1985 (5-door station wagon) ; GAZ-24-10: 1985–1992
Class: Executive car
Layout: Front-engine, rear-wheel drive
Designer: Leonid Tsikolenko, Nikolay Kireev
Assembly: Soviet Union: Gorky, RSFSR; Belgium: Antwerp (Scaldia-Volga S.A.)
Manufacturer: GAZ