01
Origins
The ZIL-111 of 1958 was the Soviet state's flagship: a hand-built V8 limousine from the Likhachov plant, styled with unmistakable transatlantic reference and produced in tiny numbers exclusively for the leadership's use. Khrushchev rode one through the thaw years; the parade phaeton version carried Yuri Gagarin through Moscow's greatest triumph in 1961, flowers raining onto coachwork no citizen could buy. Air suspension, power everything and craftsmanship at any cost served a clientele of perhaps a dozen men. The 111 founded the ZIL limousine succession that would carry every subsequent Soviet leader to the end. As geopolitical coachwork — Detroit's idiom, rebuilt for the Politburo's shoulders — it remains among the Cold War's most eloquent artefacts.
ZIL-111-front · Liftarn · CC BY-SA 3.0
