And yet it's ours: what surprises the last real Volga
The launch of Volga brand cars, revived with the help of foreign partners, took place in Russia. But once upon a time, they tried to create a new Volga on their own. Alas, GAZ-3111 was not a success. Izvestia found a preserved copy of the most unusual and most mysterious Volga, and at the same time tried to dispel myths about this car.
Impressed the Americans
"The Americans who are spoiled by good cars, apart from inexpensive but roomy and reliable Gazelles, were most impressed by the new Volga model GAZ-3111. According to Western experts, the exceptionally successful design of the car and the use of advanced scientific developments in the Volga design make the Volga quite competitive in any automotive market on the planet. And if we also take into account the ultra-low market value of the new Volga on a Western scale, then the GAZ—3111 has practically no competitors in terms of price/quality in its class," Izvestia described the opening of the Gorky Automobile Plant's showroom in Fort Worth, Texas, in early 2001.
The interior is made in the signature "plump" style of the Volga of those years and is well preserved, the ergonomics of the GAZ-311 has been significantly improved.
The article was called "GAS is emerging from the crisis." The company's management, who had recently been replaced, declared its immediate task to produce a car that would not be ashamed of. The maximum task is to make a car that Russia could be proud of, Izvestia wrote.
In theory, the Volga GAZ-3111 was supposed to be such a car. The previous management of GAZ had high expectations for her. The factory even put up a scoreboard that counted down to the start of its production on December 25, 1999.
A completely different Volga
Presented at the Moscow Motor Show in 1998, the novelty looks no less impressive after almost thirty years. In the design by Igor Bezrodnykh, you now notice much less kitsch and more Russian cultural code. There are kokoshniks, and matryoshkas, and the whole history of the Volga, starting with the first one — GAZ-21. It turned out to be a beautiful car, and it doesn't look hopelessly outdated. Narrow side windows have now become a trend in automotive design, and the neo-retro style still finds fans. Unless the wheels are too small for modern tastes.
Machine dimensions: 4897× 1840×1472 mm. Wheelbase — 2820 mm
It's very cozy inside, the chair is height—adjustable, the steering wheel is height-adjustable and out-of-reach. The second row is spacious, and the wide rear doors swing open at a huge angle — the designers boasted that they were able to extend the wheelbase by 20 mm, increasing the useful length of the cabin by more than 100 mm, most of which went to the rear passengers.
On the move, the GAZ 3111 differs from its predecessor, the sluggish "barge", primarily in maneuverability. The reactions to the steering wheel are sharp and precise, although the steering wheel itself is a little empty, and if you turn it all the way out, the power steering sighs sadly. The ZMZ engine, with a volume increased to 2.5 liters, is "humming" low — it has burned out, the owner of the car, Evgeny, throws up his hands. In general, it's easy to operate the car, and you can't say that more than 20 years have passed since its release. Unless you have to reach for the steering wheel switches with your fingertips, and the 5-speed gears turn on with noticeable effort.
Compared to the Volga 3110 produced at that time, which traces its lineage back to the GAZ-24, it was a much more modern car. The steering rack and the bolt-less front suspension on the subframe had not previously appeared on a gas car. Something was used for the first time in the history of the Russian automotive industry - an anti—lock braking system (ABS), taillights with LEDs.
Foreign components were actively used in the construction. The ignition key with an immobilizer is from Audi, the ABS unit is from Bosch, and the Volvo—like seats are designed by Lear. Some innovative elements were able to be manufactured in Russia, for example, a massive on-board computer.
The claimed ground clearance is 160 mm. Rear axle on springs, with drum brakes
This is despite the fact that the eleventh became a simplified version of the machine, which was developed shortly before by the young and promising team of Sergey Batyanov. We are talking about the front-wheel drive model GAZ-3103 and its all-wheel drive version GAZ-3104. GAZ's management, mindful of the failure of the innovative Batyanov 3105 model and understanding the plant's capabilities, decided to skip ahead with a more traditional model.
Therefore, the new Volga retained an uncut rear axle with springs and drum brakes. It is said that the archaic rear suspension made the car prone to skidding. At the same time, the car's handling could be improved with little effort — multi-link fasteners were already provided in the body structure. It is incorrect to say that 3111 is an old Volga covered with a new body. In fact, this is a new platform, and the power structure of the body was designed taking into account promising passive safety requirements, and the engine compartment easily accommodated the mighty V8. The front suspension was originally designed for front-wheel drive.
The launch that didn't happen
At the 1998 Auto Show, the 3111 was presented as a mock-up created in the USA. The experimental 3103 and 3104 were displayed next to it, which were better designed, but did not look as bright.
The degree of readiness of the eleventh was high — the new chassis had already begun to be tested at GAZ, and the technical documentation was ready by November 1998. The following year, in 1999, cars with original bodies were tested.
With a 2.5 petrol engine (136 hp and 216 Nm) and 5-speed mechanics, the car accelerated to 100 km/h in 12.9 seconds. The maximum speed was 180 km/h.
It was not enough to create a new car — it required a serious modernization of production.
Meanwhile, the situation was getting more complicated. The Volga was presented at the auto show shortly after the 1998 default. GAZ felt good thanks to Gazelles, but for the purchase of imported technological equipment for 3111, including a powerful paint complex, he had to get into debt and raise selling prices. The total cost of the GAZ-3111 project was $540 million, of which $130 million had to be spent on launch.
The ceremonial launch of the new Volga was postponed for only three days, but after that there was an awkward pause. They managed to start industrial production only in August 2000, which Izvestia called a feat. In reality, it looked more like a failure — with a plan of 2.8 thousand units, only 53 cars could make it.
"Iacocca, of course, well done."
In March 2001, Viktor Belyaev, General Director of GAZ, said at a press conference that the GAZ-3111 project "has by no means been stopped or abandoned." However, he admitted that if it is possible to produce 10 thousand cars a year, the new Volga is assembled in literally dozens of copies. The high price of $13-14 thousand prevents us from doing more, which makes the car uncompetitive in the domestic market. According to Belyaev, a working group was created for a thorough analysis of the project, among the tasks of which was to reduce the price of the car to $ 10 thousand.
The declared average consumption at a speed of 90 km/h is -8.2 liters per 100 km
Later, in an interview with Ogonyok magazine, Belyaev complained: officials all consider themselves super-motorists because they drive foreign cars, but they don't make fundamental decisions. At the same time, he opposed restrictive measures in the automotive industry.
"If the government, like Iacocca, had given me two billion soft loans, I would not have built a new car — I would have built another factory. Iacocca, of course, is great, but he should be here with us. I would like to see his exploits. He was supported by the U.S. government. After all, what arguments did he put forward? What benefits the plant is beneficial to America <...>. We need to know whether we are destroying the automotive industry or trying to revive it," Belyaev said.
Compared to competitors
Meanwhile, the first copies of the "eleventh", which appeared in Moscow car dealerships in the fall of 2001, cost $ 16-16.5 thousand (475-485 thousand rubles at the exchange rate at that time).
At that time, according to prices published by Za Rulem magazine, the Volga 3110 cost $5-7 thousand, the 3102 model, depending on the version, from $6.4 thousand to $12.7 thousand. They asked for $3.5 thousand for the Vaz seven, $4.9 thousand for the Niva, and $6 thousand for the simplest Vaz ten. "Moskvich Svyatogor" cost $ 4 thousand. And UAZ-3160 — $7,4 thousand.
Foreign cars were significantly more expensive: For the Skoda Octavia they asked for $ 12 thousand, for the Ford Focus — almost $ 14 thousand. Volga classmates like the Ford Mondeo or Kia Magentis were already worth closer to $20 thousand. What to say about the European premium. The simplest Audi A6 or BMW 5-Series could be purchased for $ 37-38 thousand, a Mercedes E-class cost from 43 thousand.
The Volga was cheaper than the Odnoklassniki, but the equipment, rich from the point of view of the owners of the former Volga, was noticeably inferior to foreign cars. The basic version had ABS, electric windows and a central locking system, but you had to pay extra for installing the air conditioner. Plans to equip the GAZ-3111 with airbags and a stabilization system remained plans.
Volga was noticeably inferior in dynamics. Although there was a more powerful engine under the hood, the new car also gained weight. The claimed acceleration of the "eleventh" to the "hundred" took 12.9 seconds, the foreign cars were much faster.
To remedy the situation, the Nizhny Novgorod company Technoservice, the court tuning studio of GAZ, offered to install a Toyota V6 with a capacity of 205 hp from a Prado SUV with a 4-speed automatic. With it, the car drove out of 10 seconds, but the cost of the alterations, which included suspension reinforcement, was approaching $ 14 thousand. The installation of a Toyota 4-cylinder engine or a diesel engine was more budgetary — from $ 8 thousand.
Couldn't economically justify
In 2001, 345 copies of the eleventh were released, and it was the best year for the new Volga.
Despite this, the new Volga was included in the draft 10-year gas development plan. It was planned to master its mass production by 2005. The state budget was considered as one of the sources of financing for the program, but GAZ representatives could not economically justify the launch of GAZ-3111 into production, Nikolai Sorokin, head of the Department for Development and Restructuring of the machine-building complex of the Ministry of Industry and Science, told Vedomosti.
By the summer of 2002, the events had become dramatic. Back in May, the creators of 3111 were vying to praise their brainchild on the pages of Za Rulem magazine, but already in the August issue, the new CEO of GAZ, Dmitry Strezhnev, said that it was necessary to look at things realistically and GAZ-3111 hardly had a chance of mass success with consumers.
— The price is very high, and most importantly, the quality does not match it. This car will not become mass-produced, it will not replace the current Volga on the assembly line. In its production <...> it is required to invest too much money, — said Strezhnev.
By this time, the production of GAZ-3111 had been stopped for a month. In seven months of 2002, only 20 cars were assembled. Next year, they didn't make a single Volga, but in 2024 they collected the last nine copies.
By the end, the cars were already worth $13,000, but dealers complained that they couldn't sell for more than $8,000. Legal entities have become the main buyers of Volga in less than two years of sales.
A funeral with a sequel
GAZ designers urgently began designing the 3115 model — smaller, more modest, but with an independent rear suspension. But this project was soon abandoned. The old Volga family remained on the assembly line, and the 3110 model with the 105 index, along with other improvements, received headlights from the 3111 model and door handles from the 3115 model.
The old model survived until the 2008 crisis. They wanted to make a new one first from Chrysler (Volga Siber), then from Changan, and now from Geely. Who knows what would have happened if the plant had paid more attention to the GAZ-3111 25 years ago and this model had received clear government support. Perhaps we wouldn't have to invite the "Eastern partners" to the main roles now.
This is on the one hand. On the other hand, neoretro—style sedans released around the same time did not work wonders - neither the Rover 75 nor the Lancia Thesis, although technically they were much more modern cars than the 3111. By the way, Thesis could become another new "Volga", but that's another story.
Perhaps the Volga 3111 would not have been successful either, but the work on its refinement would have allowed us to gain experience in designing passenger cars and retain personnel. Unfortunately, this project was abandoned halfway through and unfairly forgotten.
The color "Poseidon"
In the official historiography on the website of the factory museum, Volga GAZ 3111 is given one stingy line. Official GAS dealers do not service these models. The owners of the remaining cars have been forced to search for some parts for years, or even to spend the whole world on manufacturing particularly scarce components.
Evgeny bought his 3111 Poseidon in dark blue in 2015 with a mileage of only 40 thousand km. The car with serial number 275 belonged to one of the structures of the Ministry of Defense. Since then, he has driven it for almost 100 thousand and says that the car does not cause any special problems. The engine is reliable, and the body of the Eleventh is painted and protected from corrosion better than that of conventional Volga cars. However, many details, especially chrome, and convex side windows are in short supply.
Without becoming mass-produced, the eleventh became a coveted exhibit in automotive museums and an ornament at retro festivals. Every year, the surviving cars are valued more and more, including abroad.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
