# GAZ-AA

The GAZ-AA is a truck produced at the Gorky Auto Plant in the Soviet Union from 1932 to 1938, and was the factory's first truck produced under the GAZ brand. Russian-speakers often refer to it as a polutorka (полуторка) - meaning "one-and-a halfer", with reference to its carrying capacity of 1.5 tonnes (1500 kilograms).

## History

On 31 May 1929, the Supreme Soviet of the National Economy of the Soviet Union (Russian: Высший совет народного хозяйства СССР) made an agreement with the Ford Motor Company to produce Ford Model A and Model AA vehicles, and the Soviet Metallostroy organisation (Russian: Металлострой) started constructing an American-designed automotive plant in Nizhny-Novgorod.
Initially, 10 Ford Model AA trucks were built at the plant, under the name NAZ (for Nizhny Novgorod Avtomobilny Zavod). Soviet engineers prepared their own mechanical blueprints for production, specifying a truck to be made with thicker steel and to have an upgraded suspension system. In 1932, the city of Nizhny Novgorod adopted its new name, Gorky - after Maxim Gorky (1868-1936) - and in 1933, the plant was renamed to Gorky Avtomobilny Zavod, and the trucks began to use the model designation GAZ-AA. By 1932, mass-production had started, with around 60 trucks built at the plant daily from knock-down kits sent by Ford.
Soon, assembly started of GAZ-A passenger vehicles, which were based on the Ford Model A and were also built from knock-down kits imported into the Soviet Union. By that time, GAZ-AA trucks comprised the majority of trucks used by the Red Army. Several modifications of the GAZ-AA trucks started getting produced, including dump trucks (410), semi-trucks (MS), fire trucks (PMG-1) and tractors (905).
By 1938, nearly 1 million of these trucks had been produced and sold. By that time a modernized variant of the GAZ-AA trucks, under the GAZ-MM index entered production, with the engine from the GAZ-M1, that boosted the vehicle's power to 50 hp, with the compression ratio increased to 4.6, giving a maximum speed of 80 km / h.

## Variants

* GAZ-AAA: three-axle version
* BA-27: military vehicle using GAZ-AA assemblies
* GAZ-1: 16-seat bus version
* GAZ-2: 18-seat bus version
* GAZ-3 (later GAZ-03-30): 16-seat bus variant; basically a combination of the GAZ-1 and GAZ-2
* GAZ-03-32: ambulance version of GAZ-03-30
* GAZ-5: three-axle, 25-seat bus version
* GAZ-07: short wheelbase version for BA-6, BA-6M and BA-10
* GAZ-13: 13-seat bus version
** GAZ-13B: modified GAZ-13
* GAZ-14: gas generator (wood gas) version with V-5 generator
* GAZ-40: prototype gas generator version, based on third-party developments of the V-5 and NATI-G11 generators
* GAZ-41: gas generator (wood gas) version with NATI-G14 generator
* GAZ-42: improved GAZ-41
** GAZ-42M: modernized GAZ-42
* GAZ-43: gas generator (coal gas) version with NATI-G21 gas generator
* GAZ-44: compressed gas-fueled version
* GAZ-45: LPG fueled version
* GAZ-55 (initially GAZ-55-55): ambulance variant
* GAZ-55B: staff bus version of GAZ-55
* GAZ-60: half-track version made for the Red Army
* GAZ-60P: prototype improved version of GAZ-60
* GAZ-65: halftrack version with removable tracks
* GAZ-65op: prototype improved version of GAZ-65
* GAZ-66: prototype halftrack based on the GAZ-AAA
* GAZ-410 (initially GAZ-S1): dump truck
* GAZ-905: tractor version
* GAZ-SH: prototype snowmobile studies
* PMG-1: fire truck