ZIS - 5 ( truck ) The ZIS - 5 ( ) was a 4x2 Soviet truck produced by Moscow ZIS factory from October 1933 on . It was an almost identical copy of the American Autocar Dispatch Model SA truck . Development . In 1931 Moscow Avtomobilnoe Moskovskoe Obshchestvo ( AMO , Russian Автомобильное Московское Общество ( АМО ) — Moscow Automotive Enterprise ) truck plant was re - equipped and expanded with the help of the American A . J . Brandt Co . , and began to produce a new truck with designation of AMO - 2 . AMO - 2 was intended as a replacement of the previous AMO - F15 , the first Soviet truck ever built ( it was a copy of the Italian Fiat F - 15 ) . Soon AMO - 2 was improved , and new models AMO - 3 and AMO - 4 appeared . In 1933 AMO was rebuilt again and renamed into Factory No . 2 Zavod Imeni Stalina ( or Plant of Stalin ' s Name , abbreviated in ZIS or ZiS ) and in Summer first prototypes of the new ZIS - 5 appeared . Production . Serial production of the new truck started on October 1 , 1933 . The truck was an instant success and , which together with GAZ AA , became the main Soviet truck of 1930 - 50 ' s . It also evolved into the workhorse of the Soviet armed forces : at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa the Red Army could line up 104 , 200 of those trucks . Facing the German invasion , in the autumn of 1941 the production line at Moscow plant was stopped and ZIS was moved to Ulianovsk ( on the Volga river ) and to Miass ( in the Chelyabinsk region of the Urals ) . Production at Ulianovsk UASZIS lasted from February 1942 to 1944 , while UralZIS at Ulianovsk it began in July 1944 ; UralZIS fitted the truck radiators with own label and produced it until 1955 , well after the end of the war . In the meantime Moscow ZIS plant had restarted production of these trucks in April 1942 , and continued until 1948 , when the new ZIS - 50 ( ZIS - 5 with new engine ) appeared . In 1955 UralZIS also modified the ZIS - 5 : It got new engine and oval fenders , different from pre - war ones . This new model received the designation of UralZIS - 355 or ZIS - 355 . The ZIS - 5V . At the end of 1941 war shortages of raw materials forced to change the construction of ZIS - 5 . All changes were focused on simplify construction : the round , stamped wings were replaced with flat , bended ones , cabs and foot boards were now made from wood , brakes were removed from front wheels , rear body had the tailgate swinging only . Sometimes also the right headlight was removed , while bumpers disappeared forever . The simplified model , designated ZIS - 5V , was produced since May 1942 in Ulyanovsk , and later also in Moscow and Miass . Overall production scored about 1 million units ( all plants ) , with ZIS alone producing 532 , 311 samples . During the War years were produced about 83 . 000 of ZIS - 5 of both versions . Utilization . During the war the ZIS - 5 was used on all fronts , where it was greatly appreciated for its remarkably simple and reliable construction . Apart for cargo duties , the ZIS - 5 was used as a light artillery tractor and for troops transportation ( 25 soldiers could seat in five benches placed in the rear body ) . ZIS - 5 served also as base for many special trucks , like refuellers , field workshops , ambulances , portee guns or AA platforms . After the GAZ - AA , the ZIS - 5 was the 2nd most used Red Army truck of 1933 - 1943 period . The intensive growth of Lend Lease trucks shipping in 1943 - 1944 did not affected the first line use of the " Tryohtonka " ( as soldiers called the ZIS - 5 for its 3 - ton payload ) , while GAZ - AA got somewhat phased out to secondary roles . The ZIS - 5 showed remarkable service on the " Road of Life " , the only supply line to the besieged city of Leningrad , opened on the frozen surface of the Ladoga Lake in the winter months during 1941 – 1944 . Export . ZIS - 5 was the first Soviet motor vehicle to be exported . A batch of 100 trucks were sold to Turkey in 1934 ; other quantities were subsequently purchased by Afghanistan , Iraq , Iran , Spain , China , Latvia , Lithuania , Estonia , Mongolia and Romania . Some trophy vehicles were used by Finns who had captured them during the Winter War of 1939 - 40 , and by Germans after the invasion of Soviet Union of June 1941 . Specification . ( * ) People who investigated ZIS - 5 told that real power of engine was less than proclaimed in official documents and equal to 67 - 68 hp .