East Meets West: A rare 1957 GAZ-M21V “Volga” scheduled to attend the 2015 Hemmings Motor News Concours d’Elegance

1957 GAZ-M21V “Volga.” Photo by Jay Hirsch, courtesy of owner Dmitri Shvetsov.

There’s a lot that could be said about the Roaring Twenties. Ghosts of the First World War were ebbing from memories, the economy was booming and automobile production was both more proficient and affordable; just a snippet of the era that also bore witness to the rise of speakeasies and illegal alcohol traffic due to the adoption of the 17th 18th Amendment. Groundbreaking history; however, it was not exclusive to the United States.

In Moscow, Soviet leaders were paying close attention to America’s newest explosion of industrialism, particularly in the field of automotive manufacturing. The assembly line system of mass-production, it was recognized, could help bolster—comparatively speaking—the industrial needs of the communist country, including vehicles. To that point, six factories were established as part of the country’s Five Year Plan; among them the Gorki Auto Factory, or GAZ.

Their first product was the GAZ Model A—introduced in 1932—designed using plans of Ford’s Model A. However the agreement between Ford and the USSR had quickly frayed, and ceased altogether, before 1934. The plant continued to produce cars and eventually trucks, yet like the other five plants, output fell well short of the government’s expectations.

In November 1953 chief designer Alexander Nevzorov and stylist Leo Eremius began work on a replacement for the aging GAZ-20 Pobeda. Having obtained a Plymouth Savoy, Chevrolet Bel Air and Ford Customline as reference material, the duo designed and developed the M21 prototype, ultimately completed in ’54. Its visual styling drew heavily upon the aforementioned Customline; however, the chassis and mechanicals were purely Soviet, including its OVH four-cylinder engine featuring hemispherical combustion chambers and cross-flow cylinder heads, and three-speed automatic transmission.

Three other prototypes followed, each with a side-valve four-cylinder (the OHV engine was not ready in time) for their trial run in May ’55. Officially named the GAZ-M21 “Volga” after the famed river, production began in 1956, but the car was hardly ready for mass assembly; just five were made, all with the side-valve four.

Full production of the Volga began in earnest in 1957. Known as the Series 1, the M21 was quite different than those presented to the state media earlier. Below the hood was an aluminum 2445 cc OHV four-cylinder with “wet liner” cylinder bore sleeves, five main bearings, chain-driven camshaft and aluminum cylinder heads. With a compression ratio of 6.6:1 it was rated for 70hp @ 4,000 RPM. Bolted to it was a three-speed automatic (GAZ-M21; only 700 were made) or a three-speed manual (GAZ-M21V).

The drivetrain was secured to a chassis featuring an independent front suspension system, a rear suspension with semi-elliptic leaf springs, hydraulic leaver shocks at all four corners and 15-inch steel wheels, which helped provide a lofty 23 cm of ground clearance (or a fraction over 9 inches!) for the vast number of underdeveloped Soviet roads.

Above was a four-door body still reminiscent of Ford’s Customline that could comfortably seat six due to its 4.83 meters (or nearly 16 feet) of length.

Perhaps its most distinctive feature was the central lubrication system attached to the front suspension; however, it proved troublesome, leaked frequently and was eventually replaced by a more conventional individual component lube system in ’59.

Variations of the Series 1 Volga included the M21A taxi, and two 80-hp export editions—M21D (manual transmission) and M21E (automatic equipped)—until the redesigned Series 2 Volga was released for 1959.

Scheduled to appear at the ninth-annual Hemmings Motor News Concours d’Elegance is the 1957 GAZ-M21V, pictured above, owned by Dmitri and Tim Shvetsov. It is believed to be the only Series 1 example registered within the United States. Having been purchased from the original owner—a military plant director living near Moscow—the father/son duo imported the sedan into the States in 2013 following its extensive five-year long restoration in Russia.

Joining the exceptionally rare GAZ Volga on the show field this year will be an array of exquisite European postwar cars in a class onto their own, just one of a raft of traditional classes that includes Full Classics, Pre- and Postwar American Cars, American Muscle Cars, Prewar European Cars, Vintage Trucks and Preservation vehicles that are the foundation of the event.

This year’s featured marques are notable: Pre-1971 Thunderbirds, in celebration of their 60th anniversary; the 50th anniversary of Chevrolet’s Mark IV big-block-equipped passenger cars beginning in 1965; Mercedes-Benz 300SL “Gullwing” Coupes and Roadsters; Packards; Hudsons and Police Cars thru 1990.

Presented by Gullwing Motor Cars and sponsored by Chubb Collector Car Insurance and ROGO Fasteners, the Hemmings Motor News Concours d’Elegance will be held on Sunday, September 27 in the picturesque Saratoga Spa State Park adjacent to the Saratoga Automobile Museum in Saratoga Springs, New York.

The Concours will be preceded by the Hemmings Rally to Lake George on Friday, September 25, followed by Saturday’s Cruise-In Spectacular and Concours evening banquet, the latter headlined by a keynote address from this year’s Honorary Chairman, automotive legend Peter Brock. Joining us throughout the weekend once again will be Master of Ceremonies Ed Lucas.

If you would like to have your vehicle considered for Sunday’s Concours d’Elegance, please send photos and a brief write-up about it to Hemmings Motor News Concours, Attn: Matthew Litwin, 222 Main Street, Bennington, Vermont, 05201, or by email to concours@hemmings.com.

More information about the ninth-annual Hemmings Motor News Concours d’Elegance, including Friday and Saturday registration and ticket packages, can be found at Hemmings.com/Events/Concours. A portion of the Concours proceeds goes directly to the Saratoga Automobile Museum’s educational programs focused on safety and distracted driving awareness. To learn more, visit SaratogaAutoMuseum.org.