GAZ M-21 Volga 1955 Moscow Taxi

The 1955 Moscow GAZ-21 Volga taxi scale model appeared in the Taxis of the World magazine series in Europe and South America in 2002–2006, with ALTAYA/IXO's involvement. Its original name is GAZ M-21 VOLGA MOSCOW 1955 TAXI. It looks more like an attractive souvenir for foreigners than an accurate replica: the GAZ-21 had not even entered production in 1955.

Production only began in 1956, and those cars had a star on the grille. The version depicted here appeared only in 1958.

The colour and roof light are also inaccurate. At the time, taxis had only a green light behind the windscreen; the orange roof sign and yellow paint appeared in the late 1970s on the GAZ-24-01. Despite its known shortcomings, this GAZ-21 taxi model is valuable as the first industrially mass-produced 1:43 model of the 21-series Volga.