GAZ M-22 Volga Auto Legends of the USSR

Why did Soviet people need a spacious estate car? To carry at least four passengers comfortably, transport goods, or do both at once, of course. It also needed good pulling power and a sufficiently powerful engine. In August 1960, GAZ’s designers announced the first GAZ-22 prototype. The problem was that ordinary Soviet citizens could not buy the GAZ M-22, as the state feared encouraging their entrepreneurial instincts. The car only became freely available for purchase in the 1970s, after series production had ended.

According to some accounts, the first five GAZ-22s were assembled in 1961 and early 1962 for trial use within the factory. The estate, van and ambulance versions were first displayed at VDNKh in 1961. Series production of the GAZ-22, based on the third-series GAZ-21 Volga, began in summer 1962. The last estate left the line in June 1970.