On what went Joseph Stalin.

1. Vauxhall

For the first time in Stalin, a service car appeared immediately after the October Uprising of 1917, when the first Bolshevik government was formed, in which Stalin assumed the post of People's Commissar for Nationalities. This office car of the People's Commissariat was ordered in England in due time and was intended for the mother of Nicholas II, Maria Feodorovna. Stalin appreciated the chic car with a luxurious body from the Hooper atelier, but its slow pace clearly did not suit the future father of the people. On the Vauxhall stood a 6-cylinder engine with a capacity of 30 hp.

2 . Packard Twin Six

When the Civil War began in Russia, Stalin, as a representative of the Revolutionary Military Council, was detached to the Southern Front, to the Tsaritsyn area. Here he was offered as a service car a powerful and huge "Packard Twin-Six", with a 12-cylinder engine of 7 liters, developed a considerable for that time 85 hp. The very translation of the name of the car spoke for itself: Packard Twin Six means "double six". It was a high-speed car capable of accelerating up to 130 km / h. It is claimed that this circumstance, in combination with the massiveness of the car, was to the liking of Joseph Vissarionovich. Returning to Moscow, Stalin asked the head of the garage Sovnarkom Stepan Gil, who also was a personal driver of Lenin, to find for him like the American American "Packard". The machine with a talisman on the hood in the form of a flying pelican was found without any problems. Cars for Stalin were allotted by the Chekists. At that time, the "Packards" of this modification were very popular among the leadership of the Cheka. "Stalin adored rushing around the Moscow roads on his 12-cylinder Packard with the tent suspended," Gil recalled.

3 . Rolls-Royce 40/50 Silver Ghost

Soon Stalin had to change the car, he moved to "Rolls-Royce 40/50 Silver Gost" - "Silver Ghost". This decision was made for all senior statesmen of Soviet Russia, henceforth the official cars of the members of the government were to be of the same type. In the USSR, as a rule, they supplied open cars. These reliable, long and spacious cars that were equipped with a 48-strong
6-cylinder engine in volume of 7 liters, differed by excellent characteristics. From 1922 to 1925, the country was imported from England 73 such cars. The Czech writer Hofmeister noted in his memoirs on this occasion: "I have never seen such a congestion of the Rolls-Royces that I saw one evening on the Moskva River embankment." I still did not understand why it was the Rolls-Royces that found the way to the heart of the Foreign Trade and got to the USSR ... "

4 . Packard Twelve

Nevertheless, Stalin, who became Secretary General since 1922, did not really like Rolls-Royce, and therefore, after the death of Lenin, he issued an order for the purchase of American cars, which he liked since the Civil War. After this decree, namely, in 1925, American cars of such brands as Buick, Packard, Cadillac and Lincoln began to arrive massively in Soviet Russia. For himself, Stalin chose the most modern of Packards, the 8-cylinder Packard 533. Stalin did not like the car, and already in 1933 he gave way
12-cylinder chaise Packard Twelve.

Two years later, the American ambassador, knowing the affection of the new head of the USSR, gave Stalin a gift from US President Franklin Roosevelt - the armored limousine Packard Twelve of the most recent, 14th series. During the entire production of the Packard of this series (from September 10, 1935 to September 3, 1936), only one specimen was long-bodied and armored. It was this limousine, for some reason painted in white, and was given to Stalin. True, after arriving in Moscow, "Packard Twill" was urgently repainted in governmental, black. The car was installed 12-cylinder engine volume of 8.2 liters, which had a capacity of 155 hp. With a solid mass of 6 tons (the weight of each door was 350 kg), the limousine could accelerate to 130 km / h.

5 . ZIS-115

In 1942, before the ZIS plant, the task of developing a representative car was again set. At that time the plant was evacuated and assembled vehicles for the needs of the front in the Urals. Given Stalin's long-standing sympathy for the Packards, the prototype of the new domestic limousine was precisely this brand, namely, the model
1941 year "Packard 180". By 1944 the development was basically completed, and a sample of a new car was created. This limousine was called "ZIS-110". It was equipped
140-strong 8-cylinder engine with a capacity of 6 liters. In August 1945, he passed the first sea trials and stood on the conveyor.

The General Secretary relied on the special version of this machine - ZIS-115. At that time, the six-seat hidden car reservation created by Soviet specialists was the most secure and safe limousine for the head of state. Since 1947, Stalin began to use this
162-strong model weighing about 5 tons as the main official car, but from the beloved Packard did not refuse until his death.

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