The truck GAZ-51, perhaps, the most successful car for all time of existence of the Soviet car industry. From the beginning of development in 1937 and up to the last car, descended from the assembly line in 1975, three and a half million GAZ-51 were produced. The production of such a number of cars could be due to a well-established process of manufacturing units and assemblies, streamlined production lines and, finally, skilled assembly.
The task set from the very beginning was extremely simple: you need a reliable truck, a universal one, with a good resource and unpretentious in maintenance. This turned out to be GAZ-51. In the middle of 1938, all preparatory work was completed, sets of drawings entered the shops and the manufacture of knots began. For two years the car was brought to full condition, in 1940 passed tests, and GAZ-51 immediately got to VDNH, in the pavilion with the best achievements of Soviet engineering.
Barely began preparations for the launch of the serial production of a new car, as the war began. The works were suspended until 1943, but the time was not in vain, military equipment, especially the six-cylinder engines of combat vehicles, gave valuable experience, which after the war was used by the design bureau of the automobile industry of the USSR. And in the summer of 1945, a prototype GAZ 51 was introduced to the government. The machine was approved and recommended for serial production. Conveyor production of the car was set in record time, after the war by inertia everything was done very quickly, and dozens, and then hundreds of new cars began to line up in the factory yard in anticipation of sending.
Simultaneously with the already established serial production of GAZ 51, the technical specifications of which were already quite good, the work continued to improve the design. Particular attention was paid to the engine, for example, the cylinder block did not bend under the piston, and it was inserted into the sleeves made of high-strength cast iron, which doubled the piston group's engine resource . Then the wear-resistant cast iron was grinded to the repair size, pistons with compression rings of other parameters were inserted and the engine was again like a new one. The longevity of the engine has significantly increased due to the installation of an oil cooler, as well as an increase in the pressure in the lubrication system of the root and conrod liners.
All GAZ 51 cars painted in dark green color, except for special purpose vehicles: the firemen were red, and cargo taxis were marked with checkers on the door. Most of the produced trucks were sent to agricultural work, they went to collective farms, state farms, motor companies and convoys of construction departments. GAZ-51 did not adapt to dump unloading, this work was considered unprofitable for the car. In the postwar years, the factories produced a three-ton ZIS-5 dump truck, which successfully coped with all construction tasks. But in the Soviet armed forces, the GAZ-51 was delivered regularly and in large batches. On its base, military vehicles, known as Katyushas, were produced. Trucks were used in military units as regular carriers of personnel, alongside sides were mounted folding benches and in the body were placed soldiers.