ZIS-115 car - Stalin's armored limousine

The era of armored cars for the first persons of the Soviet Union started in 1935. At this time from the United States for Comrade Stalin was delivered a gift - an armored Packard of white color. Not the nomenklatura coloring immediately fell on the leader to taste and was changed to black, thus laying the standard for the subsequent cars of the first persons. Color - this is perhaps the only thing that did not suit Stalin, and for several years in the Soviet Union was delivered several batches of armored Packard to serve the highest ranks of the CPSU (b). And yet, as a true "father of the people", Iosif Vissarionovich considered a bad example that higher ranks are driving foreign cars. In 1942, it was decided to develop their own armored limousine. So the history of ZIS-115 began.

Armored car for the leader

Despite several prototypes successfully tested in 46-47 years, the first armored car of premium class was put into operation in 1948. The ZIS-115 was produced by the Moscow Automobile Plant named after Stalin, later named after Likhachev. From the assembly shop a limited number of copies were issued, according to the special order of the government of the Soviet Union, according to some reports, the total number does not exceed 32 units. ZIS-115 - Stalin's armored limousine got its name largely due to the fact that the leader himself was one of the first persons to whom this car was intended.

The government car of the time of the just-ended war was simply obliged to personify the entire strength and power of the Soviet state. According to the recommendations of the leadership, ZIS-115 was to become not just a comfortable vehicle worthy of higher ranks, but an impregnable fortress capable of providing the maximum degree of security. One of the main tasks of the designers was to make sure that the representative armored car did not stand out from the general mass of transport, attracting unnecessary attention.

Normal VMS with a secret

So ZIS-115 appearance almost did not differ from the serial car ZIS-110. Distinctive features served as: an additional fog lamp on the front bumper, mounting for the flag, enlarged tires without white sidewalls, bulging caps and muddy glass. In other respects, the vehicles are identical, except for the special safety equipment with which the designers have tried. The thickness of the armor ZIS-115 was from 4.0 to 8.6 mm and is capable of providing reliable protection against bullets and debris. The door of the car could not be pierced from any small arms. About the total mass of the car there are different opinions, in different sources values in the range from four to seven tons are indicated. The power unit for this heavyweight was a forced 160-horsepower engine from the ZIS-110 that dispersed this light armored car to 120 km / h with a fuel consumption of almost 30 liters per 100 km.

Features

On machines designed to work on high-speed regimes in the central band of the union, a lubrication cooling system was installed. The control was carried out by means of a thermometer outputted to the instrument panel with a limit value sector. On ZIS-115 vehicles intended for operation in mountainous areas, reinforced water cooling systems were installed to ensure increased operation of the water pump with increased fan speed. The system included modified pulleys, special fans and additional generators.

Security

The Stalinist limousine ZIS-115 possessed a unique reservation system, which made it closer to the combat vehicle than to a car. Capsule booking system was a single shell, sheathed with body parts. This approach made it possible to not outwardly differ from ordinary cars, without standing out in the traffic flow, the most powerful reservation was hidden from the eyes of ordinary inhabitants. The armored capsule was produced separately at a military plant near Moscow, marked "Article No. 100". Each armored corps was produced individually for a specific ZIS-115 specimen, as evidenced by a special identification number, and was tested at an army test site for penetration. Assemblage of armored cars was carried out in a separate shop with a special individual access system.

Bulletproof glass with a thickness of 75 mm. Because of the huge weight (about 100 kg), a special hydraulic lifting mechanism was used for the lifting of the glasses, and for the descent a special lamb was used, the glass being lowered to a maximum of half. To prevent accidental or unwanted opening of doors on the move, they were supplied with special chains. ZIS-115 Stalin was not equipped with a partition between the driver's seat and the salon. This distinguishing feature from the basic ZIS-110 car made the armored car rather a large sedan, rather than a limousine. According to some information, the lack of a partition was the desire of Joseph Vissarionovich himself, motivated by the fact that he had no secrets from the people.

Comfort

Cars ZIS-115, although selectively, were equipped with air-conditioners. The installation was located in the luggage compartment, the air ducts were located on both sides of the rear seats. To fill the seats was used eiderdown, expensive fabric upholstery, the front seats were hand-clad leather.

One car is good, but the god protects

There was no case that Stalin used the same car for trips twice in a row. Number plates, which, including because of the extra headlight were installed exclusively from the back, always changed after each trip. None of the employees of the Kremlin garage and even the security until the last moment did not know which car will be leaving. The same was true of the route, which, as usual, could change almost at the last minute.

Legendary car

The era of Soviet armored vehicles for members of the government ended with the death of Stalin. The legendary Stalin's car ZIS-115 became irrelevant. His release was terminated. Several copies of Stalin's armored cars were donated to the party leaders of the socialist camp countries, the rest were destroyed under the supervision of special commissions and with the signing of the necessary acts. The reasons for the decision to dispose of ZIS-115 are not known for certain, but according to some estimates, only eight of these unique cars have been preserved in various collections. The most common opinion on the grounds for the destruction of Stalin's armored cars is that the interest in these cars from the new party leadership was zero, and the transfer of such equipment to third parties was impossible, because it was classified as "secret".