Gaz · 1946–1958

GAZ-M20 Pobeda

The GAZ-M20 "Pobeda" (Russian: ГАЗ-М20 Победа, lit. 'Victory') is a passenger car produced in the Soviet Union by GAZ from 1946 until 1958. It was also licensed to the Polish Passenger Automobile Factory and produced there as the FSO Warszawa. Although usually known as the GAZ-M20, an original car's designation at that time was just M-20: M for "Molotovets" (the GAZ factory was named after Vyacheslav Molotov).

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Predecessor: GAZ-M1 · Successor: GAZ-21

All Gaz GAZ-M20 Pobeda data: UK builds, safety, recalls, model years →

History

The first sketches of similar-looking cars were completed by Valentin Brodsky in 1938 and by Vladimir Aryamov in 1940, which revealed a growing tendency towards streamlined car design in the Soviet Union. Aryamov's two-door coupe GAZ-11-80, designed in 1940, greatly resembled the later Pobeda and was in many ways identical to it. However, after the German invasion of 1941 military priorities delayed the work on the new car and the factory was switched to military production. The first Pobeda was developed in the Soviet Union under chief engineer Andrei A. Liphart. Originally intended to be called "Rodina" (Homeland), the name "Pobeda" (Victory) was a back-up, but was preferred by Joseph Stalin. "How much does the homeland cost?" - he asked. The name was also chosen because the works started in 1943 at Gorky Avto Zavod (GAZ, "Gorky Car Plant"), when victory in World War II began to seem likely, and the car was to be a model for post-war times. The plant was later heavily bombarded, but work was unaffected. Styling was done by "the imaginative and talented Veniamin Samoilov". The GAZ-M20 Pobeda was one of the first Soviet cars of original design and moreover at the front line of a new vogue in automobile design; only the front suspension and, partly, the unitized body were influenced by the 1938 Opel Kapitän and the 1941 Chevrolet Fleetline (the choice of car may have been influenced by the acquisition of the tooling from Opel's Rüsselsheim factory as part of the war reparations package for the Soviet side, which also led to the creation of the Moskvitch 400/420). It was one of the first cars to feature ponton styling with slab sides, although it did not enter full production until 1949. The M20 was the first Soviet car using entirely domestic body dies; it was designed a

Design and development

During the design process, GAZ had to choose between a 62 PS (46 kW) 2,700 cc (165 cu in) inline six and a 50 PS (37 kW) 2,112 cc (129 cu in) inline four; Stalin preferred the four, so it was used. The same M-20 engine was later used on the ASU-57 light assault gun. In addition, the headlights were covered by an American patent. Production started in 1946, only a year after the end of the world war, and was difficult due to serious economic and technical hardships caused by the war; by the end of 1946, only twenty-three cars were completed, virtually by hand. Truly mass production had to wait until 28 April 1947, and even then, only 700 were built before October 1948. During that period the Soviet Union was unable to produce steel sheets large enough for body panels, so strips had to be welded together, which led to countless leaks and 20 kg (44 lb) of solder in the body, as well as an increase in weight of 200 kg (440 lb). Steel quality was below average, up to 60% was rejected, and the overall quality of the first cars was so low that production was actually stopped by order of the government and the company's director was fired. On August 31, 1948, the government issued a decree requiring the immediate improvement of quality and thorough testing of the new automobiles. The cars and their integral parts were subjected to detailed laboratory and on-road testing, opinions of the cars' drivers were carefully studied and taken into account. After a reorganisation, solving the initial build quality issues, making 346 improvements and adding two thousand new tools, the Pobeda was returned to production. It had a new carburetor, different final drive ratio (5.125:1 rather than 4.7:1), strengthened rear springs, improved heater, and the ability to run on the low-grade 66 octa

Export

The car was a successful export for the USSR, and the design was licensed to the Polish FSO (Passenger Automobile Factory) factory in Warsaw, where it was built as the FSO Warszawa beginning in 1951, continuing until 1973. A few were reported to have been assembled in Pyongyang, North Korea, although this appears to have been a hoax. One example was shown in China as the Yuejin CN-750 but this never entered production and was most likely a Russian-made car. The Pobeda was popular in Finland, where postwar import controls limited the availability of Western cars. It was the most popular car for taxis in the 1950s, and as late as 1963 there were still 5,644 Pobedas registered in the country. The name of Finnish rock band Popeda is an intentional misspelling of "Pobeda", chosen in ironic contrast to another band called Rock Cadillac.

Technical details

Weighing 1,350 kg (2,976 lb), the Pobeda has a 2.1-litre sidevalve straight-four engine, derived from Chrysler's flathead six-cylinder design. It produced 50 PS (37 kW) and achieved a top speed of 105 km/h (65 mph).

Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.

Specifications

name: GAZ-M20 'Pobeda'
Manufacturer: GAZ
Assembly: Soviet Union: Gorky
Production: June 1946 – 1958
Predecessor: GAZ 11-73
Successor: GAZ-21 Volga
Class: Executive car (E)
Body style: 4-door sedan fastback/cabriolet
Engine: 2.1 L M-20 sv I4
Transmission: 3-speed manual
Layout: FR layout, F4 layout (GAZ-M72)
Length: 4665 mm
Wheelbase: 2700 mm
Width: 1695 mm
Height: 1590 mm
Kerb weight: 1350 kg, 1690 kg (GAZ-M72)
Related: FSO Warszawa, GAZ-M72 (4WD, model with Pobeda body)
Top speed: 105 km/h

Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Measured facts from Wikidata (CC0). Check the linked sources for citations.

More photos

Sources

Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q694025CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAZ-M20_PobedaCC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1375607711 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GAZ_M_20_Pobjeda_t%C3%ADpus%C3%BA_szem%C3%A9lyg%C3%A9pkocsi._Fortepan_5290.jpgCC BY-SA 3.0 · Photo: FOTO:Fortepan — ID 5290: Adományozó/Donor: Kurutz Márton. archive copy at the Wayback Machine · retrieved 2026-10-01
Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.