Among the leaders of the USSR, perhaps, only Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev were known for their love of cars. Both collected beautiful and powerful foreign cars. And thanks to these two Soviet General Secretaries, the passenger car industry in the USSR appeared and more or less developed. But after the death of Brezhnev and the rise to power of his successors, there were no fans of beautiful and fast “wheelbarrows” in the country’s leadership. Yes, the leaders of all levels at the time drove cars. But not behind the wheel, but as a passenger in the back seat.

Therefore, many of them did not know how to drive and therefore could not like this process. Apparently Mikhail Gorbachev belonged to this category of party officials. He did use cars. Most likely, his first “personal car” – a passenger car “assigned” to him – was the Volga GAZ-24. The black “Obkom” Volga relied on the rank of the top of the regional organs of the CPSU, as well as businessmen of a similar level and apparatchiks of the “middle level” of the regional party and economic organizations.

It is curious that Gorbachev, who had risen at the head of the USSR, “condemned” Chaika. He decided that the party and economic leadership should be closer to the people. For this, the officials were transferred from the “Seagulls” to the “Volga”. And the projects GAZ-13 and GAZ-14 were closed and even destroyed all design documentation for these machines. Once at the pinnacle of power in the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev turned into a passenger in the cars of the Soviet super elite of the ZIL brand, each of which was produced at the Moscow Likhachev plant.

Gorbachev’s personal transport from 1986 to 1991, when he was removed from power, was ZIL-41047. This armored limousine, weighing about five tons and over six meters long, was powered by a 7.7 liter petrol V8 with an output of 315 hp. Of. The transmission has a 3-speed automatic. The car accelerated to 100 km/h in 12 seconds and consumed at least 25 liters of gasoline for every “hundred” trip on the highway.

Curiously, this “member carrier” will keep it “in power” much longer than the last president of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev. The General Secretary fell into political obscurity in 1991, and ZIL-41047 was produced until 2000, when the first persons of the Russian state finally moved to the Mercedes S class …

Among the leaders of the USSR, perhaps, only Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev were known for their love of cars. Both collected beautiful and powerful foreign cars. And thanks to these two Soviet General Secretaries, the passenger car industry in the USSR appeared and more or less developed. But after the death of Brezhnev and the rise to power of his successors, there were no fans of beautiful and fast “wheelbarrows” in the country’s leadership. Yes, the leaders of all levels at the time drove cars. But not behind the wheel, but as a passenger in the back seat.

Therefore, many of them did not know how to drive and therefore could not like this process. Apparently, Mikhail Gorbachev belonged to this category of party officials. He did use cars. Most likely, his first “personal car” – a passenger car “assigned” to him – was the Volga GAZ-24. The black “Obkom” Volga relied on the rank of the top of the regional organs of the CPSU, as well as businessmen of a similar level and apparatchiks of the “middle level” of the regional party and economic organizations.

It is curious that Gorbachev, who had risen at the head of the USSR, “condemned” Chaika. He decided that the party and economic leadership should be closer to the people. For this, the officials were transferred from the “Seagulls” to the “Volga”. And the projects GAZ-13 and GAZ-14 were closed and even destroyed all design documentation for these machines. Once at the pinnacle of power in the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev turned into a passenger in the cars of the Soviet super elite of the ZIL brand, each produced at the Moscow Likhachev plant.

Gorbachev’s personal transport from 1986 to 1991, when he was removed from power, was ZIL-41047. This armored limousine, weighing about five tons and over six meters long, was powered by a 7.7-litre V8 petrol engine with an output of 315 hp. Of. The transmission has a 3-speed automatic. The car accelerated to 100 km/h in 12 seconds and consumed at least 25 liters of gasoline for every “hundred” trip on the highway.

Curiously, this “member carrier” will keep it “in power” much longer than the last president of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev. The General Secretary fell into political obscurity in 1991, and ZIL-41047 was produced until 2000, when the first persons of the Russian state finally moved to the Mercedes S class …