Ford-Vairogs ("Vairogs" meaning "Shield") (earlier called "Fenikss") was the name of a car factory in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

, that produced license built

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

cars between September 1937 and 1940 when it was expropriated as the property of the Soviet government. Not including the war department orders, Ford-Vairogs made 200 buses, 1000 trucks and 332 automobiles.

History

The history of the Vairogs factory began in the late 19th century. In 1895

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

citizen Oscar Freivirt got permission from the

Russian Emperor The emperor or empress of all the Russias or All Russia, ''Imperator Vserossiyskiy'', ''Imperatritsa Vserossiyskaya'' (often titled Tsar or Tsarina/Tsaritsa) was the monarch of the Russian Empire. The title originated in connection with Russia' ...

to establish a

train carriage In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often kno ...

factory in Riga (''Rīgas Vagonbūves Rūpnīca''). It was known as

joint stock company A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareholders are ...

''Fēnikss'' ("Phoenix").Odin, L.C. ''World in Motion 1939 - The whole of the year's automobile production''. Belvedere Publishing, 2015. ASIN: B00ZLN91ZG. In the 1930s the factory started to experience financial difficulties and the Latvian government decided to intervene. In Autumn 1936, the Latvian government bought all 4000 shares of the near-bankrupt

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...

. In December a new state owned company ''Vairogs'' was founded. The new company continued to work in the metal-fabrication industry.

Automobile Production

In the second half of the 1930s, the Latvian economy experienced rapid development and there was constant demand for modern

trucks A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

. In 1937 ''Vairogs'' company saw their business opportunity and created an automobile department, appointing

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

Pauls Barons, grandson of the Latvian

folklorist Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

Krišjānis Barons Krišjānis Barons (October 31, 1835 – March 8, 1923) was a Latvian writer who is known as the "father of the dainas" ( lv, "Dainu Tēvs") thanks largely to his systematization of the Latvian folk songs and his labour in preparing their tex ...

, as director. Considering all costs and technologies, it was decided to buy a license from a known Western automobile company. In March 1937 ''Vairogs'' signed a contract with

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

division of

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

. According to contract, Ford Motor company granted car assembly concession to ''Vairogs'' factory in

. In September, the first Ford-Vairogs V8 3-ton trucks left the production line. In 1938, the factory also started to produce passenger cars and buses. Ford-Vairogs cars became very popular in Latvia because of their low prices and good quality. Ford-Vairogs was the biggest automobile company in the

Baltic states The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

started in September 1939, Ford-Vairogs production numbers declined due to the wartime difficulties with engine and other part supplies. After the

Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 The Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 refers to the military occupation of the Republic of Latvia by the Soviet Union under the provisions of the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany and its Secret Additional Protocol signed in A ...

the factory was nationalized and all Ford car production stopped. The cars made were: * Ford-Vairogs V8 Standard, a copy of 1939 American Ford-V8 92A * Ford-Vairogs V8 De Luxe, a copy of 1939 American Ford-V8 91A * Ford-Vairogs Taunus, a copy of 1939 German

Ford Taunus The Ford Taunus is a family car that was sold by Ford Germany throughout Europe. Models from 1970 onward were built on the same basic construction as the Ford Cortina MkIII in the United Kingdom, and later on, the two car models were essentiall ...

* Ford-Vairogs Junior, a copy of 1937 British Ford 10 Prefect. It was also made in a military version. File:Ford-Vairogs-V8-front.jpg, Ford-Vairogs V8 De Luxe. In the

Riga Motor Museum Riga Motor Museum ( lv, Rīgas motormuzejs) is the biggest antique vehicle museum in the Baltic countries, located in Riga, Latvia. The museum is a state agency operating under the Republic of Latvia Ministry of Transport. Since 1992, the museum ...

. File:Ford-Vairogs-10.jpg, Ford-Vairogs Junior De Luxe. In the

Ammunition Production

In 1937 Vairogs bought out Sellier & Bellot's satellite ammunition plant in Riga. It changed the headstamp from "SB" to a stylized "V". In addition to civilian cartridges, it made 7.92x57mm Mauser and .303 British ammunition for military clients in the region. After the Soviet occupation in 1940, it was nationalized as Factory 520 and began manufacturing 7.62x54mmR Russian ammunition - still using the "V" headstamp. It was closed in June 1941 due to the German invasion and its machinery was evacuated to Sverdlovsk. The machinery was later returned in 1944/1945 and production was resumed until 1946.

Train Car Production

After the war Vairogs was renamed ''

Rīgas Vagonbūves Rūpnīca Rīgas Vagonbūves Rūpnīca (RVR) was a Latvian rail and tram vehicle manufacturer, most notable for its multiple unit trains and tram vehicles used throughout the Soviet Union and its successor states. It has been insolvent and non-operat ...

'' ("Riga Train-car Factory") and went back to manufacturing train cars.

References

External links

{{Commons category
Images and technical specifications
of Ford-Vairogs automobiles at Oldtimer Gallery Car manufacturers of Latvia Ford Motor Company Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of Latvia Manufacturing companies based in Riga Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1936 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1940 1936 establishments in Latvia 1940 disestablishments in Latvia Companies nationalised by the Soviet Union