The GAZ-13 Chaika (Seagull) is an automobile manufactured by the Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod ( GAZ, Gorky Automobile Plant) from 1959 to 1981 as a generation of its Chaika marque. It is famously noted for its styling which resembled 1950s

Packard Packard or Packard Motor Car Company was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana in 1958. One of the "Thr ...

automobiles.

History

The GAZ-13 Chaika debuted in 1958. It was produced from 1959 to 1981, with 3,179 built in all. The GAZ-13 was powered by a 195-hp SAE gross 5.5 L V8 with a 4 barrel carburetor called the ZMZ-13 engine, and driven through a push-button automatic transmission of a similar design to the

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

PowerFlite unit. The engine was a relatively modern and reliable design for its time, and a modified version of it with a reduced compression ratio and smaller 2 barrel carburetor would be used on the

GAZ-53 The GAZ-53 is a 3.5 tonne 4x2 truck produced by GAZ between 1961 and 1993. Introduced first as GAZ-53F, it was joined by the virtually identical 2.5-ton GAZ-52 in 1962, which was produced until 1989. The GAZ-52 and GAZ-53 trucks are distinguis ...

truck, alongside the BRDM-2 military vehicle. It was offered as a saloon (GAZ-13), limousine (GAZ-13A), and four-door cabriolet (GAZ-13B) with an

electrohydraulic An actuator is a component of a machine that is responsible for moving and controlling a mechanism or system, for example by opening a valve. In simple terms, it is a "mover". An actuator requires a control device (controlled by control signal) a ...

top. The cabriolet was made in 1961 and 1962 for official parades. RAF in Riga produced the GAZ-13A Universal, an

estate Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representat ...

, in the 1960s in Riga; this was also built as the GAZ-13S ambulance, as well as a hearse. Produced for a few years in the 1960s, it is the lowest-volume Chaika variant. Small numbers were also built for Mosfilm. As a limousine-class car, Chaikas were available only to the Soviet government, and could not be purchased by average citizens. However, citizens were allowed to rent Chaikas for weddings. Chaikas were used by Soviet ambassadors and Communist Party First Secretaries in East Germany, North Korea, Bulgaria, Hungary, Mongolia, China, and Finland, among others; Jiang Qing and

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

were given one each by General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev, who himself preferred the Chaika to his ZIL, and kept one at his summer dacha. He also presented one limousine version each to both King Sisavang Vatthana of

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

and Prime Minister, Prince

Norodom Sihanouk Norodom Sihanouk (; km, នរោត្តម សីហនុ, ; 31 October 192215 October 2012) was a Cambodian statesman, Sangkum and FUNCINPEC politician, Norodom Sihanouk filmography, film director, and composer who led Cambodia in vari ...

of Cambodia on their visits to the Soviet Union. For their larger size and more powerful V8, Chaikas were also ordered in some quantity by the KGB. Top speed was . Most Chaikas were saloons. The GAZ-13B was built for only two years 1961 and 1962. The GAZ-13 was discontinued in 1981. The GAZ-14 debuted in 1977,Thompson, p.70. and ran to the end of Chaika production in 1988.

Pyotr Masherov Pyotr Mironovich Masherov, ''Piotr Mironavič Mašeraŭ''russian: Пётр Миронович Машеров (né Mashero; – 4 October 1980) was a Soviet partisan, statesman, and one of the leaders of the Belarusian resistance during Wo ...

, First Secretary of the

Communist Party of Byelorussia The Communist Party of Byelorussia (CPB; russian: Коммунистическая партия Белоруссии; be, Камуністычная партыя Беларусі) was the ruling communist party of the Byelorussian Soviet Social ...

, was killed in 1980 when the Chaika he was travelling in collided with a

truck carrying potatoes. File:Tschaika (7906329546).jpg, Front view File:GAZ-13 Chaika during the Oldtimer Show 2008.jpg, Rear view. Notice the tailpipe integrated in the rear bumper as well as the late-1950s American-style tailfins. File:GAZ-13 Chaika during the Oldtimer Expo 2008.jpg, Sedan version File:GAZ 13B Chaika (1968) 1X7A8082.jpg, Cabriolet File:Flickr - Hugo90 - GAZ Chaika.jpg, GAZ logo File:Chaika car interior.JPG, GAZ-13 interior

References

{{GAZ timeline 1960-present Cars of Russia GAZ Group vehicles Soviet automobiles Cars introduced in 1959