The GAZ-69 is a

four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

off-road vehicle produced by

GAZ GAZ or Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (russian: ГАЗ or Го́рьковский автомоби́льный заво́д, , Gorky Automobile Plant) is a Russian automotive manufacturer located in Nizhny Novgorod, formerly known as Gorky (Го� ...

(ГАЗ, or ''Gorkovsky Avtomobilnyi Zavod'', Gorky Automobile Factory) between 1953 and 1956 and then by

UAZ UAZ or Ulyanovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (russian: Ульяновский Автомобильный Завод, УАЗ, Ulyanovsky Avtomobilny Zavod, UAZ, Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant, UAZ) is an automobile manufacturer based in Ulyanovsk, Russia, ...

, in 1956–1972, though all of these light truck class vehicles were known as GAZ-69s. It was also produced in Romania until 1975.Thompson, Andy. ''Cars of the Soviet Union'' (Haynes Publishing, Somerset, UK, 2008), p. 70.

Development and production

The GAZ-69 was created by the team of chief designer Grigoriy Vasserman as a replacement for the GAZ-67B that would have lower fuel consumption than its predecessor and use the same inline four and three-speed transmission as the GAZ-M20 ''Pobeda''. The development process started in 1946 and the first prototypes known under the name "Truzhenik" (Toiler) were built in 1947. After extensive on-road testing, the new off-road vehicle went into production on August 25, 1953. Over 600,000 GAZ-69s had been built by the end of production in the USSR in 1972. a copy of the GAZ-69 with some modifications was produced by

ARO ARO (short for Auto Romania) was a Romanian off-road vehicle manufacturer located in Câmpulung. The first ARO vehicles were produced in 1957, and the last in 2003. For a short while, Daihatsu-powered AROs were sold in Spain and produced in Portu ...

in Romania until 1975, first as the IMS-57, its main difference was that it used the

GAZ-A The GAZ-A is a passenger car that was mass-produced by GAZ from 1932 until 1936. It was the first passenger car to be produced in the Soviet Union and is a near-exact copy of the Ford Model A from 1930. To the local population, the car was nicknam ...

type I4 engine (obtained by importing old Soviet tooling, as the original GAZ-69 engine was seen as uneconomical), then heavily redisigned as the IMS M59, and later modernized as the

ARO M461 The ARO M461 was an off-road vehicle built in post World War II Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It bo ...

. GAZ-69s were standard military jeeps of the Eastern Bloc and client states, except Romania that used mainly the locally built ARO models.

Design

The standard GAZ-69 was able to reach , but more powerful versions, with 2400 cc (derived from the basic 2100 cc) 65 h.p. engines and the same three-speed gearbox, could reach . They were known as the GAZ-69M, or GAZ-69AM for the four-door version.Ware, Pat. ''The World Encyclopedia of Military Vehicles'' (Lorenz Books, 2010), p. 177. It featured two fuel tanks, one of under the floor, one of beneath the passenger's seat. All civilian models also had to meet

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

requirements, in case of wartime requisitioning. (This is also why a hardtop version was not available until 1993) The basic variant GAZ-69 has a pair of doors and usually has standard canvas top and upper sides; there are two seats in front and two folding benches for three passengers each on sides. The further variant GAZ-69A (UAZ-69A) has four doors, folding canvas top and two rows of seats. It was used as the basis for the rear-wheel drive van GAZ-19 that was built in 1955 but didn't pass the prototype stage. The off-road van and light truck UAZ-450 and the newer

UAZ-469 The UAZ-469 is an off-road military light utility vehicle manufactured by UAZ. It was used by Soviet and other Warsaw Pact armed forces, as well as paramilitary units in Eastern Bloc countries. In the Soviet Union, it also saw widespread service ...

also traced their origins to the GAZ-69.

Military use

The GAZ-69 had been the basic light off-road vehicle of the Soviet Army, replacing

GAZ-67 The GAZ-67 and the GAZ-67B (from January 1944) were general-purpose four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simult ...

s and Willys Jeeps, before the army adopted the

. It was also used as the basis for the 2P26 tank destroyer, as well as for the

GAZ-46 The GAZ-46, army designation MAV (Russian, малый автомобиль водоплавающий, ''small floating car''), is a Soviet-made light four-wheel drive amphibious military vehicle that entered service in the 1950s and has been use ...

MAV, a light

4x4 Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

amphibious vehicle An amphibious vehicle (or simply amphibian), is a vehicle that is a means of transport viable on land as well as on or under water. Amphibious vehicles include amphibious bicycles, ATVs, cars, buses, trucks, railway vehicles, combat vehicles an ...

inspired by the

Ford GPA The Ford GPA "Seep" (Government 'P' Amphibious, where 'P' stood for its 80-inch wheelbase), with supply catalog number G504, was an amphibious version of the World War II Ford GPW jeep. Design features of the much larger and successful DUKW am ...

'Seep'.

Users

* * * * * * * * * * * * * (around 4400 units ordered in total; first batch 4000 units ordered by government, second batch 400 units ordered by

Indonesian Air Force The Indonesian Air Force ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Udara (TNI-AU), literally "''Indonesian National Military-Air Force''") sometimes shortened as IDAF / IdAF, is the aerial branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. The I ...

) * * * * * * * * * * * * * Many civilian use yellow coloured ones were imported in to Nepal and we're successfully used in the mountain roads.

In Popular Culture

In the film

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' is a 2008 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and the fourth installment in the ''Indiana Jones'' series. Released and taking place 19 years after the previous ...

a GAZ-69 appears in one of the chases of the film involving Spalko and the main characters. Also, two

s appear in that scene.

Gallery

File:GAZ69-MoT-STL.jpg, A retired GAZ-69 in the

National Museum of Transportation The National Museum of Transportation (NMOT) is a private, 42-acre transportation museum in the Kirkwood suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1944, it restores, preserves, and displays a wide variety of vehicles spanning 15 decades of Amer ...

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, Mo, United States File:UAZ-69.jpg, A retired GAZ-69 in the in

Hook of Holland Hook of Holland ( nl, Hoek van Holland, ) is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was the word in use before the word ''kaap'' – "cape", from Portuguese ''cabo'' – became Dutch. The English t ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

File:FUG_2.jpg, A GAZ-69 of the Hungarian Army File:Gaz-uaz-69m-1958-20130502-l.jpg, UAZ-69M, front view UAS-69 30.06.19 JM (4).jpg, UAZ-69M File:GAZ-69_Armaturenbrett.jpg, GAZ-69, interior

References

External links

{{Commons category
GAZ-69 – Everything you want to know about the GAZ-69

GAZ-69 on sale at the Mortar Investments website

All-wheel-drive vehicles Off-road vehicles GAZ Group trucks Military vehicles of the Soviet Union Military light utility vehicles Military trucks of the Soviet Union Military vehicles introduced in the 1950s