GAZ-13 Guides, Photos and Videos

The GAZ-13 is an automobile manufactured by the Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (GAZ, Gorky Automobile Plant) from 1959 to 1981 as a generation of its Chaika marque.

The GAZ M13, debuted in 1958. It was produced from 1959 to 1981, with 3,179 built in all. The M13 was powered by a 195-hp SAE gross 5.5 L V8 and driven through a push-button automatic transmission of a similar design to the Chrysler PowerFlite unit. It was offered as a saloon (GAZ 13), limousine (GAZ 13A), and four-door cabriolet (GAZ 13B) with an electrohydraulic top. The cabriolet was made in 1961 and 1962 for official parades.

RAF in Riga produced the GAZ 13A Universal, an estate, in the 1960s in Riga; this was also built as the GAZ 13C 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, Korea, Bulgaria, Hungary, Mongolia, and Finland, among others; Fidel Castro was given one 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 and Prime Minister, Prince Norodom Sihanouk 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 99 mph (159 km/h).

Most Chaikas were saloons. The M13B was built for only two years 1961 and 1962. The GAZ 13 was discontinued in 1981. The M14 debuted in 1977, and ran to the end of Chaika production in 1988. Enthusiasts often point to the 1955-56 U.S. Packards as the inspiration for the early Chaika's styling. Nevertheless, Packards of 1955-56 are also have a lot in common with earlier Soviet concept ZIS-112 "Odnoglazka" (1951).

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