GAZ Volga History

The first pre-production Volga left the Gorky plant on 10 October 1956, replacing the Pobeda as GAZ's primary passenger car. Named for the great Russian river, it became the near-universal transport of Soviet officials, KGB officers, doctors, and taxi drivers — a cultural touchstone that represented an entire epoch. The GAZ-21 (first generation, 1956–1970) was produced in three distinct series totaling 639,478 units; its most distinctive feature was the characteristic 36-slit grille of the 1962 'Baleen' (third series), which became a Volga trademark for decades.

The GAZ-24 (second generation, 1970–1985) brought cleaner, more rectangular 1970s styling while keeping the rear-wheel-drive, inline-four formula. A substantially updated version — the GAZ-24-10 — ran from 1985 to 1992. The third-generation GAZ-3102 (from 1982) offered a more upscale, longer-wheelbase body for official use, spawning a series of progressively restyled variants including the GAZ-31029, GAZ-3110, and the most heavily reworked GAZ-31105 (from 2004).

In March 2003, GAZ's management declared that passenger cars were no longer a priority; the Volga range was officially discontinued in 2010 under CEO Bo Andersson. The GAZ facility then transitioned to contract manufacturing for Volkswagen and General Motors.