Volga GAZ-3102 History

Hand-assembly of the GAZ-3102 began in April 1982 at the specialist unit of the factory that also built the flagship GAZ-13 Chaika limousines, with an annual run of roughly 3,000 cars. Based on the GAZ-24 platform with a new four-headlight fascia and revised interior, it was initially reserved exclusively for the KGB and senior government bodies — it was never sold to the public, nor used as a taxi or ambulance.

Its exclusivity made the 3102 the most desirable Volga through the entire Soviet period and into the 1990s, when the collapse of the USSR created a new class of Russian businessmen who prized the car's government-pedigree image. Production ran in parallel with the mainstream Volga variants for nearly three decades, continuing until 2009 when GAZ wound down the last of its traditional Volga sedan lines ahead of the Siber transition.