M-1, its official name, the model had received in honor of Vyacheslav Molotov, Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR at the time; later, on the basis of this index, the people began to affectionately call it “Emka.”
This car was indeed a landmark brainchild of engineers and designers of the time. The M-1 model replaced GAZ-A, the first Soviet mass production vehicle – figuratively speaking, a frame on wheels which offered minimum benefits and no protection from precipitation. In fact, GAZ-A had been an old Ford’s development of the 1920s – the Ford-A model transferred from inch system to metric.
Europe and America at the same time, in the 1930s and 1940s, had introduced some revolutionary innovations to the automotive industry. Then, the Western world had been mass producing quite comfortable (and some ultra-comfortable) cars with powerful engines, luxurious sofas, and various interior equipment including radio. New types of suspensions had been developed to allow absorbing the vibration from road bumps; hydraulic clutches in the transmission had significantly increased the smoothness of gear changes; brakes of new design had enveloped all four wheels of the vehicle; and there had been many other technical innovations.
But the prototype of “Emka” was a rather economical and pragmatic model – Ford B-40A, a 1934 Sedan designed for the American consumer and mass conveyor assembly. The technical drawings of the model were queried following the 10-year contract with Ford for technical support of the car plant in Nizhny Novgorod (the city had been renamed to Gorky in 1932). However, designers at Gorky wanted something more than simple copying. The Ford model was rather weak in the suspension, as it had been designed for American roads; it also featured some complex elements in manufacture, which were hard to obtain for the Soviet industrial technology at the time.
Therefore, the creative team of designers and engineers, led by Andrei Lipgart, who later became a legend, had been tasked with making a vehicle which would be the most technological, easy to maintain, and durable; as well as have an improved passability on any terrain. And it was the task they coped with well.
The car possessed an engine with an acceptable capacity (up to 3.24 liters); a door that closed tightly, not allowing the dust into the interior, which had been a problem of the earlier designs; modern lights; an interior ventilation system through four rotating vents; and an adjustable front seat.
The car’s frame had become stronger, reinforced with an X-shaped crossbar, which increased rigidity. Its engine was upgraded substantially: by improving the degree of compression, its power had been increased to 50 hp. The system utilized a gasoline pump – previously, the fuel went from the tank to the carburetor on its own. A new oil pump enhanced the quality of oil under pressure greatly, reducing the splashing; a water pump, which replaced thermosiphon, had made the cooling system more reliable. The model also featured an automatic system to regulate pre-ignition – before it was carried out by a hand lever on the steering wheel. These and some other engineering solutions made the “Emka” engine a quite modern one, allowing its use without any further modernization in GAZ-AA and GAZ-MM trucks, as well as in Soviet jeeps GAZ-64 and GAZ-67.
There were some radical innovations to the vehicle’s body structure. It featured a one-piece roof with a lederine insert to serve as a thermal compensator; the model’s four doors had glass windows instead of the celluloid hinged ones used in GAZ-A. However, the absence of a heater complicated vehicle usage in winter. To prevent a misted windshield, one had to rub salt into it and open the windows.
“Emka” had a relatively short, but very creative life. The plant had been producing this car through June 1943 – until the Vehicle Body Workshop was destroyed in a plane raid. Since the spring of 1936 almost 63,000 cars were released.
In the late 1930s a successful attempt was made to establish a modern American six-cylinder 3.5 liter engine on “Emka.” Relatively to the volume, that engine had twice the power density and was subsequently used in GAZ-51 and ZIM (GAZ-12). After this redesign, the engine hood became more elongated; the springs were strengthened; the brakes’ effectiveness was enhanced; and bilateral hydraulic shock absorbers were installed. In fact, it was a major “Emka” upgrade. The new model has received the GAZ-11-73 index. On its base the world’s first (!) four-wheel drive was designed and put into production – the model GAZ-61 4x4 was intended for senior commanders of the army during the World War Two. Marshals Zhukov, Rokossovsky, Konev, and other military leaders had been using this car. This model had been produced in small quantities of up to 200 units, none of which has survived until today.
“Emka” became a character in many films. Lyubov Orlova used it in the Shining Path movie, and in The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed “Emka” can be seen chasing a bread trailer down the seafront. It participated in the Burnt by the Sun and many other films.
The process of vintage cars restoration, aging 50 or more years, is fundamentally different from the repair of modern ones. Today there is no problem in buying any of the spare parts for a modern machine, and the assembly technology makes its repair not a hard work, but, so to speak, an aggregate replacement; however, the restoration of a vintage car requires an individual approach which would adhere to the technological standards, but the most important thing is the relevant experience and informal, sincere attitude. After all, only this process allows to reproduce the original design and maintain its historical authenticity.
The number of specialists capable of such accomplishments decreases – as the same of spare parts. Thus, I start the process of restoration not only with finding an experienced restorer, but also with searching for a “donor” – one or two similar vehicles in more or less good shape and, what’s important – with minimal self-made improvements. I find it promising that the enthusiasts of Kharkiv and Zaporizhia put vintage car restoration on the professional level.
The hardest part of the original restoration is the reconstruction of all the details inside the car – the coloring of internal panels with a “wooden” texture, greatcoat cloth on the seats, the original dashboard. By the way, in America, from where I had to bring some details for “Emka,” as well as for a restored GAZ-MM “one-and-half lorry,” one can buy all the spare parts for American prototypes of these cars through the catalog. They are manufactured even today for numerous fans of vintage cars and lovers of technical heritage.
During the peace time our country will also see the increase of such enthusiasts again.
