You guys might be interested in seeing a Russian junk yard. Not many trucks but a lot of old cars...

AUTO-USSR: the Museum Of Old Soviet Cars | English Russia

 

Really cool! The colors in those photographs are amazing. It's kind of like watching the Twilight Zone. You recognize cars, but you don't. I wonder if the Russians are as confused when they look at pics of old American iron. Thanks for sharing.

 

VERY cool. Those two old trucks that have the jailbar ford front end melded with a 39-40 chevy truck grill are wild! Like Doc says, it's pretty eerie how many of them look like American vehicles from an alternate reality. They must have been trying to copy American automotive design for several models.

 

Haveing had the chance to drive a couple of Russian vehicles I will have to say that the ones on that site look better than the ones I drove handled - Quality surly was not even Job One Million.

 

The USSR has copied several American models, for example, the Ford AA, Packard, 50s Ford trucks, International and Studebaker trucks, as well as early 50s Ford sedans.

Here's a comparison of a Russian Zil limousine to a 56 Packard. Note the similarities.






Even the logo on this vehicle is similar to the 50s GMC logo.




Check out this forum for more examples and pictures.

Russian = American! (Cars and trucks anyways...) : Prototypes / Models - TT Scale Trains - www.TTNut.com

 

This is a 1956 Clipper, not a Packard. Clippers were a separate make from Packard in 1956.

The 1956 Packard has a different V8 (374 vs 352), grille, front fenders, ornamentation, side trim, rear doors, quarter panels and a 5" longer wheelbase (127" vs 122") than a Clipper. The Russian ZIL is a copy of the Packard.

Stalin and the rest of the Russkie high mucky-mucks (as did Hirohito and other Japanese mucky-mucks) favored Packard's, but after WWII ended, the Russkies made their own ZIL's.

In 1943, Packard/FDR donated the 1940/42 Packard (not Clipper) body dies, were sent over by ship to Murmansk. These cars were replaced by the 1956 Packard version in the late 1950's.

Lend Lease (we never got 'em back, so Lend Lease is a mis-nomer): Most trucks sent to Russia during WWII were Studebakers.

Studebakers were also given to the Brits, used mostly in North Africa. Very few Studebakers were used by the US military during WWII, except in Alaska, Aleutians and when building the ALCAN Highway.

There's aren't too many US cars in these photographs, as they weren't exported to Russia after 1942.

Most are Russian Moscovitch's, East German Trabants, Czech Skoda's with a smattering of "rebadged" British and European imports.

The 1939 Buick and 1935/36 Ford fordor "trunk back" sedan were prolly "liberated" by the Russkies from Germany. Austria or the Balkans.