GAZ-AA

GAZ-AA at a glance

The GAZ-AA is a two-axle, rear-wheel-drive flatbed truck with a two-seat cab, made by GAZ in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1932 to 1938. Its design came almost unchanged from Ford, and the plant that built it was set up with Ford's technical help. It was also built in very large numbers: German-language references note that at times more than 65% of all Soviet-built vehicles were GAZ-AA trucks.

The truck matters to the history of GAZ as a company because it was one of the plant's first products. The factory learned mass production on this Ford-derived 1.5-tonner and its passenger-car sibling, the GAZ-A.

From the Ford agreement to the first NAZ-AA

The GAZ-AA exists because the Soviet government chose to buy a complete, proven vehicle design and the know-how to build it, rather than develop a truck of its own. On 31 May 1929 (some accounts give 30 May) the Supreme Soviet of the National Economy signed a technical-assistance agreement with the Ford Motor Company.

Under the deal the USSR agreed to buy tens of thousands of unassembled Ford cars and trucks, usually quoted as 72,000 kits, together with spare parts. Ford, in turn, would help set up a plant designed for about 100,000 vehicles a year. The construction contract went to the Austin Company of Cleveland, Ohio, which started work on the car works and a workers' town in 1930.

From Ford kits to a Soviet truck

Production began with assembly before the main plant was ready. The first ten Ford AA trucks were put together from imported parts in February 1930. The KIM works assembled Ford A and AA kits from 1930 to 1933. From December 1932 it also built GAZ-AA trucks, providing roughly 30% of output, and it operated as a GAZ branch from August 1933.

The first truck made entirely at the new plant left the line in January 1932, under the name NAZ-AA. The works was renamed the Gorky Automobile Plant (GAZ) in 1932–33 (sources give October 1932 or 1933), and the truck became the GAZ-AA. By the end of 1932 the plant was producing about 60 trucks a day.

How many were built

Production figures for the family are uncertain, but the total is usually put at close to one million. German-language references give about 1,023,000 trucks across all variants, while an English-language source based on Ford licence records cites more than 985,000 AA-type trucks built by GAZ between 1932 and 1950. Both totals include the GAZ-MM, so a fair summary is "about one million AA and MM trucks by around 1950". No reliable figure exists for the GAZ-AA alone.

Ford layout, Soviet changes

The GAZ-AA follows the Ford AA layout: a ladder frame, beam axles on leaf springs, a front-mounted engine and drive to a rear axle with dual rear wheels. Brakes are mechanical and act on both axles. The cab seats two, and the standard body is a flatbed with a cargo floor about 2,515 mm (99.0 in) long. Ground clearance is given as 200 mm (7.9 in).

Soviet engineers did not copy the Ford drawings blindly. The Soviet blueprints specified thicker steel in places and an upgraded suspension, changes meant for poor roads and heavy use. From November 1932 the truck received an all-metal cab, often referred to by its index GAZ-82.

Ford Model AA: the starting point

The Ford Model AA was built in the United States from 1927 to 1932, with design work dating back to 1926. It shared its 3.3-litre (201 cu in) four with the Model A car and was rated at 30 kW (40 hp) at 2,200 rpm. Ford offered it with a 131 in (3,327 mm) or 157.5 in (4,000 mm) wheelbase and a four-speed gearbox with a very low first gear. The GAZ-AA kept this basic package, which is why its engine and power figures match the American truck so closely.

The 3.3-litre engine and four-speed gearbox

The GAZ-AA engine is a water-cooled, four-cylinder petrol unit with a displacement of 3,285 cc (200.5 cu in), a copy of Ford's 201 cu in engine. Bore and stroke are quoted as 98.43 × 107.95 mm (3.88 × 4.25 in). Output is 29.5 kW (40 PS) at about 2,200 rpm. Some catalogue data lists an early figure of 31 kW (42 PS), but the 40 PS rating is the one most references use.

Power goes through a single dry-plate clutch and a four-speed manual gearbox with one reverse gear to the rear axle. There is no front-wheel drive on the two-axle truck. Top speed is 70 km/h (43.5 mph), a figure sources quote for the loaded truck as well.

Fuel use is given as about 20.5 L/100 km (11.5 mpg US), and the 40 L (10.6 US gal) tank allows a range of about 215 km (134 mi). Both numbers come from single sources and should be read as typical rather than exact. Torque and compression ratio figures vary too much between references to quote with confidence.

GAZ-AA specifications

The table gives the standard two-axle GAZ-AA flatbed as built from 1932 to 1938.

Two values need context. The width appears as 1,950 mm (76.8 in) in one reference family and 2,040 mm (80.3 in) in another. The wheelbase is split the same way: 3,340 mm matches the Ford AA's 131.5 in, while 3,440 mm appears in English-language sources. The power figure is in metric horsepower (PS), as quoted by Soviet sources.

GAZ-AA variants: tippers, buses, gas trucks and the AAA

The GAZ-AA chassis carried a wide range of civilian bodies, from tippers and buses to ambulances, fire engines and alternative-fuel trucks. Dates for several variants differ between sources, so they are given as ranges.

GAZ-AAA and GAZ-MM

Two derivatives grew into models of their own. The GAZ-AAA added a third axle for heavier loads and rough roads; English-language references give 37,373 built. The GAZ-MM of 1938 took the more powerful GAZ-M1 engine, rated at 37 kW (50 PS), and added reinforced suspension, new steering and a new cardan shaft, and angular front wings. GAZ built the MM until 1947, after which production moved elsewhere; the end date is given as about 1950 or as late as 1956.

In service: operation, reliability and legacy

The GAZ-AA was a simple truck that did much of the everyday carrying in the Soviet economy of the 1930s. Mechanical brakes, a manual gearbox and a low-revving four-cylinder engine kept the design easy to understand and repair, and the same chassis could take a flatbed, a tipper, a bus or a fire-engine body.

Verified data on service life or failure rates does not exist in reliable sources, so claims about how long the trucks lasted should be treated with caution. What is clear is the legacy. The GAZ-AA taught the plant mass production, its successor the GAZ-MM extended the design for more than a decade, and the later GAZ-51 replaced the family with a new design. GAZ went on to build later trucks such as the GAZ-63 and the GAZ-52, alongside cars such as the GAZ-M20 Pobeda. The full range is in the GAZ model catalogue.

Surviving GAZ-AA trucks

No register of surviving GAZ-AA trucks was found, so this page gives no count or market values; scale models of the truck exist. Restored examples can mix parts from different years, so the details that separate an AA from an MM are worth knowing: the MM has angular front wings, revised steering and the 50 PS engine. Without documentation, it can be hard to say which parts of a surviving truck are original. Other trucks and cars from the same era are collected in our overview of Soviet classic cars.