Yet during the First World War, the car factory was established in Moscow. Currently, this is the Plant Named after Likhachov. From 1931 to 1956, it was named after the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin with the abbreviation ZIS. Plenty of different cars and trucks had such names.
Since 1933, the enterprise produced different modifications of the ZIS-5 truck. It was the further development of the earlier model AMO-3, which was also the modification of the American truck Autocar. The popular name of it was “three-ton-truck” due to its load capacity. Also, people called it “Zakhar” or “Zakhar Ivanovych” - the male name sounding like first letters of abbreviation.
The ZIS-5 became a widely produced and cost-effective model: most of the details were made of the cast iron, cheap steel and wood. The engine had 73 horsepower, with low standards of the petrol quality, and could be easily started even in extreme frost. The maximum speed was 60 kilometers per hour. In addition, the repair of the truck was simple - even a non-qualified mechanic could provide it with a minimal set of tools.
Few modifications of the ZIS-5 truck were designed for the civil and military purposes. For example, there were mobile laboratories, surgeries, meatpacking factories, cinema sets, fire trucks and passenger buses. On the chassis of the ZIS-5, there were searchlights of the anti-aircraft defense and the 20-mm anti-aircraft cannons. During the Civil War in Spain, the armored version of the “three-ton-truck” was used.
The Red Army actively exploited the ZIS-5 during the battle against the Japanese forces on the Khalkhin-Gol River, the Soviet-Finnish and the German-Soviet wars. By 1941, almost half of the Red Army’s motor pool consisted of them. They were capable of transferring up to 25 fighters, ammo, petrol, towing the artillery. The military drivers risked their lives while transferring such loads, because the trucks became the number-one targets for the enemy.
From 1942 to 1947, the simplified modification of the ZIS-5 was produced. Each of its samples saved around 124 kilograms of iron.
In some cases, the Wehrmacht captured the ZIS-5 trucks. The German soldiers appreciated its capacity for off-road driving - better than of the German trucks.
The drivers of the ZIS-5 did not have comfortable conditions, but they appreciated its reliability. That is why the duration of its production was rather long - until 1958.
