MAZ-500

The MAZ-500 is a Soviet truck built by the Minsk Automobile Plant, with its first prototype running as early as 1955 and the production model shown publicly in 1958. Built as a modernization of Soviet heavy truck design, the MAZ-500 introduced a forward-control cab layout that placed the driver above the front axle, allowing a shorter overall vehicle length and a larger cargo area than the long-hood conventional trucks it replaced in Soviet service. The MAZ-500 became one of the most widely produced Soviet truck families of the mid twentieth century, serving as the basis for numerous specialized variants and remaining in various updated forms in production for many years across the Soviet Union and, later, independent Belarus.