GAZ-3301

The GAZ-3301 was an experimental two-axle, medium-capacity, cross-country lorry from the Soviet Gorky Automobile Plant. The first prototype was shown in 1982. It was designed from the late 1970s to replace the ageing GAZ-66, with a more modern, safer and more comfortable cab, a 125 horsepower GAZ-542.10 inline six-cylinder diesel engine that the Russian article says was the plant's own design and not a copy of the German Deutz F6L913, reinforced axles and frame, air-hydraulic brakes and wheels taken from the ZIL-131. It carried 2,500 kg and could tow a trailer of the same weight. Trials ran for several years and the truck was ready for series production in 1988, but lack of funds prevented it, and the war in Afghanistan had shown that bonneted trucks protect drivers better from mines. Four prototypes were listed in the Russian Army equipment register until a government decree of September 1998 struck the truck out, while the GAZ-66 stayed in production until 1999 and the bonneted GAZ-3308 Sadko appeared in 1997.