GAZ-3115 Volga

The GAZ-3115 Volga was a Russian mid-size passenger car developed by the Gorky Automobile Plant in 2003 as a thoroughly modern successor to the long-running Volga family. It belonged to a lower size class than earlier Volgas, class D, and was the plant's attempt to take over the market niche left empty when Moskvich car production stopped. It kept rear-wheel drive but differed strongly from earlier GAZ cars in its design and running gear, with an independent multi-link rear suspension on a subframe, double wishbones at the front, rack steering with power assistance, disc brakes all round and a five-speed gearbox. The first cars had a 16-valve ZMZ-4062 engine, and engines from 1.7 to 2.0 litres, some turbocharged, were planned. Only a few prototypes were built. High tooling costs, above one billion dollars, and the plant's lack of experience in this class ended the project, and GAZ kept modernising the old GAZ-3110 and turned to a licensed Chrysler Sebring platform instead. The door handles designed for the car were later used on the GAZ-24 body that carried the index 31105.