Editing GAZ-51 (section)

== History ==
[[File:Почтовая марка СССР № 4579. 1976. История отечественного автомобилестроения.jpg|thumb|USSR postage stamp No. 4579. 1976]]
[[File:Former estonian military truck.jpg|right|thumb|Former [[Estonian Land Forces|Estonian]] military truck]]
[[File:GAZ-51 1963.jpg|thumb|Fire truck based on the GAZ-51 (2010)]]
[[File:GAZ-51A (7663537188).jpg|thumb|Front view of a GAZ-51A (2012)]]
[[File:GAZ-51 during the VII Aircraft Picnic in Kraków.jpg|thumb|GAZ-51 in Krakow (2010)]]
The ideas for the development of the GAZ-51 date back to the mid-1930s. The [[GAZ-AA]] proved to be increasingly outdated, even by Soviet standards. The American model, the [[Ford Model AA|Ford AA]], had already been taken out of production in 1931. Accordingly, the GAZ-11-51 was designed from February 1937, a light truck with a more powerful engine and a completely revised cab.<ref name="[1]">{{cite web |title=Website of the prototype GAZ-11-51 with historical photographs and the history of the vehicle (Russian) |url=http://www.denisovets.ru/gaz/gazpages/gaz1151.html |website=Denisovets |access-date=8 November 2024}}</ref> The latter was visually similar to that of the [[UralZIS-355M]], which was produced later.

The installed six-cylinder gasoline engine was a copy of the [[Chrysler flathead engine]] as used in the [[Dodge Series D5|Dodge D5]] passenger car. As early as 1936, the Soviet Union had bought a large quantity of these engines in order to replicate them. Production began at GAZ in 1937 under the name GAZ-11. Before the war, it was initially only installed in passenger cars, for example in the [[GAZ-M1#Engine_upgrade|GAZ-11-73]] and the [[GAZ-61]]. It was not until after the war that it was also used in production trucks – as originally planned.<ref>{{cite web |title=Information about the GAZ-11 engine (Russian) |url=http://www.denisovets.ru/gaz/gazpages/gaz1173.html |website=Denisovets |access-date=8 November 2024}}</ref>

By 1939, two prototypes of the GAZ-11-51 had been completed. Due to the war, work on the project was interrupted and not resumed until 1943. Further prototypes were built, incorporating many components from the [[Studebaker US6 2½-ton 6×6 truck|Studebaker US6]], which proved very reliable and durable when in service with the Soviet army.<ref>{{cite web |title=Самый первый «полстапервый» |url=https://www.gruzovikpress.ru/article/1027-gaz-51-samiy-perviy-polstaperviy/ |website=Gruzovnik Press |access-date=8 November 2024}}</ref> In June 1945, pre-series production began. On July 19, 1945, a presentation took place in the Moscow Kremlin, after which large-scale production was approved. This began on January 6, 1946. Models from this early stage can be recognized by the fact that the side windows do not yet have the rounded upper edge that would later be typical.<ref>{{cite web |title=History of the GAZ-51 (Russian) |url=http://www.denisovets.ru/gaz/gazpages/gaz51.html |website=Denisovets |access-date=8 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Detailed website on the GAZ-51 and many model variants built (Russian) |url=http://xn----7sbb5ahj4aiadq2m.xn--p1ai/guide/army/tr/gaz51.shtml |website=Russian army |access-date=8 November 2024}}</ref>

From 1955, the modernized version GAZ-51A was produced. In the summer of 1957, Molotov's name was deleted from the factory name, which was reflected in the fact that "Gorkovsky Avtozavod" (Горьковский автозавод) was now engraved on the fenders instead of "Avtozavod imeni Molotova" (Автозавод имени Молотова). In 1958, annual production reached its peak of 173,000 units. In 1961, production of the successor [[GAZ-53]] started and a few years later there was the GAZ-52. Nevertheless, the GAZ-51 continued to be built until April 2, 1975 and some special versions such as the GAZ-93 tipper until 1976. In total, 3,481,033 GAZ-51 trucks rolled off the assembly line in almost 30 years.