ZiL


About the Soviet−Russian vehicle manufacturer. For other uses, see: ZIL (disambiguation).
AMO ZiL (Avtomobilnoe Moskovskoe Obshchestvo - Zavod Imeni Likhachova)
Formerly called
  • AMO (1916-1931)
  • ZiS (1931-1956)
Joint-stock
Industry Automotive
Founded Moscow, Russia (1916)
Headquarters Moscow, Russia
Key people
  • Igor Zakharov (CEO)
  • Konstantin Laptev (General Director, 2002–present)
Products
  • Luxury automobiles
  • Heavy road vehicles
  • Offroad vehicles
  • Military vehicles
Website www.amo-zil.ru

AMO ZiL, (Russian "Zavod imeni Likhachova"), or the Moscow Joint-Stock Company "Likhachov Plant", and more commonly called ZiL (Russian: Завод имени Лихачёва (ЗиЛ)—Likhachov Plant, literally "Plant named for Likhachov") is a major Russian automobile, truck, military vehicle, and heavy equipment manufacturer based in the city of Moscow, Russia.

ZiL has also produced armored cars for most Soviet leaders, as well as buses, armored fighting vehicles, and aerosani. The company also produces hand-built limousines and high-end luxury sedans (автомобиль представительского класса, also translated as "luxury vehicle") in extremely low quantities, primarily for the former Soviet and current Russian government officials. ZiL passenger cars are priced at the equivalent of models by Maybach and Rolls-Royce, but are largely unknown outside the Commonwealth of Independent States, and production now rarely exceeds a dozen cars per year.

1916 plan for the AMO factory.

History

The factory was founded in 1916 as Avtomobilnoe Moskovskoe Obshchestvo (AMO, Russian Автомобильное Московское Общество (АМО)—Moscow Automotive Society). The plans were to produce Fiat F-15 1.5 tonne trucks under licence. Because of the October Revolution and the subsequent Russian Civil War it took until 1 November 1924 to produce the first vehicle, the AMO-F-15. In 1931 the factory was re-equipped and expanded with the help of the American A.J. Brandt Co., and changed its name to Automotive Factory No. 2 Zavod Imeni Stalina (ZIS or ZiS). After Nikita Khrushchev denounced the cult of personality of Joseph Stalin in 1956, the name was changed again to Zavod imeni Likhachova, after its former director Ivan Alekseevich Likhachov.

ZiL lanes—road lanes dedicated to vehicles carrying top Soviet officials—were named after the car.

Subsidiaries

Models

Executive cars and limousines

Trucks

ZIL 130
ZIL 5301
ZIL 4331
fire truck AC 3.2-40 (ZiL-4331)
fire truck AC 3,0-40 (ZiL-4334)

Buses

interurban bus ZIS-127
ZIL-119

Sport and racing cars

ZIS-112 Sports

Other vehicles

Astronaut Edward T. Lu, having landed with Soyuz TMA-2, is being recovered with a ZIL-49061 vehicle.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Shelepenkov, Maxim. "Beneath the wing of the "Blue Bird"". Retrieved 20 May 2013.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to ZiL.