Even if we forget about the problem with the roads, then in the vastness of the Fatherland there will always be places where there are “certain problems” with the car's cross-country ability. In order to do at least something in such places, you have to use special transport - off-road trucks and even all-terrain vehicles. Very special attention was paid to the development of both in the USSR.
Technology of a new generation
In the first half of the 1950s, attempts were made in the USSR to create fundamentally new trucks. The stake was placed on three-axle vehicles. The design pioneer was Vitaly Andreevich Grachev, who at that time was the head of the secret design bureau of the Moscow I. A. Likhachev plant.
It all started badly.
The first attempt to make a new generation car was the ZIL-157, which appeared in the winter of 1956. The main feature of the car was the transfer of the engine from the engine compartment to the rear of the frame. This was done to reduce the load on the front steering wheels. The first pancake came out "lumpy", the car on tests often lifted the nose.
An experimental sample.
In the summer of 1956, an experimental ZIS-134E3 cart appeared. It tested the scheme of the uniform arrangement of bridges along the entire length of the car. The conceptual solution turned out to be successful and was used for a long time in the design of experimental cars.
Promotional video:
Serious car.
The next year, an experienced ZIL-157R all-terrain vehicle appeared, which was equipped with front and rear steerable wheels. The car received a unit with a recoil of 104 "horses", a tire inflation system, a power steering. Arched tires made it possible to overcome ditches up to 2.5 meters wide.
There was such a sample.
A little later, the concept of the ZIL-136 floating all-terrain vehicle with a 140-horsepower engine was presented. The main feature of the project was that a simplified onboard transmission was used for the first time in the car.
Especially for the army.
In the same 1957, the military BTR-E152V was built. The car also received front and rear steered wheels, pneumatic power steering, the latest hydraulic shock absorbers on all axles. The armored vehicles could continue to move even with two damaged wheels.
The era of ZIL-132
In the early 1960s, an attempt was made to create a highly unconventional family of army four-wheel drive trucks.
New generation.
The main feature of all ZIL-132 class vehicles was that they used a load-bearing base with a smooth bottom, which was complemented by an onboard transmission and uniform wheel spacing. An internal tire pressure adjustment function was also provided.
Very high cross-country ability.
The most interesting example was the military amphibian ZIL-132P, which was supposed to be used to rescue cosmonauts. The side of the body of the novelty was made of aluminum. In addition, the ZIL-132P had a fiberglass cabin. The all-terrain vehicle accelerated on land to 75 km / h, and on water to 7 km / h. Subsequently, the ZIL-132R truck will be created on the same scheme.
KrAZ-E260E
KrAZ-E260E is one of the most interesting projects that deserves special mention today. The car was introduced in 1968 and was the result of the creativity of engineers from a very promising direction at that time.
Terrible power.
The main idea was to equip cars and all-terrain vehicles not with diesel engines, but with gas turbines with a capacity of 395 hp. In 1976, a new model from the same family will be presented, which will receive a more advanced power unit. A turbine with almost 40% less fuel consumption than its predecessor.
US S-3 / S-3MU
Another area that should be remembered today is the creation of pneumatic track vehicles. The first samples of these began to appear in the early 1960s.
It was an interesting sample.
The brightest representative of the family can be considered NAMI S-3 / S-3MU. The prototype was built on the basis of the Moskvich model 415. It is interesting that even when driving on asphalt, the car had a quiet and smooth ride, which was very unusual for all-terrain vehicles of that time.
ZIL-132S
In the winter of 1964, one of the most unusual trucks in the USSR, the ZIL-132S, appeared. The compact all-terrain vehicle was different from all the others in that it was a truck that was placed on four pneumatic rollers.
The bad car came out.
The project had to be closed. Despite the fact that the experimental prototype could accelerate on rough terrain up to 55 km / h, the car showed catastrophic instability and general unreliability.