Russian Motor Vehicles ─ Soviet Limousines 1930-2003

A book concerning Russian Limousines, and the Chinese models that were initially derived from them, has never been attempted before. This book investigates the whole story of why the Soviet Communist Party required such a bourgeois product, and how production was subsequently achieved. Following the orders of Stalin, work on the Limousines commenced during the first Five Year Plan (1927-1933) at the Putilov Works, late the Kirov Zavod, where the Leningrad L-1 was made in a limited number. From these beginnings, the Moscow and Gorky models emerged, and later the Chinese-derived types made with Russian aid during the late 1950s. Covering all of these models, up to the last one produced in 2003, and featuring full specifications translated from the relevant primary sources in Russian and Chinese literature, this is a meticulous and unique account of a previously neglected subject.

Maurice Kelly had a public school education and subsequently matriculated before going into the armed forces, where he was staff on a troopship. He was initially employed in the aircraft industry as a development engineer, and was a member of a team involved in the making of the boundary layer system on the Blackburn Buccaneer NA-39 seaborne fighter; other projects included the manufacture of the first atomic bomb release mechanism that was made by hand, together with various items for the Blue Streak programs. In 1960, he went to sea as an engineering officer in the British Merchant Navy and the Royal Research Service, as well as the Marina Mercante de Republica de Panama, remaining in this capacity until 1979. Since leaving seafaring he has worked as an ISO9000 quality consultant and as a technical author. He has five published works on engineering subjects, and specializes in historical road transport.