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ZIS-115
EntityQ2071708· pop 10· linked from 6 articles

The ZIS-115 is a Soviet-built, armored version of the ZIS-110 limousine, designed and built especially for Joseph Stalin. A total of 32 of the cars were manufactured between 1948 and 1949. The heavily armored car's design was based on the American 1942 Packard Super Eight. The car weighed over 4 tonnes, with windows made of glass nearly thick (each of which weighed over ) were powered by a hydraulic system. Its straight-eight engine generated with a top speed of .

Key facts

Automobile.name
ZIS-115
Automobile.image
Зис 115.jpg
Automobile.manufacturer
ZiS
Automobile.assembly
Soviet Union: Moscow (Likhachov Plant)
Automobile.class
Armored limousine
Automobile.body_style
4-door sedan
Automobile.layout
FR layout
Automobile.engine
6.0 L ZIS-115 I8
Automobile.transmission
3-speed manual
Automobile.related
ZIS-110

via Wikipedia infobox

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Encyclopedic overview

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The ZIS-115 is a Soviet-built, armored version of the ZIS-110 limousine, designed and built especially for Joseph Stalin. A total of 32 of the cars were manufactured between 1948 and 1949. The heavily armored car's design was based on the American 1942 Packard Super Eight. The car weighed over 4 tonnes, with windows made of glass nearly thick (each of which weighed over ) were powered by a hydraulic system. Its straight-eight engine generated with a top speed of .

Stalin, wary of assassination, always rode in the rear of the car, seated between two armed bodyguards. He frequently changed the route driven from his home in Kuntsevo to the Kremlin. Usage of this vehicle was seen in other countries, as Stalin donated a ZIS-115 to Chairman Mao Zedong due to the lack of armored Chinese vehicles suitable for the purpose of transporting high-ranking officials. After Stalin's death in 1953, the armored ZIS limousines continued to be used for many years by successive Soviet leaders. In 1955, Nikita Khrushchev donated two of these vehicles (which are on display in the Slovenian museum Bistra) to Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “ZIS-115” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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