The Zis 101 was replaced in 1940 by the Zis 101A which combined the body of the 101 - but with modernised grille treatment - with the more modern engine of the Zis 102. Again, production ceased in 1941 due to the German invasion.
The Gaz M11 in various forms - including the 61 series which were among the world's first four wheel drive passanger cars - superceded the Gaz M1 in 1940. It used a 6 cylynder power plant of 3,485cc and 76 hp giving a top speed in the standard sedan of 69 mph. Production was halted in 1941 but resumed after the war between 1945 and 1946 when it was superceded by the all new Gaz M20 Pobeda.
I have a green version of the maroon one pictured above. Thinking it MIGHT have been based on an American car the best I could come up with was a prewar Nash but they had trunks and were not "slopers".
@john-quilterHello John, this is not an area of expertise of mine, however from what I have read, the first Soviet limousine, Leningrad L1 was almost identical to the all new 1931 Buick (pictured below in blue by Kherson Models, alongside the Leningrad L1 by Наш Автопром - sadly not mine.)
We may surmise then, that Russian engineers and stylists were familiar with Buick products, when we compare the 1936 Buick Limited (both pictured below, on right a special body '36) with the Zis 101. We may note that by the time we reach the Zis 102, the Zis grille as been more closely aligned with the contemporary Buick grille and the Zis 101A that you picture is very much aligned with 1938 Buick grilles. It is worth noting too, that sloping the rear portion of cars, to incorporate the boot, was standard practice with couchbuilders when creating seven passenger limousines to maximise interior space allowed by the chassis. Again, this is casual observation.
@mg-harv Harv, it is very nice to see this model. I have never seen one with engine detail, and whilst I have more recent Russo-Balt issues, I only have two of the Saratov issues - sans beautiful boxes. One day, perhaps if you have a bored moment, you'd be able to treat us to pictures of the set?
@ed-davis Technically, they were not "bought". These were acquired through trades with collectors in the USSR and Czechoslovakia in the 1982-1991 time frame. Sending currency to Soviet block countries back then was not legal, I think, so we arranged what we thought were fair trades. I found a number of these collectors through ads in the old Modellers World and Model Auto Review print publications.
Around 1991 or so I also obtained a certain government clearance. Made for an interesting interview to say the least! But I decided to suspend some of this trading in favor of easily maintaining this clearance.
