Extraordinarily detailed and fully illustrated, this is the story of Soviet cars from the birth of the Soviet Union in 1917 until its demise in 1991, including a chapter dedicated to the post-Soviet era. It is the story of an insular, state-run car industry in which the carefully thought-out ideas of ministerial planners, rather than the fickle nature of customers in a free market, determined what cars were made. The cars of the Soviet Union therefore have a unique heritage: designed for a social purpose, influenced by ...
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Extraordinarily detailed and fully illustrated, this is the story of Soviet cars from the birth of the Soviet Union in 1917 until its demise in 1991, including a chapter dedicated to the post-Soviet era. It is the story of an insular, state-run car industry in which the carefully thought-out ideas of ministerial planners, rather than the fickle nature of customers in a free market, determined what cars were made. The cars of the Soviet Union therefore have a unique heritage: designed for a social purpose, influenced by politicians, built with military needs in mind and sold in a country where the open road could be a 300-mile track across a windswept steppe. This is a fascinating book, full of rarely seen photographs and illustrations, largely in colour, that will interest classic car enthusiasts everywhere.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good. Hardcover. 4to. Published by Haynes Publishing, Newbury Park, CA. 2008. 336 pages. Illustrated. DJ has light shelf-wear present to the DJ extremities. Bound in cloth boards with titles present to the spine and front board. Boards have light shelf-wear present to the extremities. No ownership marks present. Text is clean and free of marks. Binding tight and solid. The story of the Soviet Union's cars has to be seen in the context of a planned society in a vast, relatively undeveloped territory in which everything was planned well in advance, in which consumer items were not a priority until well after the Second World War when the country had developed the necessary heavy industry to be in a position to develop consumer products. This extraordinarily detailed study charts the history of Soviet cars from the birth of the Soviet Union in 1917 until its demise in 1990, with a conclusion about the post-Soviet era. It is the story of an insular, state-run car industry in which the carefully thought-out ideas of ministerial planners, rather than fickle customers in a free market, determined what cars were made in a country where the open road was often a 300-mile track across a windswept steppe. This is a fascinating book, full of rarely seen photographs and illustrations, largely in color, that will interest all car enthusiasts. EB; 8vo 8"-9" tall.
This is an excellent and well researched history of motorcar manufacture during the Soviet (CCCP) era. Found the text informative and engaging, and filled with many photographs of even the most obscure models. An excellent addition to any motoring library. Thank you, Mr. Thompson, for delivering a history of motorings often overlooked manufacturers, as well as outlines of the political tastes involved in each marque.
