Russian GAZ66

[MuddyMudskipper]

I was doing my usual looking around the web for interesting stuff and while I was doing a search for one of those little 4x4 military vans and I came accross this GAZ66 for sale. Does anyone know anything about these or the vans?

 

[egn]

Last summer I was together with Frank de Wit from Kolatravel enjoying the Kola peninsula in Russia. He has a Gaz66 and uses it to make tours. It is a very capable small offroad vehicle with a gas engine. The engine has high torque and can be driven with very low rpm offroad. It has an unsynchronized transmission and the gear shift stick is a little behind. So it is not very comfortable to drive if you have to change gears very often. Very nice is the tire pressure control system. It is very reliable and it has to be. Frank goes through areas where there is no other car may be for days.

Of course you can find more detailed info in the web:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAZ-66

 

[Explorer 1]

How many gallon per mile

In my travels in Russia I have seen many of these still being used, none as a vacation or pleasure vehicle. My Russian friends say their ride is harsh; they get very poor fuel economy and the ones I saw were very loud. Most Russian vehicle I drove in or were owned by my friends seems to be 60’s and 70’s technology. No Russian I know would buy one.

I suppose that the novelty of having one of these in the States is something but if I told one of my Russian friends that Americans are buying these they would wonder why when we have so many other reliable choices.

If your interested in Russia off-road vehicles, how about a classic Russian Jeep?

 

[viter]

I grew up in Ukraine and saw a bunch of those, however never driven one. They are great off-road - very popular "big" truck for russian off-road enthusiasts, but good luck finding parts for them in US, obviously...
oh, and good quality was never a strong point of USSR auto-industry
check out youtube for some cool videos - http://youtube.com/watch?v=Fom2SX8WFv8

 

[MuddyMudskipper]

I wasn't considering buying a Russian vehicle, i was just curious. A former co-worker did some missionary work in Russia last year who happens to be an avid off-roader. He brought back pictures of all sorts of neat looking trucks, some of which were of the ex-military 4WD vans. He didn't know much about it so I did a search and when I did the GAZ66 came up.

 

[tamangel]

more GAZ 66 stuff..

http://www.russianmilitary.co.uk/details.php?id=17

plus a number of other rigs also..ZIL 157 is nice

GAZ prices (http://www.tanksforsale.co.uk/Military_Vehicle_Prices.htm)
5500 Euro about $8K USD

video:

http://www.russianmilitary.co.uk/images/films/Gaz66-denver.wmv

GAZ camper:
http://www.fireangel.biz/v-Camper+GAZ+66-s4JjqoMBXkc


Mike

 

[Dave Bennett]

Lots of these still in use in Iraq... they appear to be very solidly and simply built. I don't imagine it would take much to keep one running other than money

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

I like it!

.....Can I just rent out my house for about Three Years..........and live in it............and Travel the World!

Any Takers...........?!!!!:wings: :costumed-smiley-007

Although...........I would prefer Diesel!

 

[egn]

Although...........I would prefer Diesel!

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/4546/gaz66_40.html :victory:

 

[MuddyMudskipper]

Although...........I would prefer Diesel!

I kept thinking the same thing.....like "How hard would it be to put a Navistar Diesel there?" Navistar provides motors for all of Ford's Super Duty trucks so I know they make good power and have TONS of aftermarket goodies.

 

[juha_teuvonnen]

I kept thinking the same thing.....like "How hard would it be to put a Navistar Diesel there?" Navistar provides motors for all of Ford's Super Duty trucks so I know they make good power and have TONS of aftermarket goodies.

I suspect that the biggest hurdle will be importing and dealing with all the associated paperwork. Russians never bothered with US DOT certifications or emissions compliance for any of their army trucks. If it's 25 years old it's exempt though.

As for diesel, I'd go with the russian D-245 simply because it's a direct bolt-on. One of the new versions of this truck uses this engine. This is a very popular engine for Russian commercial trucks.

Navistar can be installed in GAZ-66, but you will have to come up with a custom bellhousing which will likely cost you 60% of the complete D-245 setup. Besides, Navistar is much heavier than the original V8 gas engine and makes a lot more torque. I doubt that russian gearbox (and transfer case) are going to last long with the engine that makes 50% more power and 100% more torque.

 

[4Rescue]

..

http://www.russianmilitary.co.uk/details.php?id=17

UH, that is one AWSOME site, thanks... Screw it, I'll just buy one of those "Red Dawn" helo's and get EVERYWHERE I ever imagined.

Really, guy's n gals give this site a look around under the for sale section... There are some amazing vehicles there to look at and just wonder about eh. The 8wd Tatra sure lights a fire in my heart.

And simply reading the "Start-up" process for this thing makes my head spin. http://www.russianmilitary.co.uk/details.php?id=57

Cheers

Dave