Military Wheels 7209 Soviet GAZ-51 Fuel Truck

The GAZ-51 was a Soviet multi-role civilian and military truck from the Second World War and the post-war period. The first copies of this car were presented in 1940, but mass production started only in 1946 and lasted until 1975. Approximately 3.4 million trucks of this type were created in its course. The car was manufactured by plants in the cities of Irkutsk and Gorky. A single GAZ-51 engine with a capacity of 70 hp served as the drive.

The GAZ-51 was developed to replace the GAZ-AA and GAZ-MM cars. The first design works started as early as 1937, but in 1941 they were interrupted as a result of the German invasion of the USSR. They were resumed only in 1943, changing also a few design assumptions of the new car - especially the load capacity requirements. Finally, after a series of tests and the introduction of further changes, serial production started in 1946. Many specialized versions were created in its course, including: GAZ-51I (version with a crew cab), GAZ-51N (military version), GAZ-51S (version intended for agriculture) and GAZ-51W (export version with increased capacity). The GAZ-51 car was also licensed - for example in Poland under the designation FSC Lublin-51.