You can hardly call me a car fanatic - I have trouble taking care of my own, but when I stumble upon an old beauty, I am one of the first to whip out my cellphone to grab some shots.
When I was younger, I always thought I'd buy myself one of these Volgas as a Sunday car, but I soon realized, waxing and washing and being elbow-deep in old car engines was not for me.
Meet the GAZ-21
Volga GAZ-21 was manufactured over a 14-year span, in three series.Not like the BMW, but rather the series got more upgrades over the years.
Series one, manufactured from 1956 -1958, was called "The Star", because it features a shape of a star on the front grille with three horizontal bars.
Click to see a still of Volga GAZ-21 "The Star" in "Vanad ja kobedad saavad jalad alla"
While production started in 1956, they were barely ready and only managed to manufacture 5 cars in that year! But what an interesting fact - they even made a model with automatic transmission, but at that time these models were hard to maintain and service - meaning workshops and owners just didn't know how and most likely there was a shortage of parts as well.
Enter Series Two
While visiting @raili's relative, who owns a house in a nearby village deep in the woods, I was positively surprised to stumble upon this Series Two GAZ-21, nicknamed "The Shark", quietly resting in the back corner of the yard, under a garage roof.
"The Shark." With some imagination it's easy to see the resemblance. Eyes and the nose of the car viciously leaning forward like a shark looking for it's prey, with the grille making a furious impression as well.
Apparently, this car was driven here just a few years ago with no help from tow trucks. So apparently some Russian tech is solid and built to last.
"The Shark" featured a 3-speed manual transmission, high ground clearance, tubeless tires and rust-proof body no-one had ever expected from a Russin vehicle. I guess that's the reason some of these cars still look like a million dollars.
While time has started eating on the paint, the body still looks strong. There are places you can have the same paint job done as on the original, if one was to have intentions of renewing the car. There was something beautiful about the ugly old colours of the old russian vehicles, collectors and rare cars enthusiasts still strive for their vehicles to look like the original.
The interior was bland, but perhaps by not the standards of the days back then. The steering wheel alone is pure class and makes up for the lack of any other aesthetics. Even the Russian letters "Bолга" in the middle of the dash on the stereo look like an aesthetics dream.
Series Two even featured windshield wipers, so you actually could drive in the rain now.
The front seat came in one long cushion, so you could actually fit multiple people in front there, driving safety was not a big concern back then.
Those triangular side windows in the front were perfect for smokers, you would just flip it open and put your cigarette tip out of the window.
Alas, the doors still open and close like the barn doors. The doors are flagging on their hinges and need to be closed with a bang and sometimes they still don't close.
At least the back seat passengers have had a nice ashtray installed as well, not having triangular windows themselves.
Series Three
Series Three, "Baleen", featured even more upgrades, a new front grille with even more vertical bars, a station wagon model for export and official use and much more.
Click to see a still of GAZ-21, "Baleen", in "Salt (2010)"
All in all, Volga GAZ-21 all series are iconic and beautiful cars and collectors pay hefty money for cars in mint condition. They have been featured in countless movies and various car shows wouldn't be the same without an old Volga present.
There are still many of them lying around in corners of old farms, in abandoned garages. Find them, photograph them, if possible, drive around in them.
Looking around in the corners of the lot, I found various other old vehicles, growing one with nature, like they are right where they belong. I will share the photos with you below as I bid you farewell for now.
