The GAZ-66, nicknamed "Shishiga", is a two-axle off-road truck with a 4×4 wheel configuration and a cab-over-engine layout, produced by the Gorky Automobile Plant from 1964 to 1999. The first production vehicle rolled off the assembly line in July 1964; total output of all modifications reached 965,941 vehicles.[1][2]
Where the nickname came from
"Shishiga" is a creature from Russian folk belief, a relative of the kikimora, said to live by forest rivers and swamps. The nickname stuck to the truck both for its rhyme with the number 66 and for its meaning: the vehicle felt right at home in exactly that kind of terrain, and its rugged looks matched popular notions of an evil spirit.[1]
Design
Payload capacity was two tonnes. The cab-over-engine layout made it possible to shorten the vehicle and improve axle load distribution — hence its famous off-road performance.[1]
For the GAZ-66, engineers developed a version of the ZMZ-53-66 series engine with displacement reduced from 5.5 to 4.3 litres and output of 115 hp. Specific power rose sharply: 32 hp per tonne of curb weight, against 21 for its predecessor.[1]
Service
The truck became the standard light army truck and, at the same time, a workhorse for geologists, forestry workers, communications crews, and agriculture. Thirty-five years on the assembly line is a longevity record among Gorky-built trucks.[2] The GAZ-66 continued the line of all-wheel-drive trucks from the GAZ-63, and was in turn succeeded by the "Sadko" GAZ-3308.
Sources
- autonews.ru — What "Shishiga" means: all the facts about the legendary GAZ-66 (archive)
- zr.ru — Za Rulyom — "Shishiga" of our youth: the story of the million-unit GAZ-66 truck (archive)