Stalin's Personal Transport

Discover the paranoid personal transport requirements of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, examining his armoured limousines and train.

[andrewholdaway]

Stalin wasn't paranoid. Everybody really was out to get him.

[actiniumanarchy]

An 8, 000lb beast being able to reach 75mph with a 3 speed gearbox and a straight six (despite its displacement) is quite impressive indeed

[nitramretep]

This channel is becoming one of the best WWII historical documentation on YouTube!

[johngibson]

It was always Stalin so they kept changing cars ...

[azbag]

75 mph and 8 mpg is actually impressive

[zebracherub]

6.0, I8, 162hp... gotta love those figures from the old times. Not to mention the 3-speed manual! Look at how far we have come with our modern cars today, it's crazy

[bgumbleton]

Takin the midnight train to Georgia....

[davidrohlfing]

This car strongly resembles the 1942 Packard 180, the top of the line for that manufacturer of fine cars. I was a Packard owner for a while and learned a lot of history about that company. The 1942 model was a continuation of a series that began in 1940. Only the trim was changed for 1941 and 1942 models, a common practice with all car makers at that time. No cars were built in the US from February 1942 until September 1945 as the car companies switched over to war materiel manufacturing. After the War, the car companies went back to civilian manufacture and the cars looked a lot like the prewar ones. But the Packard line consisted only of the prewar Clipper line, which was manufactured beginning in 1941. The big Packards were not there. The legend is that among the lend lease items that were shipped to USSR via Murmansk were the body and fender dies for the senior Packards, the 180 and 160 (a trimmed down 180). The proof is in the details. The ZIS cars are virtual duplicates of the Packards. I have seen one of these, a car that was given to Kim Il Sung by Stalin and which was captured during the Korean War. Close up, the fit, finish, and interior are not up to par but the car is a dead ringer.

[bigboy]

It did not have a speedo, it had a calendar . .

[hildoschutte]

Exactly the same car, probably one of Stalin's left-overs, was presented in 1954 by the Soviet Communist Party to the Vietnamese Central Labour Party. It was used by Ho Chi Minh and other Vietnamese dignitaries until 1972. Today it can still be seen as an exhibit in front of the Museum of the Revolution in Hanoi.

[WillNGo]

One of the Stalin biographies I've read (sorry I can't remember which one) said that for a while Koba used to give rides to Soviet citizens waiting at bus stops. Packards, (according to my probably faulty memory of Jay Leno's Garage YouTube Channel) were expensive, but were not known for being luxurious, instead they had very powerful engines and were very fast.

[connormclernon]

2:26 makes you wonder who Stalin thought about sending to gulag upon that ivory throne.

[chrisneedham]

It's still an impressive and beautiful car. Thanks for your video

[hielke]

''eight and a halve miles per gallon''
''seven and a half centimeters thick''
Let's confuse everyone (metric>imperial)

[kencur]

It seems the toilet cannot be cleaned any further.

[Little-Oshawott-]

How did it change gauge from Russian gauge to standard gauge when it crossed the Polish-Soviet border on its way to the Potsdam Conference?

[visionist]

Stalin's railway carriage looks even heavier than it is... I was expecting 100+ tons

[rmvascofonseca]

The 115 Zis was powered by a 6 liter straight-eight engine, and not by a 6 cylinder. Power 162 hp. Additionally, each window weighed more than 200 kg.

[Wingalaxi]

Very interesting, Mark! There subsists a certain suspicion that Beria, fearing that he was next for the chop, had a personal hand in Stalin's death.

[sammni]

Amazing! You keep hitting things NO ONE ever talks about!