The GAZ‑13 Chaika is a legendary executive car built at the Gorky Automobile Plant. It appears in countless archive materials and official photographs. In its day it carried ministers, heads of state committees, top generals, ambassadors and academics. Only 3,179 cars of all versions were ever built.
We decided to restore the car to match archive materials of the early 1958–59 series. Back then Chaikas wore a fashionable two‑tone finish: beige with red, or beige with light green.
The car came to us in a truly sorry state. It is hard to describe just how much work it took to bring the former legend back to life.
We used only original parts for the restoration, which added plenty of difficulty. Even so, after a year of intensive work the car made its first trip — straight to the Avtoexotica show.
During the restoration we had to piece together information about the Chaika’s engineering and history bit by bit. Over time it grew into a thorough monograph on the making of the GAZ‑13 Chaika.
The Chaika has repeatedly competed in and won awards at international vintage rallies and festivals — including “Best restoration of a domestic car” (Avtoexotica) and the Gorky Automobile Plant Cup for the restoration of a GAZ‑13 Chaika.
