Let it look like it was painted by his kids in kindergarten – there were no equal on Burlak functionality.
Rather, this statement is true if we consider the GAZ-2307 “Burlak” as a real car, but he never got to the conveyor, which, however, does not interfere with evaluating its capabilities using “live” prototypes. At the end of the 80s, this concept made a serious impression on fans of the Soviet automobile industry, but this is not surprising – they really tried on the project.
The dubious appearance of the GAZ-2307 was dictated by the need to produce a new pickup as soon as possible – the demand for the Volga rolled down, the Gorky Automobile Plant needed a radical “shake-up”, because the designers decided not to go around. Masters took the Volga GAZ-31029 as a basis, attaching a frame and a body compartment to the front of the car.
A carrying capacity of 1000 kilograms turned the GAZ-2307 into an excellent example of a commercial truck that could not only “carry a lot”, but also do it quickly, with a high level of comfort. For the latter, the front suspension, the rear axle, wheels and tires, the power unit and transmission, which “borrowed” from the same GAZ-31029, were responsible here. But the project management did not find approval from the plant management.
Having never reached the assembly line, the GAZ-2307 rear-wheel drive pickup truck remained in the hearts of Soviet and Russian car enthusiasts who managed to see rare instances of the modified Burlak at exhibitions and promotional events. One gets the impression that if the exterior of the GAZ-2307 was not so provocative, then the management of the Gorky Plant would not have raised any complaints.
And by 2020, AvtoVAZ alone remained with its “buckets”, and UAZ occasionally pleases the audience with successful updates. The rest of the Russian auto industry is clearly going through hard times, which is due to, in particular, the rejection of successful concepts in favor of familiar, but “boring” cars.
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