 1 1959 Gaz Chaika The Chaika is a luxury car from Russia at a time when Russia controlled the Soviet Union. Chaika production consisted of two generations, the M13 of 1959 to 1981 and the M14 of 1977 to 1988. |
 2 1959 Gaz Chaika The M13 was powered by a 195 bhp 5.5 L V8 driven through a push-button automatic transmission of a similar design to the Chrysler TorqueFlite unit. It was offered as a saloon (GAZ 13), limousine (GAZ 13A), and four-door cabriolet (GAZ 13B) with an electro-hydraulic top. The cabriolet was made in 1961 and 1962 for official parades. |
 3 1959 Gaz Chaika As a limousine-class car, Chaikas were available only to the Soviet government and could not be purchased by ordinary citizens. However, they were allowed to rent Chaikas for weddings. Chaikas were used by Soviet ambassadors and Communist Party First Secretaries in East Germany, Korea, Bulgaria, Hungary, Mongolia and Finland. General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev, who preferred the Chaika to his ZIL, gave one to Fidel Castro. |
 4 1959 Gaz Chaika The Gaz reminds me of the Ford Edsel, the lofty peak of truly awful ugliness. The interior colours look like they were chosen by a committee that could not agree to disagree. The colours would not be out of place in the kitchens of a soviet-built apartment block in the slums of Moskva. This vehicle is not advertised as being for sale; it would probably fail Australian safety standards anyway. |
 5 The remainder of the communist cars are outside the main building, open to the elements, with AMC Ramblers for company. It all seems so fitting; all the unloved cars in one disregarded, unloved place. |
 6 1988 Fiat 126P from Poland The Fiat 126P was the Polish-built version of the Fiat 126 and was a replacement for the Fiat 500. It had a 652cc two-cylinder engine producing a tiny 23 bhp. The Fiat 126 is almost exactly the same size as the original British Mini and its total sales of almost 4.7 million units were close to the Mini's 5.4 million. |
 7 Unloved, unwanted and unregisterable. |
 8 1981 Trabant 601 The 601 was produced from 1963 to 1990. During this long production run, 2,818,547 Trabant 601s were produced and it was the most common vehicle in former East Germany. Over the course of decades, the design of the Trabant changed little, it became increasingly obsolete and its reputation worsened. This had little effect on the sales figures - wait times of 10 years or longer for a new car were not uncommon. |
