The Soviet Union’s light four-wheel drive of the Cold War: the GAZ-69 of 1953 with the Pobeda’s 2.1-litre four and three-speed gearbox on a 2,300 mm wheelbase, as the two-door eight-seat 69 and four-door 69A, built at Gorky in 1953–56 and at Ulyanovsk to 1972 — more than 600,000, plus licence versions in Romania (ARO M461), North Korea (Kaengsaeng 68) and the Chinese BJ212 that grew from it.
MODEL LINEGAZ-69, M-72 and 46BUILT BYUlyanovsk Automobile Plant (UAZ), Gorky Automobile Plant (GAZ)PRODUCED1953–72PRODUCTIONMore than 600,000LAYOUT4 wheels · 91″
The record
Grachev’s team designed the 69 (“Truzhenik”, the toiler) in 1946–52 as the GAZ-67’s successor with a longer, wider body and the M-20 engine; GAZ built it from 1953 and transferred production to the new Ulyanovsk plant from 1954, where it continued to 1972 as the UAZ-69 until the UAZ-469 replaced it. The Soviet Army, the Warsaw Pact, China, Cuba and the Middle East ran it; the 2P26 carried four anti-tank missiles on it; the M-72 Pobeda of 1955 and the GAZ-46 amphibian used its drivetrain.
ENGINE2.1-litre GAZ-M20 petrol four, 55 hp (65 hp later)
PRODUCTION RUNMore than 600,000
COUNTRY OF ORIGINRussia
STATUSreplaced by the UAZ-469 in 1972
RECORD KINDBase model
MODEL LINEGAZ-69, M-72 and 46
FAMILYGAZ-69, M-72 and 46
WHEELS4
NOMINAL WHEELBASE91″
BODY STYLETwo-door, eight seats (69)
VARIANTS2
Catalogue fields describe the vehicle's structure and body as this registry records it. They are not certified factory measurements, and no performance figures are published here.
Body styles & colours
Body style
Factory colours
Protective green (khaki)
Codes on hover. Hex values are representative approximations of period paint unless a source states a measured value.
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