ZiS-110. Stalin’s personal car
The ZiS-110 was developed from the reverse engineering of a Packard Super Eight during 1944. The first five prototypes were completed by August 1945. It was powered by a 6-litre, straight 8-cylinder engine, producing 140 HP (104 kW) and giving a top speed of over 140 km/h (87 mph). It was made in both sedan and convertible versions.
The ZiS was rumored to use machinery from the Packard 180 assembly line which was sent to the USSR after American production ended. However, according to The Fall of the Packard Motor Car Company, there is no evidence whatsoever in the Packard archives of such a transfer. Moreover, as one of the main results of the collection of information and material of Bert Hein, there can be many current opinions within the car literature disproved.
The database includes, in addition to some pictures of commissars with Packards, a registry of existing cars and information about all ZiS versions, but particularly a point to point comparison between the products of Packard and ZiS. Therefore more likely that the top commissars, including Joseph Stalin, owned several Packards and wanted their first effort at a luxury car to be based on what is arguably one of the top cars of the 1940s.
These cars were often given away as gifts to foreign communist leaders such as Chinese leader Mao Zedong and North Korean premier Kim Il-sung. After Stalin, the ZiL-110 Cabriolet was used as a parade car for Nikita Khrushchev and this model was also given to Enver Hoxha, the lifelong president of Albania. Ho Chi Minh, the first president of North Vietnam, also received one, which can be seen on display on the grounds of his former residence in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.
Production ended in 1958, with total of 2,089 cars made.
Made in the USSR
Years of production: 1945-1958
Engine: 8 cylinders; 6005 cm³
Power: 141 HP
Max speed: 140 km/h
Fuel consumption: 16 l/100 km
