The renovated GAZ History Museum tells how the “Soviet Detroit” arose and the domestic automotive industry developed. Its exposition includes retro cars, legendary trucks and modern equipment. Only in the GAZ History Museum can you see experimental models produced in a single copy and sit in the new NN GAZELLE. Personal impressions and photos of the GAZ Museum in Nizhny Novgorod.
The GAZ History Museum is located in Avtozavodsky district of Nizhny Novgorod, Komsomolskaya metro station. There is a large free parking lot in front of the museum.
Address:
95 Lenin Ave., Nizhny Novgorod (GAZ Group Corporate University building)
Contact phone number +7 (831) 299-06-99
Working hours:
MON-SUN 9:00-19:00
The day off is the last Friday of the month.
Tickets:
adult — 500 rub
pensioners, students — 200 RUB
children from 6 to 18 years — 150 RUB
50% discount on birthday
Tickets are sold on the museum’s website and at the ticket office. On weekends there are guided tours — 700 RUB /adult.
We visited the GAZ History Museum on our third visit to Nizhny Novgorod, after reading the positive reviews, and we didn’t regret it — it was interesting.
Ilya — January 29, 2025
An amazing museum! I was very pleased with the scale of the exposition, just enough not to get tired, but also to learn all the most interesting things. I would like to mention the level of multimedia training separately. Very cool video screens that you can interact with in fun ways (a cart and an axe, for example). Interesting concepts and just rare models, as well as the very first Gazelle.
An absolute delight, I highly recommend it to all lovers of automotive culture and history.
The first exposition of the Museum of the History of the Gorky Automobile Plant was created in 1965, then it occupied two floors. After a large-scale reconstruction in 2022, the museum’s area has almost doubled, now it is a modern interactive museum center. In 2024, the GAZ History Museum won the “Discovery of the Year” prize of the National Corporate Museum Award.
The main exhibition is located on the first and second floors of the museum. The third floor is a children’s active and educational playground, which operates according to an individual schedule for organized groups. There is a cloakroom, toilet, vending machines, and a gift shop in front of the entrance.
The self-guided tour of the GAZ History Museum took us 1.5 hours. We arrived at the museum on Sunday at 2:30 p.m., at that time there was no team tour and there were few visitors.
The start of the inspection is on the second floor. Here you will be introduced to the history of the Gorky Automobile Plant. The decision to build it was made on March 4, 1929 in cooperation with the American company Ford Motor Company.
In record time, 18 months from the start of construction, 52 workshop buildings were erected, access roads were laid, and machine tools were installed. On January 1, 1932, the automobile plant in Nizhny Novgorod went into operation.
On January 29, 1932, the first GAZ-AA truck was assembled. A total of 829,808 cars were produced during its production until 1949. With the help of a VR helmet, you can see how the legendary “polutorka” was assembled on the assembly line.
From 1932 to 1938, the Gorky Automobile Plant named after Molotov produced 68.3% of all cars produced in the country. It was called “Soviet Detroit.”
The GAZ History Museum presents authentic samples — more than 40 models from the earliest to the most modern. Next to each exhibition car and engine there is a sign with a description and technical specifications in Russian and English. All exhibits can be photographed without going behind glass fences.
The first mass-produced passenger car, the M-1 Emka (1936-1942), served as the base for 21 modifications and new GAZ models. The letter “M” in the index means “Molotovets”. From 1932 to 1957, the Gorky Automobile Plant was named after the Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars, V.M. Molotov.
During the Great Patriotic War, the plant switched to the production of defense products. A separate exhibition is dedicated to this period. GAZ produced aircraft engines, rockets, T-60 light tanks, BA-64 armored vehicles, and GAZ-98 air sleds. The automobile plant and the area were repeatedly attacked by enemy aircraft.
In the post-war period, passenger cars Pobeda, Volga, and Chaika were created at the Gorky Automobile Plant. These retro cars are the most photographed exhibits of the museum.
GAZ-12 ZIM was intended for the second echelon of the country’s leadership.
The car of the first series of the Volga family GAZ-21 (1957-58) “floats” between the floors.
The GAZ-13 Chaika is an executive class car. Its length is 5.6 meters and its weight is more than 2 tons.
The GAZ-14 05 parade phaeton was produced in 1981-1988 by order of the USSR Ministry of Defense. A total of 15 cars were produced.
GAZ-31029 is the last Volga produced in 1997.
The “Heroes of their time” section tells about the outstanding employees of the plant — managers and production leaders. Unfortunately, many of them were subjected to Stalinist repression. In 1938, the plant’s director, Sergei Sergeevich Dyakonov, was convicted and shot, and he was fully rehabilitated in 1956. The museum reproduces his workplace.
An entire wall is dedicated to Avtozavodsky district, a socialist city built for workers at the Gorky Automobile Plant. You can not only look at photos, but also listen to audio recordings, pull out drawers with exhibits. The GAZ History Museum conducts guided tours of Avtozavodsky district. Individual trips around the Social city on a Tripster.
On the ground floor of the factory museum, trucks and body building powered by GAS are displayed.
The GAZ-53, with all its modifications, is the most massive truck in the Soviet Union.
GAZ-63 — the first Soviet four-wheel drive truck (1948-1968).
The GAZ-66 truck was awarded many awards: it received the State Quality Mark 6 times, the Gold Medal of the All—Union Chamber of Commerce in 1966, and the Gold Medal at the International Fair in Leipzig in 1967.
The GAZ History Museum exhibits prototypes from the 1990s to the early 2000s. The experimental car models were made in a single copy and were not put into production.
The GAZ-3121 Tiger-2 is an experienced civilian SUV class SUV.
GAZ-18 is a two—seater car for the disabled with manual control, a prototype.
The passage to the area of special-purpose vehicles was closed with a cleaning tape, but we examined the GAZ-5903 (BTR-80) and the GAZ-34031 tracked all-terrain vehicle.
The GAZ Raid Sport factory sports team participates in Russian and international rallies on Gazelle NEXT and Sadko NEXT cars.
Today, the Gorky Automobile Plant produces commercial vehicles. His samples are in the final part of the exhibition.
The well-recognized Gazelle was released in 1994 and is still popular in various versions.
GAZ-2217 “Sobol” is a seven—seater minibus (minivan).
The new NN Gazelle can be opened and driven.
When leaving the museum, take a look at the gift shop. It sells Gazmerch products with the factory’s corporate logo: clothes, backpacks, thermoses, mugs, shoppers, books, key chains.
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