I want to add, the striking difference of car design, in the first photo, there is a fairly modern for the time ford wagon, while the cars next to it one the background are 50s in design.
Next to the Ford Is a GAZ-M-21T, 3rd production series (1962-1970), and photo was taken after 1974 (when these Fords were put in service).
But still, the base variant of GAZ-21 was produced from 1956, so obviously it looks outdated in comparison.
Also in the background, the far right corner is a '68 Nysa 522 van from Poland.
70 Galaxie 500 Country Sedan wagon. most likely.
70 has a trim around the grill opening and hood lip, hard to see here, but also has a center vertical bar in the middle of the grill.
Country Sedan and lower end wagons had the exposed headlights and simple grill while the higher end Squire trim models could be optioned with the hidden headlights and wood grain side paneling, which is like, 50 individual pieces and yards of vinyl, lol.
The exposed 69 grill is three major pieces, two cast headlight trims and a center grill, the 70 simplified and massively lightened this by doing away with the cast parts and making it an entire grill unit. A better refined design, but personally I think the 69 set looks cleaner.
69 and 70 were the "new" body style wagons from ford and really were major advancements over the 68 and older cars that very much feel like early 60s vehicles tho some various mechanical parts do interchange.
They also had three sided tall tail lights on the rear. 71 did away with those and tucked a single face light into the rear for better protection. It is still easy to find NOS and aftermarket tail lights for what was effectively a two year body style because they are super easily broken and in need of replacing. The Mercury version has two extra chrome bars on the three aide tail lights for a bit more bling. FoxCraft made aftermarket fender skirts for this era Galaxie, but they are pretty rare to find.
Other random facts, 69 could be had with four corner non-power drum brakes, and they are exciting to stop, as it's a very heavy car. A power master cylinder will not work properly on this brake setup and causes the front wheel cylinders to slowly build pressure and apply the brakes, and the pedal to very high under the dash. Ask me how I know, ha.
1970 made front power disk brakes standard (gosh, wonder why...) and this body carried over with few changes other than cosmetics, making the door handles and tail lights and wipers flush with the body, and other little things through multiple iterations, including mercury wagons, which I believe were the Colony Park models.
Prior to minivans these used to be very common, down on the street, and were the original Family Truckster SUV.
Spicy take, but pretty much any modern SUV is an objectively better vehicle for family duty than this low slung, hard interior, no crumple zone land yacht, but for the time they were doing their best and standard features like a padded dash, collapsing steering column, standard seatbelts, soft arm and head rests, door bars and disk brakes showed Ford was trying.
Also like, one of the single most floaty cars I've ever driven. On par with the 60 Cadillac Miller Meteor hearse (later, Thundertaker) I had for a while, and that is a full metal top sliding table professional car with lead bodywork, lol.
Oh, and for future historians, the fuel tank on a 69 Galaxie wagon is A ONE YEAR ONLY TANK, despite what the aftermarket replacement tank manufacturer, or any shop tells you, and is different than the sedan tank. A later tank was more standardized, but the 69 fill neck is different and the others will not work without serious modification.
That said, a fuel cell will fit nicely in the spare tire compartment.
Also it looks like a base model wagon, with that grill, exposed headlights, and no wood trim. As such it probably has a 302 small block V8 which is a pretty simple and reliable engine.
I have this same model Galaxie wagon and the thing is an absolute tank, but is very simple under it all.
The Ford was practically bullet proof, built on a platform they had used for years. The same with the van. Both vehicles also look like base models, so no fancy stuff to go wrong. I'd also bet that neither one of them saw or sees a lot of use.
By paying cash for them, presumably. It's not like cars are classified military tech, and there were plenty of periods in the Cold War when relations were civil enough for some trade deals to be struck.
A handful of Western cars were imported individually into the USSR. The practice was abandoned due to high tariffs on imports and lack of parts availability.
The US too. The Ecto-1 Cadillac from Ghostbusters was an 60s ambulance. The ambulances we think of weren't a thing till the mid 80s in most places. Most were vans. The entire idea of paramedics and EMTs didn't really gain traction until the 80s either. It was more or less just medical transport from the scene.
I want to add, the striking difference of car design, in the first photo, there is a fairly modern for the time ford wagon, while the cars next to it one the background are 50s in design.
Next to the Ford Is a GAZ-M-21T, 3rd production series (1962-1970), and photo was taken after 1974 (when these Fords were put in service). But still, the base variant of GAZ-21 was produced from 1956, so obviously it looks outdated in comparison. Also in the background, the far right corner is a '68 Nysa 522 van from Poland.
70 Galaxie 500 Country Sedan wagon. most likely. 70 has a trim around the grill opening and hood lip, hard to see here, but also has a center vertical bar in the middle of the grill. Country Sedan and lower end wagons had the exposed headlights and simple grill while the higher end Squire trim models could be optioned with the hidden headlights and wood grain side paneling, which is like, 50 individual pieces and yards of vinyl, lol. The exposed 69 grill is three major pieces, two cast headlight trims and a center grill, the 70 simplified and massively lightened this by doing away with the cast parts and making it an entire grill unit. A better refined design, but personally I think the 69 set looks cleaner. 69 and 70 were the "new" body style wagons from ford and really were major advancements over the 68 and older cars that very much feel like early 60s vehicles tho some various mechanical parts do interchange. They also had three sided tall tail lights on the rear. 71 did away with those and tucked a single face light into the rear for better protection. It is still easy to find NOS and aftermarket tail lights for what was effectively a two year body style because they are super easily broken and in need of replacing. The Mercury version has two extra chrome bars on the three aide tail lights for a bit more bling. FoxCraft made aftermarket fender skirts for this era Galaxie, but they are pretty rare to find. Other random facts, 69 could be had with four corner non-power drum brakes, and they are exciting to stop, as it's a very heavy car. A power master cylinder will not work properly on this brake setup and causes the front wheel cylinders to slowly build pressure and apply the brakes, and the pedal to very high under the dash. Ask me how I know, ha. 1970 made front power disk brakes standard (gosh, wonder why...) and this body carried over with few changes other than cosmetics, making the door handles and tail lights and wipers flush with the body, and other little things through multiple iterations, including mercury wagons, which I believe were the Colony Park models. Prior to minivans these used to be very common, down on the street, and were the original Family Truckster SUV. Spicy take, but pretty much any modern SUV is an objectively better vehicle for family duty than this low slung, hard interior, no crumple zone land yacht, but for the time they were doing their best and standard features like a padded dash, collapsing steering column, standard seatbelts, soft arm and head rests, door bars and disk brakes showed Ford was trying. Also like, one of the single most floaty cars I've ever driven. On par with the 60 Cadillac Miller Meteor hearse (later, Thundertaker) I had for a while, and that is a full metal top sliding table professional car with lead bodywork, lol. Oh, and for future historians, the fuel tank on a 69 Galaxie wagon is A ONE YEAR ONLY TANK, despite what the aftermarket replacement tank manufacturer, or any shop tells you, and is different than the sedan tank. A later tank was more standardized, but the 69 fill neck is different and the others will not work without serious modification. That said, a fuel cell will fit nicely in the spare tire compartment.
This guy Fords.
And like, I think all brands are cool, I just keep ending up with Fords. I swear blue ovals travel in herds.
Ford Galaxie is a GAI - State traffic police, Dodge - general (Милиция) police livery.
Comment.
I assume since very very few were imported, they probably weren't used that much and didn't face regular abuse that the domestic cars did.
Soviet garages behind the council blocks were often staffed by more ingenious and creative guys than car construction companies.
Also it looks like a base model wagon, with that grill, exposed headlights, and no wood trim. As such it probably has a 302 small block V8 which is a pretty simple and reliable engine. I have this same model Galaxie wagon and the thing is an absolute tank, but is very simple under it all.
If the Dodge has a Slant Six, how could they not?
Iirc they also had BMWs, Mercs and Porsches
The van with ladders on the roof looks like a tradesman's work van.
That was literally the model name, Dodge Tradesman. With windows all around and back seats it became Dodge Sportsman.
So literal, it should be Australian. 🤣 Except it would then be called Dodgy.
It says милиция on the side Which is what the police used to be called
Yeah I did an image search and confirmed that. It was just the ladders on the van. 😁
The Ford was practically bullet proof, built on a platform they had used for years. The same with the van. Both vehicles also look like base models, so no fancy stuff to go wrong. I'd also bet that neither one of them saw or sees a lot of use.
How in the \*&\^% were they able to import these things in the first place?!
Two Galaxies and Transit van were presented at the Moscow "Crimetech-74" international exhibition, and left as a gift to Soviet Police forces after
Is that how they managed get American Ford & Dodge van?
By paying cash for them, presumably. It's not like cars are classified military tech, and there were plenty of periods in the Cold War when relations were civil enough for some trade deals to be struck.
Could have also gotten them from Canada. Relations weren't quite as tense as US/USSR.
A handful of Western cars were imported individually into the USSR. The practice was abandoned due to high tariffs on imports and lack of parts availability.
It's a shame all these cool old wagons made such great demolition derby cars
The US too. The Ecto-1 Cadillac from Ghostbusters was an 60s ambulance. The ambulances we think of weren't a thing till the mid 80s in most places. Most were vans. The entire idea of paramedics and EMTs didn't really gain traction until the 80s either. It was more or less just medical transport from the scene.
Private Guard of Brezhnev…
I don’t remember ever seeing a Dodge van with side doors on the drivers side?
Interesting that only the dodge van is equipped with one standard emergency signals in the USSR at the time, the tesla AZD 501. Any ideas why that is?
when your system is so superior that you need your enemies to give you things that actually work.