Limousines, Legends, and Gorby Pontiac: The Automobile History of Mikhail Gorbachev

The first and last President of the USSR considered automobiles a symbol of luxury, something he avoided instinctively, and perhaps for that reason he treated cars with a certain indifference, as a practical necessity rather than a passion. Even in the memoirs written by the former General Secretary, both he and his wife skirted the subject of the vehicles they owned before Gorbachev rose to lead the country.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by Электрик на пенсии, https://creativecommons.org/public-domain/pdm/

ZIL Limosine

Nevertheless, in the years preceding high office, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev used the official cars allotted to Party officials at the time. As for personal vehicles, it is known that the future leader of the USSR owned a modest ZAZ-968, the little “Zaporizhets.” No further information has been uncovered about other privately owned cars that he actively used. He had no personal fleet, nor anything resembling the lavish collection of Leonid Brezhnev. Once Gorbachev became General Secretary of the CPSU, the official limousines were evidently more than sufficient — and it is those machines that tell the real story.

ZIL-41047

The Soviet leadership had been traveling in ZIL limousines since the era of Joseph Stalin. Upon taking office, Gorbachev was entitled to a ZIL-4104, the third restyling of the ZIL-114, produced since 1967. The car was considered an original Soviet design rather than a copy, though the braking system was purchased under license.

This model was serially produced and did not stand out — unless one counts its interior finishes and, by Soviet standards, an almost unthinkable luxury: an air conditioner. The cabin featured redwood inlays and natural leather. Gorbachev used this car for trips around Moscow and the surrounding region.

However, beginning in 1988, the ZIL-41047 began appearing in the presidential motorcade, replacing the earlier vehicle — and it was not the most interesting machine in his garage.

ZIL-41052

This limousine was inherited from Konstantin Chernenko. Outwardly, it resembled another restyled ZIL-114, but it contained a crucial difference: the armored capsule. In essence, the car was built around a reinforced steel hull using materials employed in infantry fighting vehicles at the Kurgan plant.

The limousine was assembled by hand, each component constructed around the protective shell, which could withstand not only bullets but the explosion of a hand grenade. The model was produced in a limited series. Gorbachev preferred to use the armored car in regions where the situation was, to put it mildly, far from calm. Later, the vehicle passed to Boris Yeltsin, who used it everywhere, including in Moscow.

Gorbachev also had another car at his disposal: the GAZ-14 “Chaika.” It was primarily used by his wife, Raisa Maksimovna Gorbacheva, who, according to former security chief V. Kuzovlev, tried to nurture in her husband at least a modest affection for automobiles.

The First Lady strongly disliked the “Chaika,” and later received a ZIL-41045. Raisa Maksimovna insisted that her husband take a Soviet limousine with him on foreign trips. As Kuzovlev recounts in his book, she also created a tradition of stopping in the middle of the street to speak with ordinary citizens — a gross violation of protocol and a constant headache for the security team.

According to unconfirmed reports, one of Raisa Maksimovna’s limousines, the ZIL-41045, is now housed in the “Legends of the USSR” museum along the M4 highway. Another car she used, the ZIL-41047, was located in Kazakhstan in 2017 before being sold.

Pontiac Grand Prix

The year 1988 brought two unrelated distinctions: Mikhail Gorbachev was named “Man of the Year” by Time, while Motor Trend declared the fifth-generation Pontiac Grand Prix its Car of the Year. The brand’s parent company, General Motors, decided to present the model to the first President of the USSR. Instead of a license plate, the car bore a plaque reading “Gorby.”

Gorbachev never took the car for a single drive. He sent it directly to the AZLK museum, adding that it should serve as an example of how cars ought to be built.

The Sad Fate of the ZIL-4102

This promising model was meant to enter production and help pull the ZIL plant out of deep crisis. For its time, the car was advanced both technically and aesthetically. It featured a unibody design with fiberglass panels that reduced overall weight.

The cabin included every possible option of the period — air conditioning, multi-zone climate control, full electric accessories, an onboard computer, a ten-speaker audio system, and velour upholstery. The engine remained the familiar eight-cylinder, 7.6-liter, 315-horsepower unit. Two prototypes were built, quickly nicknamed “Raisa” and “Misha.” For reasons that remain unclear, the limousine failed to please Gorbachev (or perhaps his wife), and the ZIL-4102 never entered mass production.

The Last Mercedes of Mikhail Gorbachev

Gorbachev’s final car was a Mercedes-Benz W221, produced in Germany from 2005 to 2013. He used it in his final years and was even involved in a traffic accident in 2015. His motorcade was traveling in the oncoming lane, where a Renault driver failed to pull over in time. The collision occurred at a relatively low speed, and no one was injured. Both vehicles sustained only minor damage.