Born in US
By the end of the 1950s, the Ural Automobile Plant in Miass was a sad sight: minor modifications to the hopelessly outdated UralZIS series cars and the absence of a serious design bureau. They could not develop their own car, one could only hope for the assembly of other trucks created in third-party offices. Naturally, no one in the automotive industry was in a hurry to share defense contracts with a secondary plant in Miass. This means that it was necessary to find an enterprise that can develop machines, but cannot produce. This became the Automotive Research Institute (NAMI, the last time we heard about it in connection with the development of the presidential limousine Aurus). Of course, the managers of the Miass plant could hardly dictate their will to the Moscow engineers and designers. This role was played by the Main Armored Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Defense, when it placed an order for a 5-ton army truck, distinguished by its original design, that is, not developed on the basis of an already operating model. The chief designer of the vehicle, named NAMI-020, was Nikolai Ivanovich Korotonoshko, who oversaw the development of several 4x4, 6x4, 6x6, 8x4 and 8x8 all-terrain vehicles based on one concept.
In December 1956, the first machine made in metal was NAMI-020 with a three-axle all-wheel drive chassis, the direct ancestor of the future Urals. We coped with the task with US very quickly: less than three years have passed since the receipt of the task and the assembly of the first prototype. For the domestic industry of those years, this is simply an outstanding indicator, since most of the equipment was developed two and three times longer. This is not to say that the truck was designed from scratch in NAMI, after all, some of the components and assemblies were borrowed. They took a gearbox from MAZ-200, a transfer case from MAZ-502, zilovites provided an experienced eight-cylinder engine with a capacity of 180 hp. with., and GAZ designed the cabin. Even at first glance, it is clear that in Gorky they did not particularly "bother" with the design and actually scaled the GAZ-51 cabin.
Among the progressive developments in the future "Ural" stood out the middle passage bridge. Compare this to the ZIL-157 with its sophisticated five-card transmission, borrowed from the Lendleigh Studebaker. But "Zakhar" will go into production only in 1958, two years later than the release of the prototype NAMI-020.
Among the purely "military" features of the future "Ural" stood out a centralized tire inflation system, sealed drum brakes and a hatch in the cockpit roof for the shooter. The tests showed high cross-country ability of the vehicle, as well as moderate fuel consumption, even in comparison with the younger GAZ-63 and ZIS-151.
When it was decided to launch the NAMI-020 car into production, the Ural Automobile Plant was not the only contender. At first, they thought about the Moscow ZIL, then about the distant steam locomotive plant in Ulan-Ude. ZIL in the near future was supposed to master the production of lighter trucks of the 130 and 157 series, so it was quickly rejected. Well, Ulan-Ude did not fit for the obvious reason of the excessive distance from both the consumer of the product and from the subcontractors. And here the enterprise in Miass turned out to be very handy in a crisis situation. Agreed with the head of the plant A. K. Rukhadze and chief designers S. A. Kurov about the preliminary reconstruction of the enterprise for such a complex truck model and sent NAMI-020 to Miass. And the team of the institute in 1958 for the creation of a cross-country vehicle was awarded a diploma of the second degree of the All-Union Industrial Exhibition.
There was one more modification of the NAMI all-wheel drive vehicle with the 6x6 formula, it had the index 021. This truck was almost identical to the NAMI-020, but it was distinguished by a long wooden cargo platform adjacent to the cab. For this, the spare wheel, together with its hydraulic lifting system, had to be placed under the floor of the body located above.
In Miass, a special design bureau was created for a promising machine, headed by engineer Anatoly Ivanovich Titkov (now living) in March 1957. To exchange experience and quickly put the machine on the conveyor from NAMI to Miass, at least twenty specialists-developers of the future "Ural" have moved. It would seem that everything is ready for the development of production. But then the GABTU Ministry of Defense intervened in the matter - they changed their plans for the car.
Gold medalist
In Miass, the first joint development with NAMI specialists was a truck with the long name "UralZIS-NAMI-375", dated 1958. Here we already see the future index of the legendary truck and the old name of the Ural Automobile Plant. The car, by the way, was reworked according to the requirements of the military.
Firstly, the front and rear axles were unified, which forced the engine to be raised, and this entailed a change in the front of the cab. Now all the main gear housings were located in one line, which had a positive effect on the truck's cross-country ability. Secondly, the gas cabin was removed and a hybrid was made of ZIL-131 with the famous panoramic glass (divided, however, into two parts) and the front end of its own design. Also, the steering system, the front suspension, the frame was reinforced and new wheels were developed in comparison with the NAMI-020.
After the modifications "UralZIS-NAMI-375" was sent to tests, which showed that everything is bad and unreliable. In the book by Evgeny Kochnev "Cars of the Soviet Army 1946-1991." it is indicated that only part of the transmission and the tire inflation system remained alive after the test cycle. The car had to be refined, and at the same time brought in line with the newly changed requirements of the main customer.
I must say that the first real "Ural", which received the 375T index, after large-scale alterations was published quite quickly - already in 1959. Interestingly, the cab was now with a cloth top and folding windows, but this was not done for the truck's aerotransportability. The main purpose of this innovation is to enhance the anti-nuclear resistance of vehicles buried along the line of windows in the ground. In addition, all transmission and frame assemblies have been reinforced, and the engine has been redesigned.
Strictly speaking, the Ural-375T was a pre-production vehicle in a "transport" modification, that is, with an elongated wooden body, but the Ural-375 was an artillery tractor, which went into production on January 31, 1961. The tractor was designed to tow 5 ton trailers off-road and 10 ton trailers on hard roads.
Among the borrowings of serial trucks were units from MAZ-200: single-plate clutch, gearbox, front suspension, towing unit, pneumatic brake system, middle axle drive shafts, steering gear and intermediate cardan. Even the Moskvich-407 passenger car shared with the giant the universal joint of the driveshaft, which Ural used in the steering shaft. The constant velocity joints were also designed to be “all-in-one” from the MAZ-501 timber carrier. The Zilovites gave Ural some units of the tire inflation system, as they were almost the only ones in the world who knew how to make them. The motor was also a Moscow ZIL-375 with a capacity of 175 hp. with.
What was it about the Ural in the "Ural"? In fact, only the transfer case, center differential and leaf spring suspension. Having absorbed all the most progressive of the domestic auto industry, "Ural-375" hit the conveyor belt with a frankly damp car. During the pre-series state tests, a paradoxical thing happened: the order to put the machine into series was signed even before the end of the research cycle. At the same time, the truck did not behave in the best way on the off-road of the Chelyabinsk region. The clutch failed, the radiators leaked, the electrical equipment failed, the springs and shock absorbers broke, and the most important problem was the brakes, which were jammed and overheated … under 90 km / h the clutch crumbled. It was only by a miracle that the driver was able to hold the car until it came to a complete stop on the road.
With all the depressing results of state tests (the result was tens of pages of remarks), the Miass plant received a plan for 1960 to produce 300 cars. The army's need for an artillery tractor of this class was very high, and, obviously, the GABTU decided to correct the shortcomings already in the production process. This case dragged on for several years, but in 1969 it was crowned with international success: "Ural-375D" received a gold medal at an exhibition in Leipzig.
