Packard Forum Index » ZIS, ZIL, and other Packard Cousins!

Hello Hardtop! I just took note you're from Estonia, I passed thru Estonia (Tallin) last summer on a Baltic cruise from the UK. Should I plan a repeat in the future I'll be sure to let you know well in advance. On the same trip I was met in Stockholm by several Packard owners and toured in their Packards (and also saw a ZIS-110 under restoration), did the same thing some years back in Iceland. It's a great way to meet likeminded Packard brethern.

Very interesting Guscha I hope we get to see the pictures you made of the ZIL 111 soon.

Indeed the The shark gills as an air intake is a interesting solution from the factory set up.

Owen_Dyneto If you ever come to Estonia please, let me know
I don't live in the capital city(Tallinn)but that will not stop me.
Its interesting and sad that Estonia as only some Packard owners, its no wonder the Packard is not that well known as
other US cars here.

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You are right about the remark that the pumper is more adjusted
to be medieval battering ram than a bumper. I think the designers had that in mind: lets say there would be a road block and the ZIL 111 was made to ram its way thru it.
ZIL 111 was designed also to be a car for high ranking communistic party members. So a question emerges: was there
ever any attempt to assassin a communistic VIP person?
As far as I can say I don't have the answer to this question.

I think they used a thicker material to make these pumpers
then by a normal Soviet car, I think it was steel,that later was chromed but im not sure in this.

I just watched an old episode of Top Gear last night and they had on some Russian cars from the cold war. They were trying to decide if Russia ever made a good car under the Communist regime. Needless to say, no, they didn't. Sadly, they didn't do any cars from the immediate postwar period, as I would have liked to have seen those. They did do a Chaika, with a pushbutton trans, but when they tried to back up then go forward the forward button went through the dash, and they were stuck. The button just disappeared into the dash!

EDIT: Found them on Youtube:

youtube.com/watch?v=DHeDBkMO9mI

youtube.com/watch?v=Vuq-iMjdtuk

Leftists don't go in for political assassinations as a rule. According to Communist theory, the class struggle is what counts. The masses versus the aristocracy with the inevitable victory of the masses.

In the class struggle assassinating a king or other leader is a meaningless distraction.

Political assassination is a tool of the right.

Communists do kill each other though. In the Soviet Union it was Stalin killing off anyone he perceived as a threat. Their car bumpers wouldn't have saved them.

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Eric,I have seen that Show and its more ...a Show then a seriously taken thing. I still wonder how is it possible to destroy that push button system. I know its not the Plymouths famous Power flit but still. I asked a GAZ 13 owner that how could it be possible to do such a thing at the first place,he could not answer that question.

About the pumper;
So as I understand its not steel but pure magnesium??
Not sure I want argue here but,as far as I have seen
Soviet car pumpers they should be iron 80%+magnesium. Pure magnesium would corrode very quickly ore am I just on the wrong side of the tracks?

One way to find out if the bumper is magnesium is to stick a lighter on it and see if it goes up in flames.

Eric, having worked with magnesium and its alloys for some years, let me assure you that only the very purest of magnesium can be ignited with a match. Commercial magnesium is almost exclusively alloyed to eliminate this property, usually with as little as 1% zinc which renders it unignitable, at least with common ignition sources.

Although the difference is subtle, I hate to admit that I actually like the design of the ZIL-111 cathederal taillight better than that of the Packard! Not sure about those exhaust "slits" in the bumper though, I think I prefer the round exhaust outlet of the Packard... small distinctions, however.

I'd love to see a 111 in person. The dashboard is completely different from the Packard. Are there any in the US?

Quote: I really like the looks of the entire ZIL car but kind of a tossup on the lites. Will admit to preferring the 56 Packard lite with hexagon over the 55 "V" though, & will agree on the bumpers. The slit looks out of place. Is that a third lens on the ZIL or an optical delusion?