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

We actually have some Tchaikas here in Finland and while I was driving around my hometown, Turku a few days ago I encountered one! I had to stop and park my 1955 400 in front of the Tchaika and take some pictures. Here is the evidence:

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I am certain that in all the time the first post was up on "Tschaika" that someone should have caught it. Either way, the black limo listed as a "Tschaika" in the very first posting of this thread is actually a ZIL-111. Of course, the most recent photo (from Finland) is indeed a Chaika.

I always viewed the ZIL-111 as the senior series and the Chaika as the junior series. Like V8 Packards, these two share much of the same bodies, but the ZIL is the counterpart of the senior Packard whereas the Chaika is the counterpart of the junior Clipper series.

And yes, the Chaika name translates roughly to a sea bird...which... HMMMMmmmmm what is a cormorant or pelican? And where does a "clipper" go with a seafaring helm as a symbol? Even the names sound similar with two syllables... Chaka...Clipper.

As for the trim on the ZIL, it was very similar to 1956 Packard... except the side trim was a bit 1957 Ford Fairlane...the windshield was certainly 1955-56 senior Chrysler/Imperial style, etc. etc. The rear bumper exhausts were flattened like SOME 1956 Ford. Instead of running ribbed stainless down the sides like Packard, the Russians wrapped a chunk of it over the headlights and on SOME versions from certain years, shove a dab of it on sides of the tail lights flowing out of the Caribbean-esque angled vertical trim.

I have kept files with news clippings and photos of these cars since the 1950s-1960s. Somewhere I still have a Pontiac brochure that shows a Chaika and asks the question' "Seen the new Chaika?" or something to that effect. Of course the moral of the brochure is that if you lived in Russia at that time, the most/best you could do for a car would be to dream about owning a Chaika that you would never have. Meanwhile in the USA, you could buy any one of a whole array of beautiful Pontiacs...and so on...

There is/was a black Chaika limo in the collection of the LeMay family in Tacoma area of Washington state. I am unsure if it is still with the family or if it was transferred over to the LeMay ACM Museum in Tacoma. Either way, it is a decent one and running last I knew of it.

By 1977 I saved a news clipping of the descendent of the ZIL-111 and Chaika. The GAZ-14 was a combination of Imperial, Cadillac, Mercedes, Lincoln and a few other goodies tossed into the soup. Note the news caption...

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