Security World

GAZ-21 Volga photographed in 2004. The photograph identifies a model, not the social position of a particular owner. Photo: Oliver Tank / Wikimedia Commons , CC BY-SA 3.0 . No content alteration; resized display. Soviet-era cars carried social meaning as well as passengers. Small family cars, taxis, official saloons and ceremonial limousines occupied visibly different places in daily life. That does not mean every model can be assigned to one profession in a universal hierarchy. Access depended on the period, location, organization and route through which a car was obtained. A useful history identifies the model and its role while avoiding a rigid ladder that treats decades of changing circumstances as one rule. Small cars and family transport Zaporozhets models such as the ZAZ-968 represented a very different package from a large official limousine. Size, engine arrangement and purchase position help explain the distinction. They do not establish that every owner had the same inco...