ACE-72201 1/72 GAZ-67B Soviet Army Jeep model kit |  Ace 1/72 GAZ-67B Soviet Army Jeep model kit. Pic.1
 Ace 1/72 GAZ-67B Soviet Army Jeep model kit. Pic.2
 Ace 1/72 GAZ-67B Soviet Army Jeep model kit. Pic.3
| The Soviet-Finnish war revealed Red Army lacked a simple, inexpensive and reliable light utility truck which could be used for reconnaissance purposes, as a CO vehicle, or as a light artillery tractor.
Mass production of the GAZ-64 began in the end of August 1941. Until early 1943 only 672 vehicles were completed including the prototypes. A light utility truck could not habve been be a priority when the Army urgently needed combat vehicles, and from 1943 all the GAZ-64 chassis were used for the BA-64 armored cars. At this period the Red Army used mainly American-made Bantam BRC-40, Willis MB and Ford GPW light trucks. They were better designed but in a number of ways the GAZ-64 was superior to them - it had lower fuel consumption at low speed, better hard terrain capabilities and could use low-quality fuels.
The main disadvantage of the GAZ-64 was its narrow track which made the vehicle unstable in turns so the new wide-track GAZ-67 was introduced in August 1943, after its armored wide-track counterpart - the BA-64B. A production of the further improved model the GAZ-67B began in January 1944 and continued until 1953 when the famous in Russia GAZ-69 replaced it on the production line. 92843 GAZ-64 and GAZ-67B vehicles were built between 1943 and 1953.
The GAZ-67 served with Soviet, Polish, Chinese and North Korean armies and took part in the Korean war.
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