A very impressive Volga GAZ-24 sedan, Spotted in China on the premises of the Beijing Classic Car Museum. The vehicle belongs to the museum collection but is sadly & badly always parked outside. The Volga GAZ-24 was manufactured from 1968 until 1985 with a major facelift in 1977, this is a facelifted example. The GAZ-24 was a regular sight in northern China up until the early 2000’s. Nowadays however almost all have disappeared, but some can still be seen riding over the endless grasslands of Inner Mongolia Province.
The black example in Beijing was in a reasonable shape and apparently in running condition. Some parts were broken, like the rear lights, and the left-rear door didn’t close properly anymore. The paint was fading a bit on the bonnet and boot lid but the chrome was still shiny. The GAZ-24 was powered by a 2.4 liter four-cylinder with 98hp, mated to a 4-speed manual. Volga also produced a special variant of the GAZ-24 for Soviet security services, powered by a fatass 195hp 5.5 liter V8. The Beijing car has the base 2.5, which was good for a 150km/h top speed.
When I traveled through Inner Mongolia and Mongolia (the country) in the late 1990’s I sat inside many of these brilliant cars, very spacious inside and an imposing presence on the road. I actually drove one myself on an otherwise empty ‘road’ somewhere around Erdenet, an unforgettable experience…
seems a lot like the honqi cars
It looks nothing like a HongQi!
may b i’m blind i’m not seing d some head and back lights d some grille the same shape
get a glass
Didn’t the facelift have big rectangular headlights?
It was still in production up until quite recently, further facelifted many times since.
The first facelift had a reworked interior and door handles, while retaining the round lights.
The square lights were used on the GAZ 31XX models, an evolution of the Volga 24.
Is that style of door handle the best external indicator of the facelift model?
The door handles look like they copied them from a late 60’s early 70’s American Motors car.
The door handles were very popular in the 70s, FIAT, BMW and other car producers were using this design.
This Volga is a 1970’s model-later ones had a black plastic grille.I used to own a 1994 example (31029) with a more rounded front-the wheels are identical to mine, so probably replacements.
To the style of door handles add Morris Marina and Lancia Beta.
Facelift happened in 1986, not 1977! And this one have old grille (or modified doors, if it was made before 1986).