Some cars leave a paper trail; the GAZ-3105 left a name, a year — 1992 — and a place in GAZ's list. What follows is what can be said with a source behind it.
The story
The GAZ-3105, often referred as a Volga, is an automobile manufactured by the Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (GAZ, Gorky Automobile Plant) from 1992 to 1996.
Under the skin
The record carries the layout — and the layout: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The engine, output and weight have not yet reached the open record, and MotorJury does not guess at them.
Its place in the line
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the GAZ-3102 / GAZ-14; its successor was the GAZ-3111; assembly was at Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, the Renault Twingo, the GM (General Motors) Hummer H1 — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the GAZ catalogue sit the Chaika and the GAZ 24-24.