GAZ-42 Truck

Manufacturer:	Gorkowski Awtomobilny Sawod
Class:	Commercial,military
Production period:	1939 to 1946
Type:	Truck
Engines:	Petrol engine, converted to gas propulsion
Power:	22 kW
Payload:	1.2 t
Perm. Total weight:	3.25 t

The GAZ-42 was a light truck produced by GAZ from  1939 to 1946. 

History 

The GAZ-42 ( Russian ГАЗ-42 ) was a light truck produced by the Gorkowski Awtomobilny Sawod(GAZ) In the 1930s, there were still areas in the northern part of the RSFSR that could not be adequately supplied with conventional fuels such as gasoline and diesel. It was designed on the basis of the GAZ-AA , the series-produced vehicles corresponded to the drive but already the successor, the GAZ-MM . The truck was not powered by gasoline but by wood gas .Correspondingly, domestic trucks in particular produced vehicles that were powered by wood gas instead. 

To produce wood gas, a so-called wood gasifier was mounted on the loading area. This is a steel boiler, in which the wood is heated under exclusion of air. Flammable gases are released with which a gasoline engine can be operated. Wood was readily available in the northern areas. Not only from the GAZ-AA, there were such vehicle versions, also based on the ZIS-5 , a wood gas truck was mass-produced, the ZIS-21 .

The first tests with this type of drive were made in the vehicle construction institute NATI . From 1935 to 1936, a small-series steelworks built 76 W-5 gas generators intended for the GAZ-AA lorry. The mass production with these actuators began in 1939, the truck was designated GAZ-42 and built up on the opposite the GAZ-AA slightly revised chassis of GAZ-MM. With the GAZ-43, there was also a model that was operated with coal instead of wood. 

In 1942, war-related changes were made to the truck. Mudguards were simplified, body parts made of wood, saved a headlight and roofs realized with tarpaulins. 1946, the production was discontinued.Until that time, 33,840 copies of the GAZ-42 had been built.

However, apart from the enormous advantage that a lorry with wood gasifier can be operated independently of liquid fuels, the vehicles had great disadvantages. The engine could produce significantly less power with wood gas than with gasoline. In addition, it takes until the wood gasifier is heated and gives enough gas to drive. Accordingly, the vehicles were driven with secure fuel supplies in the far north of the Soviet Union. Today, no received vehicle with wood gas drive more known.