This 1966 GAZ-21 Volga’s Toyota V6 Swap Makes Old Soviet Car Ownership Sound Much Easier

Worry less about parts availability, comrade.
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Cars we never got are inherently cool. Each one is like peeking into an alternate universe where things are so similar, but very different at the same time. Some are better, some are worse, but the unobtanium factor is what attracts many of us to the automotive world’s weirdest reaches. 

Soviet cars, for residents of these here decadent capitalist United States of America, definitely check all of the “strange wants” boxes. Yet that’s a mixed bag in its own right. On one hand, you have a rare car that’s bound to be unlike anything else you see on the road outside of a Soviet Bloc car meet. On the other hand, you have to fix said car, and tracking down parts for a vehicle that was never sold here is a pain. 

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Kijiji | Brad

That’s what makes this 1966 Gaz Volga 21 on Canadian auto sales site Kijiji so brilliant. It’s beautiful and looks completely stock aside from the wheels, yet under the hood is the V6 out of a Toyota. 

The ad says that the engine is out of a 1991 Tacoma, but the Tacoma didn’t enter production until 1995, so it’s either the Tacoma’s predecessor, the Hilux (which was simply the “Pickup” in the U.S.) or out of a later Tacoma. Either way, finding parts for a Toyota V6 should be a lot easier than the stock GAZ engine, relieving some of the worry inherent to owning a rare car. Now you just have to hope that nothing around the V6 breaks!

According to the seller, this particular car was used by members of the KGB at the Soviet Embassy in Brazil for 30 years. When it was retired from duty, it went back to Russia, where it was fully restored and got that modern Toyota V6 swap. 

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Easily one of the best hood ornaments ever., Kijiji | Brad

“As a result, this car is a smooth driving machine that will glide along the highway at 110 km/hr and turn heads everywhere you go around town,” the ad reads.

A previous owner in Atlanta added air conditioning, making the Volga even more of a comfortable cruiser. Almost all of the interior was kept original, making this somewhat of a sleeper. The Volga only made 80 horsepower when it was new, after all. 

The seller says he isn’t in a rush to sell the car, but that he plans to sell it before the end of 2021. The price is “Please Contact” accordingly. That contact info and more photos can be found on Kijiji here

[H/T Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer on OppositeLock!]

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