The Last Limousine documentary documents the final moments of ZIL's state-car production in Moscow, spotlighting the odd ZIL-4102 prototypes and the wider decline of Soviet state limousines.
ZIL, originally ZIS before a Soviet-era renaming that replaced the 'S' for Stalin with 'L', built large cars and mainly trucks for almost a century and ran a hand-assembly department for official limousines. GAZ's Chaika and ZIL limousines once had dedicated lanes in Moscow and were taken on foreign state visits.
Three ZIL-4102 prototypes were built in 1987 and were reportedly not well received by Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, with only one prototype surviving. Leonid Brezhnev, the Soviet premier during President Richard Nixon's tenure, was gifted a Cadillac Eldorado and later crashed a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow that is displayed at the Riga Motor Museum.
This article is based on reporting from The Autopian.
Read the full article at The Autopian.
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