The ZIL-111 was a

limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment. A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a pr ...

produced by the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

car manufacturer

ZIL OJSC AMO ZiL, known fully as the Public Joint-Stock Company – Likhachov Plant () and more commonly called ZiL (, was a major Russian automobile, truck, military vehicle, and heavy equipment manufacturer that was based in Moscow, Russia. The la ...

in 1958–1967. It was the first post-war limousine designed in the Soviet Union. After tests with the shortlived prototype ZIL-Moscow in 1956, which gained a place in the

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing worl ...

as the largest passenger car in the world,Kelly M. A. Russian Motor Vehicles: Soviet Limousines 1930-2003. Veloce Publishing Ltd, 2011 the ZIL-111 was introduced from ''

'' in 1958. The body style was in the American tradition of the time and resembled the mid-1950s cars built by

Packard Packard or Packard Motor Car Company was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana in 1958. One of the "Th ...

, although, apart from being in tune with current trends, it was an original design and had nothing in common with them, except in general layout. The interiors were trimmed with top quality leather and broadcloth and decorated with thick pile carpet and polished wooden fittings. It featured a comprehensive ventilation and heating system and a 5-band radio, all of which could be controlled from the rear, electric windows, vacuum-operated screen wash, windshield and front door window defrosting. It was powered by a 6.0 L V8 engine producing connected to an

automatic transmission An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving ...

(similar to that of Chrysler's PowerFlite and influenced by it, but different in design''ZIL-111'', Avtolegendy SSSR, nr. 49, DeAgostini, 2010, ) giving a top speed of , hydraulic drum brakes with a vacuum servo booster, coil and wishbone IFS. The car won a top prize at the Brussels Expo World Fair in 1958. Apart from a basic version ZIL-111, the manufacturer produced ZIL-111A with air conditioning, which had a smaller and flatter rear window due to air tubes, and the

convertible A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving expe ...

ZIL-111V (ЗИЛ-111В in Russian), of which only 12 were built. In December 1962 the car was completely restyled, now being in tune with the latest trends and having a wide chrome grille with quad headlamps similar to the one used on the 1961 Cadillac Fleetwood Seventy-Five, and was available both as sedan ZIL-111G and convertible ZIL-111D.''ZIL-111G/111D'', Avtolegendy SSSR, nr. 29, DeAgostini, 2010, It was fitted with a 200 hp V8.Thompson, p.214. For U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's visit, Yevgeny Molchanov designed a special version of this car.

Air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

was standard. The ZIL-111G went out of production in 1966. The first ZIL-111D was built in 1963, six months after the new ZIL-111 appeared; only about eight were built, half with grey exteriors, and all were fitted with microphones.Thompson, p.215.

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 20 ...

received a ZIL-111D as a gift. As a rule, the ZIL-111 was available only as state-owned transport for members of the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contracti ...

. ''ZIL-118 Yunost'', DeAgostini ''Avtolegendy SSSR'' series Nr.28 In 1958-1967 112 of all models were made, of them 26 ZIL-111Gs. A

minibus A minibus, microbus, minicoach, or commuter (in Zimbabwe) is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, ...

based on the ZIL-111, the ZIL-118 ''Yunost'' (Youth), was also developed and produced in small numbers. The ZIL-111 would be replaced in 1967 by the

ZIL-114 The ZIL-114 is a limousine from the Soviet car manufacturer ''ZIL'' introduced in 1970 to replace the ZIL-111 series which was gradually becoming out of date. In almost all respects, the ZIL-114 improved on the 111, 111A and 111G models. The engi ...

Variants

*ZIL-111: Original production version. **ZIL-111A: ZIL-111 with air conditioning. **ZIL-111V: Convertible version. *ZIL-111G: Modernized ZIL-111. **ZIL-111D: Convertible version.

References

{{ZIL timeline, 1960-present Cars of Russia Luxury vehicles 111 Soviet automobiles Cars introduced in 1958 1960s cars