If you know about ZIL limousines for the highest officials of the USSR, then you have probably seen their varieties with an armored body. And even an open-top convertible version that was used in parades. But among all these cars there is one largest, rarest and, perhaps, the most unusual – this is the huge ZIL-41042 station wagon, nicknamed “Black Doctor”, which was used as an ambulance for high-ranking officials of the state and even as a hearse. Fortunately, the transformation was carried out quite quickly: a special panel was installed in place of the stretcher.
And this time we decided to take a closer look at this “doctor” – just look at his left rear door, behind which there is not medical equipment or a chair, but… a spare tire! It turns out that this was a common place for Soviet medical station wagons: since the luggage compartment was now occupied by stretchers, there was simply no other place. And this is where the secrets of the Kremlin ambulance are just beginning! ZIL-41042 has a length of as much as 6.5 meters – this is the longest executive car of the Soviet Union, and in terms of the number of vehicles produced, it is rarer than armored carriers. Want to take a closer look at the car? Play new video.
By the way, ZIL’s business was not limited to limousines and station wagons based on them. Watch this video about the Soviet king of all-terrain vehicles. This is the forgotten giant auger ZIL-4904, and in this material we talked about its difficult fate and failures on the way to production. And here you will find a video about the history of the last representative ZIL, which never went into production. Maybe one day we would see a station wagon based on this ZIL-4102? Check it out if you missed it. /m
