Wagon Wednesday: 1 of 20 GAZ 13 Universals Spotted In Baku, Azerbaijan

How did this ultra-rare Cold War-era wagon end up behind a gas station in the oil rich, former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan?

The GAZ 13 sedan was the predecessor to (wait for it) the GAZ 14.  It was inspired by the Packard Patrician.  Its 5.5 liter engine was mated to a three-speed automatic (operated by push buttons) that was inspired by the Chrysler TorqueFlite.  From 1959 to 1981, just 3,179 units were made.  A few of them were converted into convertibles.  Even less (sources estimate between eleven and twenty) were converted in a Latvian factory into wagons.  They served as ambulances and hearses to very high ranking officials.

Reader Tarlan snapped these pictures for us recently.  He decided to take a different route to work one morning and spotted the wagon in an alleyway.  Tarlan remembers seeing another GAZ 13 Universal, a black one, when he was a child.  It served as an ambulance for the Politburo.  

Of the 20 or so Universals made, only a handful are known to still be in existence.  With the supply-and-demand model finally in vogue over there, even a beater has an asking price of $50,000

This video shows what a GAZ-13 Universal in decent shape looks like.  Feel free to put it on mute, unless you like Austin Powers.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-IXvWB5_BE[/youtube]

 Images source: Tarlan.

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