No. 4, 2009
Olga Romanovskaya
,
Cand. Sc. (Techn.)
THE CONQUEST OF EUROPE ... AND THE SAHARA BY RUSSO-BALT
On the 100th anniversary of the launch of serial production of the legendary car Russo-Balt in Russia
At the beginning of the 20th century, the car was steadily gaining popularity in Russia as a new means of transport. From being an odd, self-propelled carriage, the car gradually became a part of everyday urban life in the country. Back in 1898, the first All-Russia Car Races were held near St. Petersburg over a distance of 39 versts (41.6 kilometres), with 7 vehicles participating. The winner was the racing-driver Belyaev, who covered the distance in 1 hour 33 minutes. In 1900, the public organization "Moscow Motorists' Club" appeared, with Prince Felix Yusupov (1856-1928) as its Chairman.
The Baltic star of the Russian motor industry
Many readers of the July issue of the magazine Avtomobil in 1909 took note of a small article by Andrey Nagel "Interesting News," announcing that: "A few days ago, an elegant carriage with a racing-type body, grey in color, appeared on the streets of St. Petersburg attracting public attention with its graceful appearance and Russian national flag by the dashboard... The carriage was built by the Russo-Baltic Wagon Works in Riga as a prototype and is the first offspring of Russia's motor industry..."
At the beginning of last century, the Russo-Baltic Wagon Works was the biggest machine-building enterprise, with almost 4 thousand workers and considerable potential for development of new large-scale production. The Chairman of the Board of Directors was an outstanding entrepreneur, Senior State Counsellor Mikhail Shidlovsky (1856-1918). The constantly growing demand in Russia for the new means of transport with an internal combustion engine engendered the idea of setting up a new production line at the enterprise.
At the end of 1908, an "automobile division" was set up under the talented engineer Ivan Fryazinovsky. The engineer Julien Poterrat (1882-1962), who had worked previously for the Belgian motor firm Charles Fondue, was invited as the chief designer. The original chassis he designed with a four-cylinder engine comprised the basis for the first Russo-Balt model, for production of which a separate workshop was erected and fitted out with the latest equipment.
The designer and his assistants faced an extremely difficult task. As Engineer Poterrat later recalled: "This was hellish work under hellish conditions". Yet, even so, the multitude of difficulties were successfully overcome and, on June 8 (26 May by the old calendar), 1909, the first 2-seater, 24-horse-power car was assembled at the Russo-Baltic Wagon Works.
This basic model had a four-cylinder, 4.5 liter engine with a bilateral valve arrangement. The other specifics of this model include a 3-stage gearbox, a universal-joint drive to the driving wheels and a rear axle stay rod to make the body shake less.
On June 30, 1908, Julien Poterrat traveled in his Russo-Balt from Riga to St. Petersburg along a difficult almost 600-kilometre long road. In August of the same year, he took part, with the same vehicle, in a race following the same route. It took Poterrat 16 hours 7 minutes and his Russo-Balt came in an honorable third.
In the advertising announcement of the Russo-Baltic Wagons Works, a new slogan appeared in a noticeable position: "The first Russian factory building cars specially designed for Russian roads."
At sharp turns
The first Russo-Baltic Wagon Works car was followed by others. In 1910, 10 cars were produced, in 1912, 78 vehicles came off the conveyor and in 1913 the annual output reached 100 cars. It distinguished favorably from other Russian cars in having well thought out technical solutions and soon became the most popular car in Russia.
The debut of the Russo-Balt was at the 3rd International Car Exhibition in St. Petersburg in May 1910. The Russian elite focused particular attention on this model and the jury justifiably picked it out from among the other cars by well-known world firms, awarding the Russo-Baltic Wagon Works the Grand Gold Medal for "Establishment of the Motor Industry in Russia".
This was followed by high awards at the Aeronautic and Tsarskoye Selo exhibitions in St. Petersburg in 1911. At the 4th International Car Exhibition in 1913, in the halls of the Mikhailovsky Palace, there were many Russo-Balts, including several cars, lorries, fire-engines and cash collection vehicles and even caterpillar-tracked auto-sleighs.
The design innovations applied in the Russo-Balt vehicles included use of aluminium castings for manufacturing the casings, use of ball-bearings in some parts instead of bronze bearings and a universal-joint drive instead of a chain drive. In 1911, aluminum pistons were installed in the engine of the Russo-Balt for the first time ever in the world, which made it possible to reach speeds of up to 130 kilometers per hour.
In the one-verst car races in May 1913, organized by the St. Petersburg Motor Club (SPMC) on Volkhonskoye Highway (5th verst, counting from the Alexandrovskaya Station), the plant's own racing driver Ivan Ivanov set a record speed "for a Russian-made car" by reaching a speed of 121.6 versts per hour (129.7 kilometers per hour) in a Russo-Balt C 24/58, called the Cucumber.
In the same month, at Russia's first ever circuit car race, the SPMC Grand Prix, the same driver covered a distance of 210 versts in 7 laps in 2 hours 26 minutes and 51 seconds, at an average speed of 87 kilometers per hour. This put him in second place, 2 minutes and 56 seconds behind the winner, Surovin, in a German Benz.
The brand's reputation was so high that two Russo-Balt models, the Ê-12 and the Ñ-24, were chosen in 1913, by Emperor Nicholas II himself, who showed the works royal indulgence by permitting placement of the state coat of arms on the cars' radiator grills.
On the road of Europe and roadless wastes of Africa
All Russo-Balt vehicles without exception were distinguished by durability, reliability and a good design, as proved by their regular participation in major international competitions. A major role in popularizing the Russian car was played by the editor of the magazine Avtomobil, Andrey Nagel (1877-1940). In June 1910, he took part in the Emperor's Prize run from St. Petersburg to Kiev then Moscow and back to St. Petersburg, for which he was given a special award of the Imperial Russian Motor Society. His race list then included successful participation in the All-Russia Rally in 1911 along the route: St. Petersburg - Tver' - Moscow - Orel - Belgorod - Kharkov - Yekaterinoslav - Melitopol - Simferopol - Sevastopol, where he was awarded a runner-up prize. His magazines Sport, Avtomobil, Dvigatel, and Aero i Avtomobilnaya Zhizn, of which he was both founder and editor, enjoyed constant success among Russian readers. This talented journalist wrote hundreds of articles, newspaper items, reviews, and reports, most of them devoted to the Russian motor business. He was an invariable member of the Russian engineering community, as well as a member of the Board of the Imperial Russian Motor Club, handling international competition matters. He became known as a man of great personal courage and bravery who had personally tested many makes of the car.
When Andrey Nagel made his first overseas run, the German newspaper Dresdner Anzeiger wrote, on September 7, 1910: "Yesterday, at noon, on his way from St. Petersburg to Rome, a vehicle from the Russo-Baltic Wagon Works with a 24- horse-power engine passed through our city. It covered the route from St. Petersburg to Dresden without breaking down once. The merits of Mr. Nagel, one of Russia's leading drivers, should also be mentioned". And the Russo-Balt did not let him down on this long journey from St. Petersburg, via Berlin, Prague, Rome and Naples to Vesuvius. The car reached the famous volcano without breaking down on route at all.
But Andrey Nagel's greatest triumph, in his Russo-Balt, was participation in the prestigious Monte Carlo Rally. On January 8, 1912, he was first at the finish line, having covered the longest St. Petersburg-Monaco route of 3257 kilometres and coming in before 58 sportsmen from France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, England, Holland, Spain, Italy, and Russia. After all the points earned and forfeits were added up, however, the jury awarded the Russian team only 9th place.
Commenting on this event, a journalist from the magazine Avtomobilist wrote in the March 1912 issue: "The most difficult route was covered by A. Nagel. The committee of organizers failed to take into account that the most difficult part of the journey was within Russia itself and that a thousand versts across the cold and snowy plains is worth many thousands of kilometres under a warm sky and along the excellent roads of Europe. So it cannot be considered fair that Nagel was awarded only 9th place... The Russian motorist's success showed us that a motor industry can be born in Russia and that a great future can be predicted for it".
Soon after this rally, again in 1912, Andrey Nagel took part in the San Sebastian race. The editor of a French motoring magazine, Charles Faroux, wrote delightedly about his success: "In addition to the silver medal, Andrey Nagel in his Russo-Balt was awarded a special prize, having covered the greatest distance from Moscow to San Sebastian".
It was from this year on that the Russo-Balt's triumphant march overseas began. Later came other motor runs by Andrey Nagel through different countries of Europe and even Africa. In 1913, he completed an unbelievably difficult trip through North Africa, testing the car in the sands of the Sahara. Nagel's book "Through Africa in a Russo-Balt" was very popular among readers, who delighted in his colorful account of his adventures on the Black Continent.
In total, over 4 years, Andrey Nagel covered about 80 thousand kilometres and proved the exceptional reliability and excellent operating characteristics of the Russo-Balt.
Russian historians have estimated that, during the years when the car was manufactured, 1909 through 1915, the Russo-Baltic Wagon Works built over 600 of these cars. In terms of its technical equipment and the scale of production, it was on a par with well-known European motor manufacturers. Thanks to its fruitful activities in the early 1910s, Russia held a worthy place in terms of "motorization" among the leading world powers. And to this day, the Russo-Balt remains in the history of technology as one of the greatest achievements of world car manufacturing at the beginning of last century.
