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Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]

Mobile interrogation unit

And speaking of secret police, the KGB’s secret weapon, the ZiL 41041 (sedan) and 41047 (limousine) is now available for purchase on the free market:

The soft suspension is hiding the roughness of the road. Automatic 3-step transmission is conductive to tender starting and speeding up of the car. Multi-stage system of noise reduction, the effective sound isolation suppresses all the unwanted sounds in the car.

Perfect for any amateur truth-seeker!

22 comments to Mobile interrogation unit

  • Julian Taylor

    the effective sound isolation suppresses all the unwanted sounds in the car.

    So handy after a hard day’s work listening to the screams of your victims’ forced confessions …

  • Simon Jester

    315 hp giving a top speed of 120 mph (190 kph)?

    Does it weigh as much as a small house?

  • Simon Jester

    Technical characteristics: complete mass, 4110 kg.

    That would be a yes.

  • permanent expat

    Pass the hat round for SOCA which will need a couple of these………..XXL , I think.

  • Patrick B

    Are motorcycle outriders an optional extra? And what about the special centre lane?

  • Simon Jester

    That would be Prezza’s bus lane.

  • Neil Reddin

    Hope it’s better built than their website.

    Haven’t they grasped the concept of closing HMTL tags over there yet?

  • If I was a gangsta rapper, I’d be motoring around in one of these ZiLs. A more sinister-looking set of wheels cannot be found. The armour plating may also come in handy when evading gang bangers.

  • permanent expat

    No stars………..but almost an exact copy of the old “Festung” Mercedes 600, beloved of Democrats & Tyants alike……and yes, for ‘sinister’ it beats a stretched gangstacaddie hands down.

  • Sigivald

    Almost an exact copy of the 600?

    Well, except for looks (I mean, the Zil looks a lot more like an American car; look at those headlights! Nothing like the rounded pods on a w100).

    And presumeably most of the engineering is… simpler and cheaper, even for the Politburo.

  • permanent expat

    Sigvald: You’re right on the detail of course. I just see the whole shebang in silhouette & it reeks ‘power’. The Russkis were as happy with chrome & a rouble grin as the ‘cousins’ but you can be fairly sure that the innards, altho’ V8(?) have more resemblance to the guts of a T34…..filched, originally, from a German design, (I think)……Experts please comment.
    I prefer the old 600…..aber, über Geschmackssache….

  • This ZiL is indeed much like the much liked MB600 (available in Laundette for those pre-assassination days).

    If I ever did get one, I would reach back to the 1960’s to get that authentic “Strelnikov” feel!

  • permanent expat

    Laundette had me flummoxed for a sec. but I rearranged some letters & added an ‘a’………..and wasn’t it the fly’s eyebrows!

  • Verity

    Do the fly’s eyebrows frequent the same bars as the bee’s knees?

  • Fred

    I love the fact that they mention that the car and limo have a, you know, one of those suspension thingamabobs.

    You understand why when you go over to the 4×4 truck section which looks inthe picture like that tires might be the only thing keeping ride “smooth”

    What’s the price for these late model 1960-1970’s retreads anyway?

  • PE Sorry – landaulets is the correct spelling. I think the last time I saw/used that word was about 28 years ago and it got scrambled in my brain!

    Nicolae CeauSescu owned one with 6 doors, for all the good it did him.

  • permanent expat

    They do, Verity…….indeed they do.

  • emdfl

    How convienent for the organization mentioned in the thread below…

  • Nick M

    The soft suspension is hiding the roughness of the road

    A comment on Sov roads?

    Did they ever make them in anything but black?

  • Note that the 315 horsepower comes from a 7.68 liter (468 cubic inch) engine. Cadillac was doing better than that back in the ’70s. Most of the features are no more modern than that – seperate chassis, live (“dependant”) rear drive axle.

    Historically, Zils were built from Packard tooling. FDR’s insistance on transferring the tooling at the end of WWII was one of the things which doomed Packard.

  • anonymous

    Mobile rape unit more like it…