ZIL 130 — it's probably the most popular truck in the ex-USSR territory over the past 50 years. They were widely used all over the Soviet Union, the ZIL base was presented in different kinds: flatbed truck, fire truck, dump truck — there were plenty of variations. Also there was quite exotic modification of ZIL with passenger trailers for airports that carried passengers to the aircraft and back — such yellow ZIL is one of the most brilliant childhood memories.
Another memory tightly associated with ZIL — a relief air compressor valve which sometimes produced «fart» sound — this made children think that these trucks used pea soup instead of petrol.
I won’t be surprised if the author of this project got the color scheme from his childhood, orange and yellow colors are definitely different, but still look quite bright and cheerful. Roman began his project in 2009, when he decided to build a pickup in American style, but with the Russian spirit. American pickups inspired him with culture and style and many cars in the middle of the 20th century had very similar look so why not to combine them?
Inspiration was drawn from the Ford F-series of the 50's. The donor was also produced in USA and it was also a Ford — Econoline E-250 Van, owned by a friend of Roman. The van was once tipped onto the roof in the road accident and required the replacement of the body. And the cabin was taken from the ZIL 131 and the fenders and radiator grille were taken from the ZIL 130, the lorry body welded by hand, and the frame, motor and gearbox were taken from the Ford E-250. After many hours of manual work in finishing the body, lowering the body, shortening the frame and painting the car the result was an unusual pickup that can accelerate to 100kmh in 9 seconds. Of course, serious competition will not be won with such dynamics, but it is a show car, and on the city roads the fast accelerating ZIL is unexpected.
Today, the next steps are: engine swap for Big Block or even a V10 from a Viper, and most of all, tuning. Also the car will be dropped as a real lowrider and air suspension will be installed. I hope that the project will continue its life and will delight us with achievements in the nearest future.
Tech Specs:
Body: Cabin — ZIL131, Frame — Ford E250 shortened, lorry body — custom
Engine: Ford 4.2 V6 190 hp
Transmission: Automatic Ford 4R70W
Rear Axle:Ford E250
Front suspension: Ford E250
Brakes: ventilated disc Ford E250
0 to 100 kmh — 9.3 sec
