ZIS » E134 Prototype #1

The first vehicle developed by ZIL design department was ZIS-E134 (model #1) prototype, which was built in August 1955. It had a very unusual design which was made under military requirements. The chassis design included four driving axles. On the one hand it provided approximately stable level of weight distribution on the axles, and on the other hand - allowed to overcome trenches and ditches up to 1.5 meters windth. In addition, E134 had a specially designed 8-ply tires with a diameter of more than 1200 mm, so that the ground clearance reached 370mm.

ZIS-E134 also had a very unique transmission. Torque from the engine was transmitted to the wheels through a three-stage automatic torque converter, a transmission from the ZIS-150, a two-stage transfer gearbox, front and rear PTO. The prototype was based on a strengthened and shortened frame from ZIS-151 truck. The cabin was also borrowed from this truck. A metal based flatbed body with a folding tailgate and arcs for a tent was taken from ZIS-121B.