Motorsport was never really part of the program for automobiles in Soviet Russia. Vehicles, like the Soviet ethos on people, were intended to work rather than to be used for trivial pursuits like racing. As a result, modern Russia never really had a performance car market and like most parts of the world of that nature, Russians of course have resorted to hacking up old utilitarian things and caning the bejesus out of them. Old three-box Ladas make up big percentages of stage rally in Eastern Bloc countries, for example.
But this, well, this is something else. We were sent this to share you with you fine people and aside from some basic identification of what’s happening—old Soviet GAZ trucks absolutely ripping through what we think is a Russian forest—there’s not a whole lot of information. Not that this stops us from telling you that old Soviet GAZ trucks, minus the bed and with a weird halo-style roll cage over the mid-century cabs, look like a hell of a lot of fun on a rally course. We’ve shown you buggies based on the same chassis and the Russian Kamaz trucks are unstoppable in rally raids, so what the Russians lack in classic car culture, they seem to more than make up for with truck racing.
These races can be seen in a few former eastern bloc countries and Finland as well as Russia. Many of the trucks are fitted with Mercedes V8 engines according to other YouTube videos. They provide a cheap day out and entertainment for people in relatively poor Slavic countries. All in all, great grass roots racing.