LiAZ-677 is one of the most popular city buses in the USSR and Russia

Not everyone born in the USSR will remember the name of this bus. But it’s worth looking at the photo, how a tsunami of thoughts will rush in, leaving an aftertaste of Soviet ice cream on your lips. Yes, today we will tell you about the legend - the LiAZ-677 bus.

Worthy of the Guinness Book

No one will guess that the LiAZ-677 can be considered a champion in its class. This bus was produced in more than 200 copies, leaving far behind the Hungarian competitor - Ikarus-000. Yes, just over 260 pieces of Ikarus of this model were assembled. Even fewer Mercedes buses of this class were produced - for example, the circulation of Mercedes-Benz O50 amounted to about 000 cars.

Please keep in mind that we are talking about all variants of the LiAZ-677, including the modified version with the letter "M" in the title.

History of creation

It is believed that LiAZ-677 was developed from scratch. You can say so, but in fact, this model appeared due to the modernization of the outdated ZIL-158. Then the manufacturer did not succeed, they had to create a new version, but taking into account the prototypes.



The bus depots of the Soviet Union have been flooding the manufacturer with letters all these years, begging them to leave the old car on the assembly line. LiAZ-677 seemed too complicated, which in the future promised problems with repairs.



But in the end, the new buses proved their effectiveness, and were produced for more than a dozen years.

In 1982, there was a modernization that changed the appearance. After that, the cars were named LiAZ-677M.

Why Cattle Truck?

Some may have heard the LiAZ-677 called "Cattle Truck". This nickname stuck to the bus in the first year of operation. The fact is that the machine was created in order to remove the load from the transport lines as much as possible. Therefore, there were few seats in LiAZ - only 25.

But as many as 80 passengers could ride while standing, for which the car received the nickname "Cattle Truck". The total number of seats has thus reached 110 – excellent capacity figures even today! It is also worth noting a spacious area for passengers at the rear, with a lower floor level.

Although driving a LiAZ-677 is inconvenient, all the same, the buses were jam-packed. In winter, it was pleasant to enter the interior of the car - the person immediately warmed up. And the point here is not even a large number of passengers, but the original heating system, which worked very efficiently.



But in the summer heat, the LiAZ-677 salon turned into a bathhouse. Although the stove was blocked, the driver's cab was open, and the heat from the engine still went into the cabin.

Engine

The motor on the LiAZ-677 was also legendary. This is ZIL-375Ya7, also known as 509. The powerful V8 taken from URAL-375 was reliable and easy to repair. The other side of the coin was his equally legendary gluttony.



There were no problems with fuel in the USSR until the mid-1980s, but LiAZ-677 made it possible to “feed” with gasoline not only your personal car, but also a couple of neighbors, which resulted in a solid salary increase.

This became especially relevant in the era of perestroika and in the early 1990s. Drivers held on to their work to the last - it was a gold mine!



From time to time, the design engineers of the Likinsky Bus Plant tried to introduce a diesel engine into the LiAZ-677.

At various times, heavy fuel engines were used:

? YaMZ-233
? RABA
? Skoda-LIAZ

All of these versions were experimental, even pre-production modifications were not released.

The only LiAZ-677s with diesel engines were custom-made at the Tosnensky Bus Plant in the 1990s, but there we are talking about used cars with worn-out gasoline engines.

Automatic transmission

It is unlikely that the passengers of LiAZ-677 guessed that the bus was equipped with an automatic transmission from the very beginning of production. The unit was developed at the Lviv plant for its models, but then abandoned.

But for the LiAZ-677, this box turned out to be by the way, apparently, they decided to make the car smooth and comfortable so that all 80 standing passengers would not fly around the cabin, probably.



The automatic transmission was two-speed, which guaranteed to provide a huge gas mileage for the already economical engine from the Ural-375.
By the way, in the 90s, auto repair enterprises got rid of broken automatic transmissions, putting manual transmissions from trucks in their place. With the mechanics of LiAZ-677, it became faster, and gasoline consumption decreased slightly.

By the way, this characteristic gurgling, similar to the ringing of empty bottles, is associated with an automatic transmission. This is due to the wear of the bearings of the intermediate cross of the cardan and the output at the gearbox. This ringing began only as the transmission wore out, but it did not affect the ride, so they often drove like that.

Suspension

In addition to an automatic transmission unusual for Soviet buses, the LiAZ-677 had another innovation - a pneumatic spring suspension. Together with the automatic transmission, this gave a high level of comfort.

There were two air bellows in front, four in the back. In addition, springs and shock absorbers were used in the suspension. Failed pneumatic cylinders were often not changed, so the buses sometimes “goat” on bumps so that passengers from behind hit their heads on the ceiling.

Long model life

In 1994, the production of LiAZ-677 at the Likinsky plant was officially discontinued. The manufacturer began to develop a new model under the index 5256. But a more modern bus turned out to be expensive and difficult to manufacture. The economic situation for all enterprises of the former Soviet Union was critical, so the Likinsky plant was never modernized.



The new bus was expensive, it was poorly bought. But for the cheap LiAZ-677, demand has remained, albeit small. The old conveyor for the production of LiAZ-677 was transferred to Orekhovo-Zuyevo to the Remtekhmash plant.

This enterprise did not have the right to make buses, so all the equipment produced was registered as a restored old one according to the documents. Many have upgraded their fleets this way. They bought new bodies and engines with gearboxes from Remtekhmash, and then they registered the cars as having undergone a major overhaul.

The end of production of LiAZ-677 officially occurred in 2004, although new bodies after that were sold for at least another year. At this time, buses began to be gradually written off, starting from large cities.

For the longest time in Russia, LiAZ-677 officially worked in Krasnokamensk, Amursk, Arzamas and Zelenogorsk - until 2020. It is possible that these machines are still finishing their lives in some small towns.



LiAZ-677 for many will remain a real legend and a memory from a happy and carefree childhood, inaccessible to the modern generation. And for those who had a chance to ride it home and to work, in a circle or in a section, this bus will remind you of times sometimes far from easy, but calm and happy!