Karl AKA Stroget is an active curator at HobbyDB of many of the 1/43 model car brands. He has been adding model cars to the DB since 2014; some of his favorites are Alfa Romeo and obsolete Tekno from Denmark!
NOTE: Photographs by the Author unless otherwise stated.
By Fedor Eliseev
The Kamaz plant started production of diesel trucks in 1976. By the beginning of 80s, it had become one of the biggest not only in the Soviet Union but also in Europe. In 1981 the company introduced the range of all wheel drive trucks (6×6) called the Kamaz 4310, mostly for the Army.
Nowadays, many people may have heard about the Kamaz victories in the Dakar Rallies. But back in the early 80s, the plant did not participate in international competitions. The situation changed in 1988 when they made the decision to take part in the Jelcz Rally in Poland to promote Kamaz trucks. The motto: “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday” worked very well, and when Perestroika began, the Soviet directors of the plant tried to conquer the market in other countries.
The problem was that the Kamaz team had no experience in Rally competition, so the risk of failure was great. Their engineers made a few upgrades to the standard 4310 model. They increased the power of the engine, modified the oil system, designed a special cargo box and roll cage, made new springs and added additional headlights. This special model received the name 4310 C where C means Sport in the Cyrillic alphabet.
The team was represented by two trucks: #8 with driver Ravil Nurgaleev and navigator Eugene Doronin, # 16 with driver Vladimir Goltsov and navigator Firdaus Kabirov.
The Jelcz Rally was held outside Wrocław, Poland, and included two laps of 400 km total. In that year, 32 trucks took part in it. The strongest teams were considered to be Tatra, LIAZ-Skoda and Star. What a surprise it was when the Kamaz trucks were in the lead. Unfortunately #8 truck got stuck on the special stage. The #16 crew decided to help their friends and therefore lost the lead, but the tradition to come to the aid of competitors seems to have started then.
As a result Goltsov and Kabirov took second place, Nurgaleev and Doronin fourth. In the team classification, Kamaz took first place though. The next year the Soviet trucks took part in the Objective Sud Rally Paris Dakar. Thus the history of the team began.
Here is an old video from the Rally including the KAMAZ: Jelcz Rally 1988.
The Model by Elecon
In 1978, Elecon in Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia, started manufacturing models of standard Kamaz trucks. By the mid 80s, it had become the biggest producer of 1/43 diecast trucks in the Soviet Union. Trying to introduce new models, Elecon launched the 6×6 Kamaz 4310 in 1990. The first models available for customers was the 1989 Objective Sud Rally version.
For that time, these miniatures were very sophisticated. They had working rear suspension, highly detailed frame, rotating cab, and underneath a plastic engine and gearbox. Using the 4310 casting, Elecon created a plethora of variations, but in 2014 the company stopped all model production due to the licensing problems. The manufacturers started to require royalties. Elecon could not afford the extra costs and was going to destroy all their tools and dies. However, some enthusiasts acquired all their molds and spare parts.
Using the old basic castings, they created new liveries, to supply collectors. The production now is not so large, a couple thousand models per year.
The Kamaz 4310 Rally Jelcz 1988 was introduced in 2023. The company made both trucks – #8 and #16, with white or black wheels. Unfortunately, both trucks have the same names of the crew on the doors, #8 has #16’s names on it! The color of the miniature, in my opinion, is too bright compared to the real truck. But the biggest problem is the cargo box which in fact from another truck. Why didn’t Elecon change it? Apparently, the manufacturer have the funds to create a new casting and used an existing one.
A positive feature is that the manufacturer replaced unreliable stickers with pad printing so stickers no longer fall off!
The model is packed in a cardboard box, inside which you can read the technical characteristics of the Kamaz 4310 C. On the back side of the box, there is a photo of the real Rally truck so you can compare the miniature with the real truck. Details about the manufacturer are absent.
Despite all the disadvantages, this Kamaz is not bad if you like the history of Rally competitions or you have a desire to modify the model.
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