Retro Museum Moscow - Tanks, planes and artillery

We weren't quite sure what to expect at this museum. In one of his "famous last words" comments, Paul said it would probably be like the T-34 museum, ie basically a waste of time.

Well, he was wrong.

The museum is situated in an outlying suburb less than an hour's drive from central Moscow.  It comprises an old cars, motorbikes, weapons, planes and , two restaurants, summer terrace and two cafes.  

This is the largest collection in Russia of retro-cars from all over the world: Alfa-Romeo, Delahaye, Mercedes, BMW, Horch, DKW, Wanderer, Cadillac, Packard, Chrysler, Soviet cars, “Formula 1”, cars with unique designs of the Delahaye and Alfa Romeo models. It houses the historical cars of legendary politicians, governors and even Hollywood stars:  armored car of Stalin; cars of Honneker and Khruschev; Horchs owned by the leaders of the Third Reich; Mercedes-Benz of Hollywood actress and the princess of Monaco Grace Kelly; the only Alfa Romeo in the world made for the first champion of “Formula 1” Nino Farin; Delahaye of the French racer Rene Drejfus that helped him to win more than 50 competitions; and cars that appeared in Soviet and Russian (post-Soviet) filming. 

The collection is owned private by a Russian billionaire and the collection is somewhat eclectic but beautifully presented. This is a museum where not only are the individual items beautiful, but the presentation is artistic, even witty.

They offered to demonstrate and then allow us to strip an AK-47 assault rifle, a challenge which Paul accepted with relish. By the third go he was doing quite well and our guide was very impressed.

Here are some of my photos.

The Russian 57mm anit-tank gun had an even better anti-tank performance than its British equivalent and remained in  use for much of the war.

The T-54 was a triumph when it came out. Well armed with a 100mm gun,  decently armoured  (at least in the frontal arc) fast, mobile and with a very low profile in the Soviet tradition it was built in huge numbers. NATO responded with tanks such as the M-60, with a 105mm gun, the Leopard 1, the AMX-30 and the Chieftain, but it remained a potent threat for 30 years.

The BRDM armoured reconnaissance vehicle had an extra quartet of wheels to help it move in rough terrain, and was amphibious to boot.

The Katyushka was one of Russia's significant contributions to military science.  Manufactured in huge numbers they played a major role in all offensives from 1943 on, pounding enemy positions with mind-numbing volumes of fire.

This enormous 203mm gun could fire a nuclear shell.

This modern SAM system was developed to provide SAM coverage for mobile forces, using the SA-8 missile roughly similar to the Roland or Rapier missiles. Typically used in groups with ZSU-23 SPAA it could be devastatingly effective.

Czech built knock off of the medium range of German half tracks.

I think this Sherman M-50 probably came from Israel. The long  barrel suggests this is a 105mm gun and the turret does not appear to be the FL-10 one copied from the AMX-13.

Paul assembles the AK-47. After a little practice he was quite proficient, which is not so surprising when you consider he was in the Army Reserve for 28 years.

The museum boasts an excellent collection of small arms.

This Yak-9K fighter has been beautifully restored. The museum maintains it own workshops, which also service cars. We watched as a Ferrari was polished with great care, to the satisfaction of its owner.

This immaculate Universal Carrier includes the Boys anti-tank rifle with which it was originally equipped.

The Museum has the largest collection of motorcycles I have ever seen, much larger than Brookslands for example.

Just a small sample of the collection of motorcycles.

Another shot of the Bren carrier. All the vehicles are beautifully presented and unlike most Russian museums, the vehicles and panes have correct camouflage and plausible markings.

This Me-109G-6 is magnificently presented.

The Yak-28 was a multi-role aircraft of the late 1950s and 1960s roughly comparable to a Gloster Javelin  as a fighter, or Canberra as a light bomber.

I think there are only two of this aircraft and the other is at Monino. The excellent Yak-141  was one of the first supersonic VSTOL aircraft and had an excellent performance. It would have been the main fighter on Soviet carriers in the 1990s if the USSR had not imploded in 1992.

There are several T-34s at the museum. This fine T-34/85 looks superb.

This unusual rocket tank did not go into production , although many years later the Russians succeeded in developing  such a weapon for the T-80.