How did the American Studebaker lose to the Soviet Polutorka?
The Soviet semi-truck can rightfully be considered one of the most recognizable symbols of the Great Patriotic War. And even despite the fact that in some parameters the truck was losing to foreign models, it had one advantage, for which it was praised at the front. From the memories of a front-line driver. “Many people remember the Polutorka only from movies. - They look decent there. But I drove a simplified “military” model. Plywood cab, wooden footrests. Those footrests caused a lot of trouble. Somebody heavy jumps, it cracks. A large-caliber bullet pierced the footrest, half of it fell off. I climbed into the cabin like an acrobat - it was good that the car was not high. Of course, compared to “Studebakers” and “jeeps” my old lady did not look very good. But I will not say anything bad about it. Simple in design. We eliminated most of the malfunctions on the spot, and took spare parts from broken cars. Which is not the case with the Studebaker.
