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Yeranuhi Soghoyan

Vintage Car Enthusiast Roubik Grigoryan: “I was the first to drive the ZIM-12 in Leninakan”

The backyard of Robert Grigoryan, a 75 year-old resident of Gyumri, Armenia's second largest city, resembles an open air museum devoted to retro cars and motorcycles.

Entering the yard, a silver Lincoln catches my eye, followed by a red Chevrolet and a Yava motorbike.

Robert, who's affectionately called Roubik, says some of his collection is up for sale.

“I have four old cars,” Roubik says as he fondly caresses a Pontiac. “But I want to sell this one and the Lincoln lest my children and grandkids start squabbling as to who gets what after I’m gone. Everyone has been eyeing the Lincoln.”

Mr. Grigoryan took the Ford Lincoln and the Pontiac to the vintage car show held in town on October 25 on the occasion of Gyumri Day.

“It was a lovely event. It was the first of its kind. The organizers invited me and other collectors to attend,” Mr. Grigoryan said and invited me inside.

Roubik has been driving for the past fifty years. He collects and can modify any type of vehicle. His first car was a Soviet made ZIM-12  long wheelbase sedan produced at the Gorky Automobile Plant between 1950 and 1960. Basically, it was used as a company car ("personalka") for the Soviet party and government nomenclature.

In looks, the ZIM resembled the American Cadillac and was in fact inspired by the 1948 CadillacFleetwood 61. A total of 21,527 cars were built and cost 40,000 Rubles when introduced.

“I purchased the ZIM in 1967,” Roubik recounts. “I didn’t even have a driver’s license at the time. But I drove it for six months before getting one. American cars of the day didn’t even have automatic windows. I made the car’s windows to operate automatically. I was the first in Leninakan to drive around in a ZIM-12,” Roubik says with a hint of pride in his eyes. [Gyumri was formerly known as Leninakan – YS]

When I asked Roubik if he worked as a car mechanic, he laughs and answers, “What mechanic? I have several professions but never went to college. I never liked school. I’m self-taught. I have a knack for fixing things, especially mechanical stuff.”

Roubik then tells me about the time when he went to work at the Gyumri socks and stockings factory. He had just been working there six months when they received new machinery from Germany. A few German experts also arrived to set up the equipment and instruct the locals how to operate the machinery.

“The machines were semi-automatic. One day I sat down and made some calculations in order to make the machines operate fully automatically. I presented by proposal to the factory administration and it was accepted. They were amazed,” Roubik tells me.

On a much sadder note, Roubik tells me about the time when he was badly burnt in a fire when he was shoveling coal to heat up his bath. Some of the hot coals escaped and ignited a gasoline container nearby. Roubik spent two months in a hospital for treatment.

After getting out, Mr. Grigoryan went to Russia, where his wife is from, and spent the next 18 months there.

“When I returned, I decided to put my concepts to work, but only for myself,” Roubik says, adding that the only good to come out of his time at the socks factory was meeting his wife Lyudmila. The couple has been happily married for 54 years.

When I ask if Lyudmila easily converses in Armenia, Roubik laughs and says, “She’s forgotten Russia.” The couple has three sons and a daughter.

Lyudmila tells me she has always supported her husband’s mechanical pursuits, no matter how crazy. She adds that it was Roubik’s hot Caucasian temperament that attracted her in the first place.

Speaking the local Gyumri dialect, with a trace of a Russian accent, 75 year-old Lyudmila tells me how they used to drive around by motorbike.

“One day, the bike skidded and we fell,” she says with a young girl’s bashful smile. “But it wasn’t his fault. The ground was wet. It had been raining.”

“After selling the ZIM, I purchased 18 other Soviet-made cars,” Roubik says. When I ask him if he ever owned a Zaporozhets (known as the “people’s car” of the Soviet Union), he laughs and replies, “After a ZIL, who would own a Zaporozhets? No, I never owned one.”

Mr. Grigoryan purchased the silver Lincoln in 1997. He later swapped it for an Opel Commodore that he fixed up.

The Pontiac now sitting in Roubik’s yard once belonged to former world chess champion Tigran Petrosian. Rubik found the car in a village near Etchmiadzin. The engine wasn’t working so he had the car transported to Gyumri and started to repair it.

Roubik got the 1974 Ford LSS in 2004, and it’s now driven by his son Armen. The red Chevrolet is used for parts.

With over fifty years of experience behind the wheel, Rubik is amazed by the driving habits of today’s generation who seem bent on speeding to get to where they are going as quickly as possible.

“Even during the war there weren’t so many deaths as with today’s road accidents. They get behind the wheel and drive without the necessary experience. Where they’re dashing to nobody knows,” Roubik says.

It goes without saying that Mr. Grigoryan has a fondness for the cars of yesteryear.

“The older models were quality built. The metal was sturdier and the nose of the car longer than those of today. If you got hit from the front, the driver was much safer back then. In a word, drivers were better protected in the old cars whether from frontal or side impacts. They might be costlier to drive in terms of gasoline but I rigged the car to operate on natural gas as well. I take care of the car and just drive it locally,” says Roubik.

Before I leave, Roubik shows me some motorcycles driven by his grandson, a member of the Gyumri Bikers’ Club, who’s now in Russia.

He then points to a blue moped parked near the entrance to the house.

“I use it to go to the store and back. It’s quite convenient. What can I say? I’ve gotten on in years. When I sell my last two vintage cars I’m gonna purchase a small foreign car. My back can’t take those Soviet seats. I՛ve gotten used to the imports.”

Comments (2)

yeprem
Բավական հոտաքրքրական պատմություն: Բայց ՍԽԱԼ կա - «Համաձայնվել է, ու գնացել են երեւանյան հին բակերից մեկը:» Պետք է՝ լինի - «Համաձայնել է» ոչ - Համաձայնվել:
Gagik
1962թ ից Լենինականում ԶԻՄ մեքենաներ վարել են Ուստա Ավոն, Զիմի Սերոժը, Սզու Վաղոն, Երկան Գևորը, Վզզ Վաղոն, Էլագիմը, Իսկ հարգարժան հերոսը 1967թ-ից....

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