Number 2511 of only 3179 built from 1959 through 1981 to Chaika was favored by both high ranking Kremlin officials, Soviet heads of state, and senior KGB officers. To the average Russian however, the cars were sinister and menacing symbols of the terrible power yielded by the government. The large size and expansive rear seat area made it easy for the KGB to simply pull up beside a citizen on the sidewalk, and quickly grab and pull them into the car for a trip to the Gulag or worse. Nikita Khrushev was known to have kept 3 Chaikas at his disposal. Official Russian policy dictated that the cars be destroyed at the end of their official duty cycle and thus very few survive to this day. This car survived as it was sent out of Russia to Lithuania and reportedly used by Algirdas Brazauskas the former chairman of the Central Committee - Lithuania during the Soviet times. Subsequently, he became the first elected President of the independent Republic and the current Prime Minister. This is also understood to be the only existing Chaika to have been restored of the handful that survives worldwide.Source - Barrett-Jackson
